Henderson confident heading into NCAA track championships

Howe has another distance in mind for Henderson for this weekend’s NCAA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon. He’s just not telling anyone but Henderson.

Henderson will compete in long jump at 6:30 p.m. MDT today and triple jump at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at historic Hayward Field.

The Dayton, Ohio, native comes into the weekend ranked 20th in long jump and third in triple jump, with each event having 24 competitors. The top eight finishers in each event earn first-team All-American honors, with the next eight earning second-team honors.

Henderson’s exploits in triple jump this season have been nothing short of amazing. She came to UW as a long jumper and sprinter and had never once competed in triple jump in either high school or college before this season.

Henderson produced a school record in her first outdoor meet in triple and has been breaking her own mark ever since. She went 44 feet, 3½ inches at the West Preliminary to win the event by 4 inches.

Howe said her success might be a surprise to those outside of UW track and field but not to those who see her ability on a daily basis.

“I’m not surprised in terms of her ability and her ceiling, but surprised by how quickly she’s gotten this good,” Howe said. “I’ve always known she’s had elite talent, but it’s always a difference when you pair elite talent with elite performances.”

Henderson hit 43-0½ in her first meet this spring to set the school record and has broken it three times since then. But since Henderson is so new to the event, she’s not even sure when she hits a big jump like she is with long jump — an event she’s done since before high school.

“It felt so effortless and smooth and natural, so I wasn’t predicting I would jump a big jump,” Henderson said of her winning mark in the prelims. She said she hasn’t competed in the event long enough to know when she’s made a good jump, adding, “I’m waiting for everyone else’s response to see how I did.

“I’ve always been springy and love jumping, so it just kind of came natural to me.”

Henderson hit 44-3½ on her first of three jumps, something she’s learned from training with Howe through the years.

“It’s the way we train,” he said. “You have to be ready off the bat. It’s (the NCAA meet), not a small meet that you can work your way into. You’ve got to hit it hard early and see where things fall. It’s something we do by design.”

Now comes the biggest stage of Henderson’s career to date.

And that might not be a bad thing. The UW junior has seemed to be able to rise to the level of the competition, with nine event wins in triple this season, including both the Mountain West indoor and outdoor titles.

At the MW outdoor event, Henderson led for the first four jumps before falling to second during the fifth jump. She responded with a leap of 43-10½ to win the event by a foot.

“I’m excited to have really good competition pushing me,” Henderson said. “Throughout the year, I don’t really get that until toward the end of the season. I’m excited to see how I respond to the level of high competition.”

Henderson’s top long jump this season was 20-2½, and she finished eighth in the West Prelims at 20-0½. The eighth-best mark in the event coming in is 20-4, with the top mark 21-6. The top triple jump mark is 46-1½.

Like in the preliminary meet, both Henderson and Howe like that Henderson will compete in long jump first and triple jump second.

“If I don’t do well in long jump, I’ll take it out in triple jump,” Henderson said with a big smile. “I’m usually hot and ready to go for the triple. And if I do well in long, that correlates well for me as well.

“My goal is to come out and show them that just because my jersey says Wyoming on it, it doesn’t mean that I’m not good. I’m going to make a mark and make a name.”