Strath Haven’s Abeeb captures triple jump gold

CALN TWP. >> With a heel aching and a hamstring feeling a little tight, Strath Haven’s Dayo Abeeb decided to call it a day after three attempts in the Class 3A triple jump at the District 1 Track & Field Championships Friday at Coatesville Area High School.

Abeeb, the top seed in the event, already had the gold medal and a trip to next week’s PIAA Championships, wrapped up thanks to a leap of 46 feet, 7 ¾ inches on his second attempt of the afternoon.

The Princeton-bound senior could have kept going, but he has bigger plans.

“My goal is to be a state champion,” Abeeb said. “The object of districts is to qualify for the state meet and I didn’t want to risk continuing and hurting myself.”

Abeeb certainly is in the mix for gold at the state meet, where he was fourth a year ago with a jump of 45-10. He came into the day ranked fifth in the state, according to pa.milesplit.com.

It won’t be easy, though. The competition is tough. The four jumpers ranked ahead of him have all gone over 47 feet this season, a mark Abeeb has yet to achieve in his high school career.

“It just made sense to stop then because I already was in states,” Abeeb said. “You have to be smart. I knew I wasn’t going to jump 47 or 48 feet today without hurting myself so I decided to stop.”

Besides, he still has the long jump Saturday.

“I’ll be happy with anything more than 22 feet,” Abeeb said.

That just happens to be the qualifying standard for the state meet which would send him to Shippensburg in a second event, his health permitting.

The heel issue cropped up a few weeks ago, and the hamstring problem started last week, Abeeb said. Yet the senior has fought through the discomfort to record three jumps of 45-2 or better, which would have placed him in the top three and earned him a ticket to the state meet.
Abeeb is headed to Shippensburg on a roll despite the nagging injuries. A week earlier, he leaped a career-best 46-10¾ to win the triple jump at the Central League championships and followed that with a personal best 22-11¼ to claim the long jump.

“I just go out there and try to do the best that I can,” Abeeb said.