Photo Credit: Christine Langford, MileSplit
Karson Gordon has been an outstanding quarterback talent for years. He is a UCLA signee and will be heading off to California after completing classes.
Despite his undoubted elite arm talent, the Houston Episcopal senior has proven over the past four years that he has some elite leg talent as well.
Gordon has triple jump marks in each of his first three seasons of at least 49 feet or better. Last year, he won the Nike Outdoor Nationals with a 51-4.25 and he also won the Texas Relays with a then 51-5.75 personal record.
Now, in his senior season, Gordon has left a lasting impression on the track and field community.
He hopped, skipped, and jumped to a distance that was not only by far a new personal best, but it is also the best the state of Texas has ever seen in the high school ranks.
Landing 53 feet and 1.50 inches out into the sand, it earned him the Texas Relays record and the Texas state record, out measuring the previous TX No. 1 of 52-1.25 produced by Chris Carter (Hearne) in 2007.
Nationally, It is also the 14th best jump in history.
Gordon's first jump of the day was an early indicator of the entertainment that was to come the Texas Relays crowd. He jumped a 52-4.50 bomb on just his first jump.
Unfortunately, it was a +2.2 wind reading, which is just over the wind legal limit. If a wind reading exceeds 2.0 m/s, the result is considered ineligible for a record or rankings purposes.
While there was very little Gordon could do about the wind reading; what he could control, he did and that was his jumping.
The second jump resulted in a 52-2.50 (+0.3 wind), good for the Texas triple jump record. However, Gordon wasn't finished yet. He jumper even further on the final jump he took (scratched on jump four and passed on jumps five and six), which went for the 53-1.50 mark with only a +1.1 wind reading.
Gordon has the SPC Championships coming up at the beginning of May where he could help lead Houston Episcopal to another SPC team championship.
It will provide him with another opportunity to possibly go for the national triple jump record. That mark is 54-10.50 held by Kenny Hall (Tara, LA), set in 2004.