A Leap Followed by an Unfulfilled Fate

It was a leap of a lifetime, yet few people remember it today.

At the time, it was compared to Jim Ryun’s sub-four-minute mile--still a high school record--but now it is nearly forgotten, even among high school coaches.

Thirty-one years ago, 17-year-old Jerry Proctor of Pasadena Muir High had a long jump of 25 feet 10 1/2 inches at the L.A. Invitational indoor track meet.

The clamor over Proctor’s leap was justified. Proctor still ranks second on the all-time indoor list behind Dion Bentley of Pittsburgh Penn Hills, who leaped 26-6 1/2 in 1989.

If a time warp had put him and his jump on the 1997 ledger, it would have been the best prep mark in the United States--indoors or outdoors.

No high school athlete competing in this weekend’s L.A. Invitational at the Sports Arena is expected to come close.

But there was no high school division when Proctor jumped; the entire meet was an open division.

Proctor found himself competing against Ralph Boston, who had won an Olympic gold medal at Rome in 1960 and a silver at Tokyo in 1964. At Los Angeles in 1967, he was still the United States’ best long jumper, jumping 26-3 3/4 at the invitational.

Thus, Proctor’s great leap was second best.

Still, it would have won the “open” division 11 other years. Now listed as the record in the meet’s high school division, it is easily the invitational’s longest-standing mark.

Although he may not have won that day, his feat was impressive enough that Proctor was voted the athlete of the meet by writers covering the event.

It is somewhat ironic that Proctor cites Boston’s Olympic performances as his impetus to become a long jumper.

“I saw him on TV, so I wanted to long jump. But I really didn’t know who he was or much about him,” said Proctor, who has worked for L.A. County for nearly 25 years, reviewing Medi-Cal cases. “There weren’t that many people doing it. It seemed like a good event.”

It became a great event for Proctor, who became something of a celebrity in Pasadena.

After the meet, Boston said Proctor was “destined for a fantastic future.”

It looked that way.

“We were setting records, not breaking them,” said Proctor, 48, emphasizing a subtle difference in attitude. “It was a different time. There was no money in it. We just wanted to be the best. We wanted to see how far a man can go. Look at all the standards that came out of that time: Bob Beamon, Jim Ryun, Tommy Smith, Lee Evans. . . . It was a great time.”

To some it seemed as if he disappeared from the track scene shortly after high school.

It wasn’t that simple.

Proctor went on to the University of Redlands, where he jumped 26-11 3/4, still a school record.

In the Olympic trials in 1968, he injured his hamstring and finished fifth in a competition for three berths.

Despite the Olympic trials tribulations, Proctor was only 18 and his future remained bright.

But during his sophomore year of college, his life changed irrevocably.

“My career came to a halt after my mother died, tragically, in 1969,” Proctor said.

Redlands offered to let him quit the track team and keep him on scholarship, but that wasn’t a solution for him. Proctor stayed on the team because it was something that was right-side up when everything else seemed upside down.

“I gave her a going-away present by winning the NCAAs,” he said. “I jumped 26-11. But that was it. I lost my motivation.”

Even devoid of passion, Proctor stayed competitive until he injured his hamstring again at the 1972 Olympic trials and did not make the team.

These days he finds inspiration in his family.

His son, Jerry Jr., was the second draft choice of baseball’s expansion Arizona Diamondbacks last spring.

His daughter, Christina, will be following his footsteps around the L.A. Invitational track this weekend.

Although Christina, a junior at Muir, is the Pacific League champion in the low and high hurdles, she is in only her second year of track and field and knows very little of her father’s legacy. He didn’t want to burden his kids with expectations and keeps his trophies packed away.

It was pointed out that his athletic accomplishments are something of a secret to his daughter.

He laughed as if he had come to an obvious decision: “I’ve got to talk to that girl.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Meet at a Glance

What: L.A. Invitational Indoor track meet.

When: Saturday. High school division starts at 11:15 a.m. (shotput and discus at USC’s Cromwell Field, 9 a.m.); open portion starts at 6 p.m.

Where: Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Miscellany: Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. . . . It is the 38th year of the event, all at the Sports Arena. . . . More information: www.lainvitational.com