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STEADILY JUMPING MEET TISSANA HICKLING By: Hubert Lawrence When Tissana Hickling steps forward to jump, something happens. “When I’m on the runway, I’m different”, she confessed on a rainy afternoon at the National Stadium East field. “I’m a very jovial person but once I touch that runway, my face gets serious”, she selfreported. “Then you can know”, the 19 year-old St Jago High School jumps lynchpin said, “that’s Hickling.” When you confront Tissana with her Champs results history, her countenance also changes. It mirrors the surprise and satisfaction she feels about her steady improvement. Ottey-like in body structure at 5-9 and 133 pounds, she managed, “Looking from Class 3 at 5.45 and now at 6 for Class 2 and now I’m at 6.39, so it’s a big improvement for me.” “I’m very surprised”, she said modestly. St Jago jumps coach Kurt Brooks knows why Hickling has made such big strides. He likens her to the incomparable Usain Bolt. “Her attitude, her work ethic, everything that sums up for a good athlete”, he analysed. “Look at a Usain Bolt. You know Glen Mills talks about it, his attitude towards the training, his attitude towards competition, so forth”, he outlined. “She is basically the female Usain Bolt”, he lauded, “but a jumper not a sprinter.’ This year, she has improved again and not just in the long jump. A focus on speed has yielded personal bests in the 100 metres, the 100 metre hurdles and all the jumps. While she has lost twice in the triple jump, to Myesha Nott of Rusea’s at the Carifta Trials and to Edwin Allen’s Lotavia Brown at the Youngster Goldsmith Classic, she did win a Central Championships long jump/triple jump double of 6.33 and 13.29 metres. To cast aside the doubt created by the absence of wind readings at Central Champs, she also has a Carifta Trials jump of 6.23m and that new personal best of 6.39m at the GC Foster Classic. Despite a flashy 100 metre time of 11.78 seconds at the Camperdown Classic, she is focused on jumping and isn’t tempted to try the sprints or the heptathlon. “Last year, Champs was very surprising for me”, she reviewed, “because I expected to take the long jump and the triple jump but unexpectedly, I didn’t.” Those titles went instead to the outstanding Samara Spencer of Hydel High School but Hickling isn’t bitter. “I still give God thanks”, she said, “but this year I’m more focused and ready so I’m going for the 2 records this year.” 2013 HICKLING AT CHAMPS 2014 Those marks stand at 6.52 metres in the long jump and 13.63 metres in the triple and Brooks thinks they are within reach. “She’s in that frame of mind right now”, he evaluated. “All being well, all being equal at Champs, she should have a good Champs.” This late starter was a hurdler first but St Jago head coach Keilando Goburn made a shrewd decision during her Class 3 days. “I was doing hurdles one day and my coach said I should go over to Mr. Brooks”, she remembers, “so from that I just got adapted to all the jumping and when I went to Champs 2013, I saw that I actually had potential where the jumps are concerned.” She came to St Jago by chance. Goburn first saw her during a visit to a coaching colleague at Portsmouth Primary. “I saw this tall girl towering about everybody, putting her toes in her mouth and I asked him about her”, he related of his first sight of her amazing flexibility, “if she does athletics, and he said no, he has actually been trying to convince her parents to get her to come out.” Goburn made the contact with them and the rest is history. According to the head coach, “Tissana Hickling is one of those special athletes who 2015 2016 CLASS 3 CLASS 2 CLASS 2 CLASS 1 Long Jump 5.45 (3 rd ) 5.77 (3 rd ) 5.95 (1 st ) 6.06 (2 nd ) High Jump 1.65 (4 th ) 1.70 (4 th ) 1.70 (3 rd ) Triple Jump 12.96 (2 nd ) 6
FEATURES has happened to grace the grounds of Ravensworth.” She dreams of competing for Jamaica in the Olympics. “I’m thinking about it but for now I’m more focused on the World Championships to London.” enroll in one of those top division 1 schools with a very good jumps programme”, he envisaged. Asked to name her favourite Champs moment and she bubbles, “Well I would have to say 2015, when it all began when I won with that 5.95.” If she brings her trend of steady improvement into Champs 2017, more bright memories lie ahead. Goburn confirmed her World Championship ambitions. “She actually came to me and said, ‘coach, what’s the qualifying standard for the world championships?’ I turned to her and I said 6 metre 70”, he recounted. “She said, ‘well, after Champs, I want to continue working’” he told the PREVIEW, “and maybe to see if we can try to make it for the World Championships.” “So we are hoping that she could take care of her part academically so she could maybe 7
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- Page 5 and 6: David ‘Wagga’ Hunt Memorial Sch
- Page 7 and 8: 8:15 am 110M Hurdles Dec. BOYS E.V.
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- Page 13 and 14: FEATURES It’s a mild surprise tha
- Page 15 and 16: Ristananna Tracey, who set the Cham
- Page 17: FEATURES Akeem Bloomfield Stacy-Ann
- Page 21 and 22: By: Glenroy Morgan The curtains cam
- Page 23 and 24: Michael Stephens Obrien Wasome Sean
- Page 25: Adrian Mitchell Christopher Taylor
- Page 28 and 29: Rushelle Burton 100M CLASS I Moody
- Page 30 and 31: Britany Anderson Janell Fullerton L
- Page 32: O’Brien Wasome Nigel Ellis Shanic
- Page 35: Nicolee Foster Tyrese Reid Kevin Ne
- Page 38 and 39: Lotavia Brown 34 Tissana Hickling P
- Page 40 and 41: Chrissani May Cemore Donald They bo
- Page 42 and 43: Sahjay Stevens Sanique Walker Stace
- Page 44 and 45: Cemore Donald Chrissani May Tia & T
- Page 46: Edwin Allen won this event at the P
- Page 49 and 50: Roje Stona DISCUS CLASS I Record: T
- Page 51 and 52: Jeremy Farr Aryamanya Rodgers & Kim
- Page 53 and 54: Antonio Watson Kevin Nedrick POINTS
- Page 55 and 56: Kimar Farquharson The Queen’s Gra
- Page 57 and 58: 200M CLASS I Record: Usain Bolt (Wm
- Page 59 and 60: 1910 Wolmer’s School 1911 Jamaica
FEATURES<br />
has happened to grace the grounds of<br />
Ravensworth.”<br />
She dreams of competing for Jamaica<br />
in the Olympics. “I’m thinking about it<br />
but for now I’m more focused on the<br />
World Championships to London.”<br />
enroll in one of those top division 1 schools with a very<br />
good jumps programme”, he envisaged.<br />
Asked to name her favourite Champs moment and she<br />
bubbles, “Well I would have to say 2015, when it all began<br />
when I won with that 5.95.” If she brings her trend of<br />
steady improvement into Champs 2017, more bright<br />
memories lie ahead.<br />
Goburn confirmed her World<br />
Championship ambitions.<br />
“She actually came to<br />
me and said, ‘coach,<br />
what’s the qualifying<br />
standard for<br />
the world championships?’<br />
I<br />
turned to her<br />
and I said 6<br />
metre 70”, he<br />
recounted. “She said, ‘well,<br />
after Champs, I want to<br />
continue working’” he told the<br />
PREVIEW, “and maybe to see<br />
if we can try to make it for the<br />
World Championships.”<br />
“So we are hoping that she<br />
could take care of her part academically<br />
so she could maybe<br />
7
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