Kent Denver's John Reynolds has become a state champion triple jump and long jump champion with the help of videos on YouTube.
Courtesy photo
Across the nation, elite track and field athletes spend countless hours learning their craft from personal coaches.
John Reynolds, a senior from
Kent Denver (Englewood, Colo.), found a unique source to learn and improve his skill: YouTube.
Class 3A's defending state champion in the long jump and triple jump has excelled because of his computer and a lot of hard work.
"I've taught myself mostly just from watching YouTube videos and looking up workouts online and trying to get a hold of previous distinguished jumpers," Reynolds said. "I tried to base and produce some type of training regimen from what I've collected over YouTube videos and the internet."
Reynolds' unique method has worked wonders so far. He's been jumping for only two years, but won the Class 3A championship in the triple jump in 2011 and 2012 and added the long jump title to his credit in 2012.
Not bad for an athlete who spent several years as a distance runner.
"I got sick of distance running and I was interested in jumping, so I started jumping my sophomore year," said Reynolds, who finished 101st at the 3A state cross country meet as a freshman in 2009. "Sophomore year came and I started seeing more success in triple jump. As a result of practicing triple jump, I was in the sand pit constantly, so I figured I'd do long jump as well. I just kind of grew from there and became more and more passionate as time went on."
Although his sophomore year, in 2011, was his first as a jumper, he jumped 45 feet, 1 inch to win the triple jump and leaped 20-3 to finish sixth in the long jump.
A year ago, he jumped 47 feet, 3 ½ inches to win the triple jump again – coming just 1 ½ inches shy of the 3A state meet record. He jumped 22 feet, 5 ¾ inches in the long jump to win that event, and jumped 6 feet, 2 inches to place fourth in the high jump.
"Honestly, just overall, my passion for jumping and trying to get better is what has really helped me excel the most," he said.
Reynolds said he got to a point in distance running where he hit a plateau and stopped seeing progress. That has yet to happen with jumping.
"For jumping, I'm able to see constant progression and results and I can even feel my progression in my technique," he said. "Along with that, you can see it by centimeters or inches you're slowly gaining on your jump."
Because Kent Denver is a small school, Reynolds has not had the benefit of learning from a coach on staff. In fact, Kent Denver doesn't even have its own track; for years, the Sun Devils have had to bus over to nearby Englewood High School for practices. (Reynolds said Kent Denver is getting a track in 2014.)
Reynolds said he tried to find a club coach, but he was unable to find one that he felt was a good fit for him. Plus, his YouTube education seemed to be working just fine.
"I just got to the point where it almost just made more sense to me to continue what I had been doing, because I had been seeing success and I was getting better," he said. "I would go out to the track on the weekends and constantly jump and see if I could progress inches."
In addition to his internet research, Reynolds said he soaks up as much knowledge as he can from others around him.
"Even if I'm jumping better or farther than another athlete, if they see me jumping and they have something that they see in my form or a tip for me, I'm always more than happy and willing to try it out and see if it helps me," he said.
All of Reynolds' hard work has paid off in a big way. In addition to his state success, he has earned the opportunity to compete at Dartmouth College, where he will finally get to learn from an experienced coach.
"I'm definitely excited to go get some college coaching and spend some time with a coach, because I just haven't really had that opportunity to work with a professional," he said.
For now, he's focused on having another great season for the Sun Devils, and he's off to a good start.
In February, Reynolds went to the Simplot Games in Pocatello, Idaho, and finished third in the triple jump (47-8 ½) and finished seventh in the long jump (21-9 ½).
He's got a great opportunity to break the Class 3A state meet records in both the triple jump (47-5, by La Junta's Marcus Brown in 1999) and the long jump (23-1 ¼ by La Junta's Josiah Baker in 2003).
"I'm really focused mainly on trying to get my form and technique as precise as I possibly can, so I can reach for some record-breakers at the state championships," he said. "Going into the season well prepared and strong is always nice and makes it easy to stay confident."
