TACOMA — Tumwater senior Xavier Bunn wasn’t projected to score a single point in the 2A triple jump state competition Friday.
Out of 20 entries in order of the best district jumps, he ranked 15th — the exact place he finished in the event last spring.
But Bunn had no interest in a repeat performance in his curtain call.
He finished the first flight in second place on the second day of the state meet at Mount Tahoma High School before clinching the state championship with a lifetime-best jump of 45 feet, 5.5 inches, on his first attempt in the finals. After he learned of his mark, he let out a roar and high fived his teammates and coaches beside him. Bunn wasn’t certain that the record will hold in first place, but as Columbia River’s John Reeder came up 6 inches short on his final jump, the senior leaned back against the fence in shock as his teammates patted his back and encouraged him.
“I couldn’t even scream in excitement. I was just like, ‘Wow, I did it.’ It just means the world,” Bunn said. “My mindset was really to just go do my best. All year, I’ve been underperforming. Today, I told my teammates, ‘I got y’all.’ I knew I had to come through.”
With the victory, Bunn is the first Tumwater triple jumper to win the state title since Lane Russell in 2013. Once the realization set in that he would leave Tacoma a state champ, he went down the line of supporters and gave hugs, none bigger than his mother, whom Bunn credited for getting him mentally prepared for his second state trip.
“We talked about it last night. Last night, I told her I was nervous because I didn’t eat dinner. She gave me the knowledge and the words that I needed to hear from my mother, and I got it done,” Bunn said.
One of his last embraces was with Zandrea Edenstrom, who coached Bunn his first two seasons at Timberline High School in Lacey before he transferred to Tumwater.
“That was amazing. She taught me what I knew from the beginning. Without her foundation that she built on me, I wouldn’t be where I’m at,” Bunn said.
Bunn has been dealing with ankle injuries throughout the past two seasons, including rolling the same ankle “three or four” times last spring and then again in the second meet this year. He went through physical therapy on Fridays, using the school’s early release to attend sessions before practice.
“I had to persevere. I did what I needed to do because I knew it was my last season and I couldn’t get held back by my ankle. I just couldn’t,” Bunn said. “I believed in myself from the jump because I know I’m bouncy and I know that, under pressure, I’m going to perform. Point blank. Period.”
Bunn added to his illustrious day by helping the T-Birds’ 4x100 relay team earn a spot in Saturday’s finals by finishing in 42.41 seconds, winning its heat. Tumwater will run in the finals at 12:30 p.m.
Bunn’s teammate Aaron Paul joined him in the triple jump but couldn’t accompany him in the finals, finishing 14th at 39-1.25.
In the 110-meter hurdles finals, W.F. West junior Maddox Sampson earned a seventh-place medal and was disappointed in his finish at 16.68 seconds, the slowest of his season. He blamed the performance on his complacency after a strong start.
“At the first hurdle, I got too much in my head that I was not gonna do well, and then once I saw I got in front of one person, I thought I was doing good. I was just thinking too much,” Sampson said.
Sampson said he surprised himself when he qualified for the finals in Thursday’s preliminary run, punching his ticket by just .03 ticks at 15.94 seconds. Entering the state meet, he was ranked 16th out of 22 runners. He missed over a month of the season after dealing with a hip flexor injury.
“I knew that if I didn’t make it, I wouldn’t have been mad. I did what I was supposed to do. I’m glad I medaled, and I’m surprised I did,” Sampson said. “But I did not have my best run in the finals. It was not my race.”
On his first throw of his state javelin debut, Tumwater senior Beckett Wall hurled a lifetime-best throw of 162 feet, 9 inches, to secure the eighth-place medal and surpass his previous PR by over 3 feet.
“I’ve been working with Coach [Jordan] Stray all week, and the work has finally paid off. I thought after that throw that I’d keep building on it, and obviously I didn’t,” Wall, whose next best throw of the day was 157-7 in the finals, said. “It’s great that I can have one last great memory with Tumwater now that I’m leaving this program.”
Black Hills senior Ezra Harris was the last man into the finals in ninth place but could not earn a medal in his second state trip. While his best throw of 158-10 was better than last year’s state mark of 147-8, he said his expectations were higher this year.
“Last year, I was just content that I got to go to state. This year, I was looking for a big number and I kind of blew it. But I got a better number than last year, and that’s all that matters,” Harris said.
