Athletes to Watch: Division I Small Schools


Jumps

Jalena Curbeam

Curbeam is heavily favored to win both of the long jump events at the state championship. 

She comes in at 17-04 in the long jump and 35-03.5 in the triple jump. Both of those marks are much farther than the competition based on the results in the qualifiers. Teammate Kennedi Johnson has jumped over 17 feet this season as well, and should be able to compete with Curbeam despite being seeded 15th.

Regardless of who does the best job on Wednesday, this will be a big opportunity for East to get lots of points before the running events even start.

Dontarius Steward

The senior from Memphis Academy of Health Sciences is ranked second in the division for both the long and triple jumps. He jumped 22-09 in the sectional to qualify him for the state championship in the long jump. That's second only to Alcoa's Bryan Brown. Steward also hit 43-06 in the triple jump, which is just a half inch behind Brainerd's Joseph Norwood.

Steward has set new personal bests in both of those events heading into the state championship. He jumped 21-4 in the sub-sectional meet and 21-6 in the decathlon. In the triple jump, Steward nearly PRed by a foot.

Expect big things out of Steward as he looks to gain momentum and score some crucial early points for Memphis Academy of Health Sciences.