Former Te Kura o Tititea Mount Aspiring College (MAC) student Ryan Young continues to excel in horizontal jumps, setting notable personal bests (PBs).

Ryan, a member of the Aspiring Athletes Club, was MAC’s alumni award recipient last year, coming from a modest base in 2017 to becoming NZ’s Men’s U20 Triple Jump (TJ) champion in 2023. 

Aspiring Athletes coach Michael Beable said this was a “tremendous achievement, and testimony to [Ryan’s] self-belief, discipline and perseverance”.

In the recent Men’s Open Long Jump competition in Auckland (November 30), Ryan set a PB and Aspiring Athletes record, with 6.90m. 

His jump was 45cm ahead of second place and was achieved off a shortened run-up (as he eases his body into the competitive jumping environment after a winter buildup).

In the Men’s Open Triple Jump (TJ) event, he registered an impressive distance of 14.32m.

This was a substantial PB (by 38cm) which gave him a close second place, just 15cm behind Scott Thompson, who has won national titles in the event. 

Ryan was again coming off a shortened runup, for his first TJ of the season. Off his faster, full-length runup, he can expect to go quite a bit further; perhaps by another 0.5m or more, Michael said.

The triple jump, otherwise known as the Hop, Step and Jump, places enormous strain on the body, Michael explained.

“For example, when landing from the Hop phase and transferring into the Step phase, adult males can experience forces on their body of up to 15-22 times their body weight - a very significant G-force.

“Hence, one uses a shortened runup approach in the first couple of TJ competitions to allow the body to adapt to the high G-forces involved.”

Ryan has completed his third year in civil engineering at the University of Canterbury and is currently undertaking engineering work experience in Auckland over the summer holidays.

He will now recover from his two weeks’ of jumping competitions and build up for his next (likely to be the Lovelock Classic in Timaru on January 11, 2025).

Michael said Ryan will be in Wānaka for much of this time, using the local sprinting and jumping areas at the 3P track, as he strives to win a medal at the national championships in Dunedin early in March. 

There will be considerable interest in this event, which will be hotly contested, Michael said. It will include the South-African based Olivier brothers, Ethan (current world junior TJ champion and NZ record holder, with a world class 17.01m) and Welre, who has a legal best of 16.59m).

PHOTOS: Supplied