GRESHAM -- Woody Green had a hunch about Able Taylor’s jumping ability. The past two years, the Reynolds jumps coach urged Taylor to join the track team.
But even Green wasn’t prepared for what he witnessed last month after Taylor decided to turn out for track as a senior.
“He did a couple of practice jumps, and that’s when I knew he was special,” Green said. “You watch him come down the runway, he’s a strong, powerful kid. He did a couple of jumps off the ramp, he would get so high up in the air.”
Taylor took flight in his first practice and has continued to soar. He triple-jumped 45 feet, 6 inches in his first meet – No. 2 in the state this season and two inches off the school record – and is No. 8 in the long jump with a best of 22-0¼.
The 6-foot-1½, 185-pound Taylor continued his breakout season Saturday at the Centennial Invitational by winning the triple jump (45-2) and taking second in the long jump (21-5) to Sprague senior Keaton Beckmann (22-4).
The success has surprised even Taylor.
“I was thinking I would just come out and show my best, what I could do,” Taylor said. “I’d try my best, and if I ended up being one of the top jumpers, so be it.
“Once I jumped 45-6, it was like, ‘Wow.’ When I first started, I hated the triple jump. I could not do it. I picked up on it. Woody helped me a lot on my technique.”
Taylor turned out for track as a freshman but was a sprinter, not a jumper. Basketball was his main focus for his first three years at Reynolds, until this year, when he returned to football for the first time since his sophomore year and became a second-team Mt. Hood Conference receiver.
So what made him decide to try track this season?
“This is my last chance to get exposure to colleges, and stuff like that,” he said.
Taylor has been remarkably consistent for a first-time jumper. In his five meets, he has not slipped below 44-9 in the triple jump and has regularly hit 21 feet in the long jump.
“He’s one of the best athletes I’ve been around in high school, to be able to jump 45 feet and you’ve never learned how to do it,” Green said. “He learned the triple jump in three weeks, so he’s still fresh at doing this.
“I’ve told him, 'Imagine if you had been here since your freshman year.' He’d probably be jumping 48, 49. He’s as explosive as the Harrison Schrages.”
Taylor already has scratched on a triple jump near 47 feet and on a long jump at 22-10. He and Green believe 48 feet and 23 feet are within reach this season.
“For the triple, I definitely need to practice running off the board more instead of like jumping,” Taylor said. “And for the long jump, just being more explosive, bring my knee up, get a little more pop.”
Taylor would like to do football and track in college. The way he’s going, he is sure to attract attention.
“Nobody’s really seen what he can do,” Green said. “We’ve got the Jesuit Twilight next week, which is going to say a whole lot. I’m sure colleges will be noticing him. You can’t hide the marks. They’re legitimate Division I athlete jumps.”
Centennial Invitational boys winners: Jesuit junior Joshua Schumacher ran the fastest 3,000-meter time in the state this season, winning in 8:33.59. He edged Wilson junior Alex Slenning (8:34.05) in a race that included seven of the top nine times in the state.
It was a big meet for Franklin senior Henry Mong, who won the 800 and 1,500. His time of 1:54.55 in the 800 was a personal best and is No. 2 in the state this season. His 3:59.32 in the 1,500 – four seconds off his PR – also is No. 2 in the state.
Among others taking events at Centennial was Beaverton senior Beau Sheeran, the reigning Class 6A champion in the high jump.
Sheeran cleared 6-6 to hold off Skyview (Wash.) junior Ethan Gould (6-5). Sheeran, who recorded a personal best of 6-8 on April 7, is going after the school record of 6-9½, set by Anthony Taylor in 1984.
“I’ve taken some jumps at it,” The 6-6 Sheeran said. “Me and my coach are thinking in the 6-10 range, push the 7-foot barrier. I’ve got the height for it, it’s all about putting the form together. My form is the same as last year, I’m just stronger.”
Central Catholic junior Korbin Williams won the 200 (22.71) and was part of the first-place 4x400 relay, which clocked 3:25.78, the No. 3 time in the state.
Newport senior Will Beaudry, who entered with the state’s best mark in the discus (177-7), won the event by throwing 169-8.
Team scores (top five): Central Catholic 78, Sunset 63, Skyview 61.5, Franklin 43, Centennial 40.
-- Jerry Ulmer
julmer@oregonian.com
503-816-7323
@jerryulmer