Alton's LaJarvia Brown captures second 17-18-year-old national championship in triple jump

Aug 5, 2015 3:15 PM

Listen to the story

LaJarvia Brown is shown soaring through the air at the Illinois state track and field meet in the spring.

NORFOLK, VA. - LaJarvia Brown continued to put her hometown of Alton on the national map at Wednesday’s AAU Junior Olympics Track and Field Meet, capturing her second national title in the triple jump.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

Brown finished with a best of 39-11 to take the championship in the 17-18-year-old girls triple jump in the AAU meet at Norfolk Va., on the Norfolk State track. On Monday, she took first in the long jump with a leap of 19-6.25.

“She met the competition she faced and stepped up and did what she had to do,” her Alton High School coach Terry Mitchell said. “She is a champion. She is the best, that is the only way to describe her.”

Mitchell mentioned that famed East St. Louis athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee didn’t completely hit her stride on the national front until she was a member of the UCLA track and field team. He said with Brown being the competitor she is and her talent, she could one day be in the league of a Joyner-Kersee. Joyner-Kersee competed in the heptathlon and also the open long jump as her prime events. Joyner-Kersee also participated in AAU competition.

Article continues after sponsor message

Learn about our advertising opportunities!

“LaJarvia is a true competitor in every sense of the word,” Mitchell said. “I told her the other day that one day I think she has a chance to be similar to Jackie Joyner-Kersee. I told her she is versatile and a competitor, just like Jackie. You can’t teach that. It comes from within.”

Mitchell said for Brown to make the Olympic Trials cut next year, she would have to reach 20-5 in the long jump and probably 44 feet in the triple jump.

The coach said even with Alton’s storied track and field past with Andrew Johnson, Lester “Bo” Scott, Gayle Murphy, B.B. Gator, George Hunt, Larry Perry and Oscar Wallace, he doesn’t believe any of them ever earned a title as the nation’s best.

“LaJarvia is still in high school, she will be a senior,” Mitchell said. “She is getting pretty close to Olympic status talent wise. She is a rare individual and the kind of kid that rarely comes along in a coaches’ lifetime.

“LaJarvia is a true competitor in every sense of the word.”

LaJarvia Brown chats with her coach Terry Mitchell at the state meet.