MAPLETON – A local youth has just achieved the top honour in high school track and field.
Mapleton resident Joel Rumph won the gold medal in Junior boys high jump at the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championships in Ottawa on June 9.
Rumph won the event with a jump of 198cm – or nearly 6’6”.
One of the shortest jumpers at the meet, at 5’10”, Rumph, at the age of 15, finished the high school season with an impressive record, taking first place at every meet he attended except one, where he finished second.
Rumph is a Grade 10 student at Woodland Christian High School in Breslau and learned to jump locally in Drayton at Community Christian School at the age of six in Grade one.
His parents, Arnold and Teresa Rumph, say that’s one of the biggest factors in their son’s success.
“Of course there is natural talent, but learning correct technique, and learning not to be afraid of the bar at a very young age, is critical,” notes Teresa.
OFSAA champ Joel Rumph of Mapleton in Ottawa on June 9. Submitted photo
Rumph built his own high jump at home and spent hours practicing as a child. Now he trains with coach Chris Timm at the Laurel Creek Track and Field Club in Waterloo.
Rumph’s high school season saw him break many records and ended on the podium with a gold medal, setting a new personal best and a new Woodland Christian School record.
Rumph’s accomplishments this season include:
- Track Wars, May 5 in Cambridge. First place with the Senior boys (Junior boys didn’t finish) with a jump of 195cm, unofficially breaking the Junior boys record and setting a new personal best and a new Woodland Christian School record;
- Ontario Christian Schools meet in St. Catharines, May 8. First Place with a jump of 196cm, new OCSSAA record, new personal best and new Woodland record;
- District 8 meet on May 18 in Cambridge. First place with a jump of 190cm, a new District 8 record;
- CWOSSA meet in Brantford May 25. Second place with a jump of 178cm;
- OFSAA West Regionals in Cambridge on June 3. First place with a jump of 191cm.
Rumph’s jump at OFSAA qualifies him to compete at the Legion Canadian Youth Nationals in Quebec in August with the Laurel Creek Track club.
