Nadeau Amazes on a Leap of Faith

As a devout track and field fan for the past 20 years, I have attended numerous major meets and witnessed dozens of great performances at the Olympic and national championship level.

So it’s hard to admit that one of my most indelible track memories is from a high school meet. On May 13, Jeff Nadeau of Monroe cleared a City Section high jump record of 7 feet 2 1/4 inches in the Valley Pac-8 Conference finals at Birmingham High.

Nadeau’s mark hardly compares to some of the accomplishments I have witnessed, such as Steve Williams tying the world record of 9.9 seconds in the 100-meter dash in 1974 or Edwin Moses lowering the world record to 47.45 in the 400 intermediate hurdles in 1977. Nor can it compare to Craig Virgin running a U.S. record of 27 minutes 39.4 seconds in the 10,000 meters in 1979 or to Carl Lewis winning four gold medals in the 1984 Olympic Games.

But for sheer shock value, Nadeau’s effort was superior to those performances.

A high school kid with a personal best of 6-8--and a season best of 6-6--isn’t supposed to raise that mark by six-plus inches in one meet, but Nadeau did.

A high jumper of Nadeau’s caliber measures his improvement an inch or so at a time, not in half-foot increments.

Furthermore, no high jumper should be able to produce his best jumps after taking more than 15 attempts in the competition, yet Nadeau cleared his record height on his 24th jump.

Nothing that Nadeau did early in the competition prepared me for what lay ahead as he began jumping at the relatively low height of 6-0.

After clearing 6-0 on his first attempt, he did likewise at 6-1, 6-2, 6-4, 6-6 and 6-8.

When it took him the maximum allotment of three tries to negotiate 6-9, I figured Nadeau would conclude the competition with three misses at 6-10, but things got interesting when he cleared that height on his third attempt.

The crowd began to direct its full attention to the high jump area, and the gregarious Nadeau fed off the electricity. When the crowd exploded in applause after he cleared 6-11 on his third try, Nadeau beamed.

At 7-0, 7-1 1/4 and 7-2 1/4, he continued a pattern that began at 6-9. In his first attempt, he didn’t come close to clearing the bar, knocking it off on the way up. His second effort would be solid, however. He would lay himself out over the top of the bar before knocking it off with his thighs or calves.

His third attempt was so clean it looked as though he had been jumping at the 7-foot level all season. “I guess I got kind of lucky,” said Nadeau, who missed three times at 7-3 1/4. “I’m not sure what to say. I mean, I felt good today, but I would have been happy just to clear 6-9 or 6-10.”

Although over the next month, Nadeau won the City (7-0), Golden West invitational (6-10) and state (7-2) titles, those efforts must take a back seat to what he accomplished in the Valley Pac-8 Conference meet that warm afternoon.

Truth is, it’s hard to imagine Nadeau ever doing something that stunning again.

Unless of course, he ends up competing for the Arizona track team--Nadeau, a defensive back, is attending the school on a football scholarship--and raises his personal best from 7-2 1/4 to 7-7 or 7-8 in a single meet.

I know what you’re thinking. Ortega has lost his mind. How can someone who considers himself a track expert seriously pose such a far-fetched scenario?

And I have to admit, there’s no way Nadeau could do it again.

Is there?