Drake gives him Wings
CC’s Shane Feller flies to a third-place finish in the long jump
Shane Feller is set to land a personal-best long jump of 21 feet, 8 inches, which got him to the final round of the Class 1A boys long jump. He later improved on that mark and finished third.
By John Burbridge
DES MOINES — When Shane Feller said that nobody ever gets a personal-best when they jump into Charles City’s long jump pit, at first it sounded absurd.
Does gravity weigh long jumpers down more heavily in northern Iowa?
“The pit isn’t level and there usually is a mound in the middle,” Feller further explained. “That often takes inches off your jumps.”
The ideal long-jump pit is at Drake Stadium, according to Feller.
“Now this is nice,” he said. “And the jump board is a little raised where you can hit it better for more height.”
During the Class 3A long jump finals Friday morning at Iowa High School Track and Field Championships, Feller reached heights — or rather lengths — he had never attained before.
During the prelims, the Comet senior jumped 21 feet, 8 inches.
“That bettered my personal-best by five inches,” Feller said.
That got him into the finals.
There, Feller achieved another personal-best (21 feet, 8 3/4 inches), which was good enough for third place, not that far behind champion Chase Van Sant (22 feet, 1/2 inch) of Pella, and runner-up Tyler Bartz (21 feet, 10 1/2 inches) of Vinton-Shellberg.
This was Feller’s first and only time he qualified for state in the long jump.
“I missed it twice, both times by just an inch,” Feller said of missing the cut. “I don’t if I had made it down here before it would have made a difference today.”
Feller nearly qualified in two other events — the 100 dash and 4-by-100 relay — but came up about a tenth of a second short in both cases.
Though getting to Drake Stadium may have been elusive for Feller before, he’s due to be a fixture there come this fall as a member of the Drake Bulldogs football team.
The only other Comet in action Friday at the state meet was junior Sara Martin, who placed 16th in the shot put with a throw of 35 feet, 11 1/2 inches.
Brandi Butcher of Spencer was the Class 3A girls shot put champ with a throw of 41 feet, 4 3/4 inches.
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