Clap, clap, clap.
Run, run, run.
Jump, jump, jump.
Miss, miss, miss.
So went the NCAA Track and Field Championships for an extremely disappointed Jason Boness Thursday, as the Oregon high jumper ended his up-and-down junior season with one clearance and three straight misses at 7 feet, 1/4 inches.
Even with the Hayward Field faithful clapping in unison to help him out, Boness couldn’t find it in him to will himself over the bar.
After his third and final miss, he immediately tore off his sunglasses and chucked them to the ground. He then went over to the grass, fell down on his back and threw his hands over his head in frustration.
Finally, as he came to grips with his results, he punched the ground and walked off.
“I’m really pissed,” Boness said. “I don’t know. It’s been a tough year. It was a hit-and-miss thing. Inconsistency.”
Boness finished in 13th place with his only successful jump of 6-11 3/4. Weber State senior Charles Clinger, the 2001 world leader in the event (7-8 1/2) won the NCAA title with a clearance of 7-6 1/2.
This was the meet that Boness had been looking forward to for so long. He always loves to jump at home and especially at big meets when the pressure is on. Last season, he cleared a personal-best 7-5 at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships at Hayward Field. At this year’s Pac-10s two weeks ago, he jumped a season-best 7-3 en route to finishing second in the league after losing a jump-off.
But Thursday just wasn’t his day, and Boness admitted that it felt different out there for some reason.
“It was home, but it didn’t really feel like home,” he said. “I felt like I had enough adrenaline. I had the crowd behind me, but something was off.”
The 6-3 junior All-American will now take the summer off to relax and recharge his battery. After his splendid sophomore campaign, he had high hopes for this season. Now, he says, it’s time for a break.
“I’m burned out with track right now,” Boness said. “I just need a rest.”
Boness cited less attention from coaches this season as one of the reasons for his inconsistencies. Last year, he said, he would get daily workouts from assistant coach Bill Lawson.
“Well, what’s been going on is that now that we got all these great athletes, I haven’t been getting a lot of coaching,” Boness said. “There’s no specific high jump coach. It’s been really frustrating.”
Lawson knows how much of a competitor Boness is and believes he can put this behind him and come back even stronger for his senior season.
“I feel bad for Jason,” said Lawson, who specializes in the field events. “He would have loved to contribute to the team. He just didn’t have it today. I think Jason needs a rest. He’ll be back and we’ll try again.”
Even without Boness scoring points for the Oregon men’s track and field team, the Ducks stand in first place overall with 27 points, thanks to John Stiegeler and Santiago Lorenzo’s back-to-back NCAA titles in the javelin and decathlon, respectively.
“That’s what hurts the most,” Boness said. “We’re doing so good. I let the team down.”