As the state record holder in the long jump for Oregon, Sophia Beckmon of Oregon City is gaining national recognition. The OC Pioneer graduate of the Class of 2023 is on the path to great success.
“The little girls who watch me jump and come up to me after I am done jumping, it’s such an amazing feeling especially when you know they look up to you all the time.”
At 22 feet, 4 inches, the Oregon State record holder in the long jump is within an inch of the national high school record.
“I always have this weird thing, after every time I PR, a couple of days after I am like, ‘you know what? That wasn’t actually that far.’ It happens every single time. It’s already happened with the 22-4. I just felt like ‘I can go further.’”
The U-23 Outdoor Championships in Track Town, United States, will be Beckmon’s greatest competition to date.
“Wondering if I was ready was the big question and going into this meet now, I feel like if I stay positive enough, because that’s probably my biggest problem, the mental, it’s never the best during meets.”
Sophia will be in Eugene with her inner circle track club teammate and best friend, Mia Brahe-Pedersen, the fastest high school sprinter in the nation and a rising senior at Lake Oswego.
Do you know that a Eugene family is furious because a tire from their car was taken while they were in Portland caring for their infant son in the hospital? Jamie Inman is a parent to six kids. Her youngest child underwent cranial surgery and has spent the past two weeks in a hospital in the Portland region:
Nobody else can really comprehend what we’re going through, especially at our age, because you don’t have a best friend who is also as incredible as you are with whom you can discuss your problems.
Sophie will study kinesiology and health science 21,000 miles away in Illinois, where she will attend college. Her move-in date to Champagne is August 17, her 18th birthday.
“I feel like people here truly do care about the world of track and field, now at least that me and Mia are around, we are kind of bringing light to it and now I can go out and I will get recognized, it’s crazy.”
Best of success to Sophia at the Under-23 National Meet at Hayward Field and then in Illinois. We’ll be hearing from her more in the future.
