BURKLEIGH LANGE-EUFAULA
Burkleigh Lange is a junior at Eufaula High School where she plays basketball and tried out and made the cheer squad for next year. But her emphasis this spring is on the long jump in track which she qualified in for state last year.
“Going to state was a bit surprising. It was so big and surreal, and I was really nervous and I think I let that get to me. I learned that you can’t always expect to do perfectly the first time you try something new, and I found that I have a way to go to get to that championship level,” said Burleigh who is also in National Hornor Society, the academic team and treasurer of the student council.
Her mom was a high jumper at OU and so Burkleigh has had her advice and help as a role model but there’s another role model Burkleigh has found who is so far nameless.
“There’s a girl from Savanna, I don’t know her name, but I always see her at meets and she was a really good jumper, and I saw myself wanting to be like that.”
Burkleigh admits that she sometimes has a problem doing well when circumstances force her into a third and final jump in competition. But being successful on third jumps is a key part of her track highlight.
“Last year we were at a meet in Keys. It was cold and rainy and miserable. We were jumping at 4’8” and I had missed it twice. I just wanted to do the third jump quickly and get out of the rain, but I psyched myself up and made it on the third try and I was soaring with adrenaline. Then we went to 4”10” which I had never cleared, and it was down to me and one other girl. We both missed on our first two jumps but then I cleared it on my third try to set a new PR and won the meet. It was my best jump day ever despite the weather.”
This spring Burkleigh’s goal is to break the 5-foot mark and qualify for state again “and hopefully be over my mental block about third jumps this time around.”
