Josh Thompson throws himself into new events

MEDICAL LAKE – Baseball isn’t the only opportunity for a young athlete to step up to the plate. At Medical Lake High School, that’s what junior high jumper Josh Thompson has done.

Among area Class 2A leaders in that event and a two-time state meet veteran, Thompson has added other events to his résumé this season, competing in the hurdles, long jump, 400-meter relay, high jump and javelin.

“We needed the points this year, and I asked Josh to do more,” said Cardinals coach Phil Tennison. “He agreed, and he competes well enough to score in those other events. I think he’s having fun with it, too.”

“At first I was nervous about how it would work out to fit all those in,” Thompson said. “I thought it might be really bad to do a lot of events all close together, but it turned out great. In fact, preparing for the different events has been good training.

“Our numbers are down this year, so it was important for me to help out in other events. I’m not really about my individual points, but I wanted to help our team.”

Thompson’s personal record high-jump is 6-5 1/4, a height he cleared as a sophomore; it broke the school record, too. He was disappointed in his performance at the state meet, where he was disqualified at 6-0 for stepping across the approach line.

This season, he’s been consistent at 6-4 but would like to hit 6-6 or 6-7 by the end of the season.

“In practice I work on my form more than height,” he said. “This season’s been hard with all the bad weather – either really cold or really windy – and we had a couple meets with snow on the ground.”

Thompson jumped in middle school, where his 4-10 PR kept him undefeated both years. Then, as a freshman, he astonished himself and his coaches by clearing 6-1 near the end of the season and earning himself a trip to the state meet.

“I wasn’t really expecting it,” he said of the giant leap. “But, really, I had just played around at it in middle school and didn’t take training seriously until the summer after that. Clearing 6-1 opened my eyes to what was possible, and I started working harder to be consistent.”

Now, Thompson doesn’t take much time off from training. During the summer, he jumps at several meets at Spokane Falls Community College, and he competed last year in the Junior Olympics. He qualified for the regional meet in the latter event.

He plays football in the fall and doesn’t compete in a winter sport, although he’s thinking about training next year with the wrestling team.

“Josh has really matured as an individual and as an athlete,” said Tennison. “He’s very hard on himself, and he’s just learning that he’s not going to be the No. 1 guy every day, especially in his new events. He knows that he’s got to be patient, but he wants to be the best and gives everything 110 percent.

“One sign of his maturity is that, now, when something goes wrong, he doesn’t get as frustrated, but instead comes back to fix the problem. He’s a really energetic kid, and when he gets something he likes doing, he works really hard to get good at it. We’re pretty flexible here at putting kids in events where they can be successful.”

Thompson wants to get back to state, where he says he’s struggled the last two years. He’s come to enjoy big meets, where he can count on other jumpers to push him.

“Sometimes in a smaller meet I have a harder time pushing myself to go higher if I’ve already won,” he said. “I’ve always been competitive, and I want to be a four-year state guy. I’m on the Web sites every day to look at where I am in the rankings and who my competition is.”