Long jumper Sophia Beckmon caps high school career with title and a record at OSAA championships
Video by Logan Brown
By Israel La Rue
When Sophia Beckmon is competing, her personality completely changes.
“Other than track, I'm always, like, a people pleaser,” she said. “But when it comes to the sport, I'm the most selfish person ever.”
The Oregon City High School jumping phenom won her third OSAA 6A long jump championship Saturday at Hayward Field, breaking the state meet record she set last year with a jump of 20-9.
Beckmon broke her record by 7.5 inches on her first attempt of the day. Second-place finisher Elizabeth Graham of Tualatin was nearly two and a half feet behind.
Beckmon added second-place finishes in the 100 and 200 after her long jump title. She finished behind her friend Mia Brahe-Pederson in both events – by .32 in the 100 and by .51 in the 200.
Oregon City High School senior Sophia Beckmon wins the 6A girls long jump with a record-setting mark of 20-9 at the 2023 OSAA Track & Field State Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene. Photo by Maggie Troxell
Vanessa Beckmon, Sophia’s mother, said her daughter comes from a long line of introverts and dealing with the attention that comes with being a high caliber athlete can be a lot.
“She's getting better at it,” Vanessa said. “But it's a full process, I think, getting used to it. When we get home and we're all done with all of this, there is a lot of downtime, a lot of nothing, a lot of alone time to kind of reset everything. We make sure she has that time to reset.”
Beckmon started competing in track and field events during fifth grade because the company her mother was working for at the time hosted free track events for kids.
“She ran the mile, she ran the 100, she did the long jump, she ran the 400 as well,” Vanessa said. “She did everything and learned very quickly after that that she wanted to be a sprinter, but was also really good at the long jump.”
Beckmon focused solely on track and field and soon began seeing good results. She won a long jump title at the U15 Junior Olympics the summer after her eighth grade year.
With Beckmon’s progression came bigger meets. Bigger meets meant traveling all over the country. That’s when the media attention that comes with these meets became a challenge, but she is getting used to it.
“For someone who is really actually shy, she doesn’t like all the attention,” said DeShaun McKenzie, her jumps coach. “I mean, it's tough for her to even clap. So when she gets the clap going, the crowd is all eyes on her.”
McKenzie has been Beckmon’s jumping coach since her eighth-grade year. He said he caught wind of her after middle school from her club team.
“[I saw] immense talent,” he said. “It was just like clay. So if you had, like, clay that it doesn't get dirty, it doesn't stick to stuff, and it's super moldable. That was her, and I was just excited. I was excited to be able to work with her.”
McKenzie said because of her talent and athleticism, he got to a point where he invented drills for Beckmon and focused mainly on her takeoff.
“She was really flat,” he said. “So I would try to increase the velocity at the point of takeoff. Instead of deceleration into the board, I tried to get some acceleration and make those last three steps. Not the last two, but quick and powerful.”
Beckmon’s support system will continue to grow as she moves halfway across the country to compete for the University of Illinois.
“I think it'll just be important for her to have the people around – that she has her coaches here and in Illinois when she goes,” Vanessa said. “That family atmosphere to support her and help her do whatever she wants to do.”