Tumwater’s Russell eyeing three-peat in 2A triple jump

There Peyton Russell was, standing in her kitchen — unassuming. She was cooking what her brother, Lane, could only assume was her usual post track meet meal.

“A fried egg on a piece of toast,” he said. “I can’t imagine it was anything other than that.”

Lane Russell, a sophomore at Princeton University, flew home to surprise his sister at the Class 2A Southwest District track and field meet.

Peyton, a Tumwater High School senior, is the two-time defending 2A state champion in the triple jump. She’ll compete in this year’s state meet in three events (triple jump, long jump, 4x200-meter relay).

“The idea and the goal was that I’d show up to districts and pop up around the time she was going to be jumping — here’s a surprise and some adrenaline,” Lane said.

That didn’t quite happen. His flight from New Jersey was delayed multiple times. So much so, Lane said the pilot called it the most frustrating day he’d ever had trying to fly a plane.

“It was quite a fiasco,” Lane said.

He arrived home hours after Peyton won the district title in the triple jump (35 feet, 6 1/2 inches) and took second in the long jump (16-06 1/2).

So, he crept into the kitchen and did what any loving sibling would do.

“I ran up and gave her a fright,” Lane said. “I certainly would have preferred the meet, but I got to give her a pretty good scare because she didn’t expect me to be in the house.”

She screamed, they hugged, and Peyton’s stage was set for her final run at the 2A state meet at Mount Tahoma High School, which takes place Thursday through Saturday. Peyton is healthy after an injury-riddled winter, and her brother — a former 2A triple jump state champion — is home to watch.

“I’ll be there for all of her events at state,” Lane said. “I’ve been able to be here to see her train the week leading up to it.”

Peyton Russell is seeking titles in the two jumping events, and will run a leg of Tumwater’s 4x200-meter relay. She’s looking for the three-peat in the triple jump, and a second title in the long jump — she won it two years ago as a sophomore.

“I’m going to try for it,” Russell said. “That would be great to end my high school season as a double state champion.”

Health-wise, Russell — a University of Miami commit — hasn’t hit 100 percent this year. She sprained both sides of her left ankle in December doing stadium hops. That set off a chain reaction between her hip and back — after overcompensating for the ankle.

“She’s been hurt all year,” Tumwater coach Tracy Johnson said. “It was three, four weeks into the season before she attempted a jump.”

Because of the ankle injury, Russell missed her indoor season with The Flying AJ’s track and field club — where she trains with other premier jumpers in the area, including Mountlake Terrace’s Chinne Okoronkwo, and Curtis’ Alexis Ellis and Saudia James-Heard.

Russell jumped her season-best at the Pasco Invitational (38-09) in April — that’s two feet off her personal-bestof 40-08, which she turned in at the state meet last year.

Russell recorded her season-best in the long jump (16-10 1/2) at the 52nd Shaner Invivational this year — her personal-best is 18-05. Incidentally, her back flared up during that meet.

“If she’s hurt — unless she’s hurt really bad — she’s always trying to push through it and fight through it,” Johnson said.

Russell passed through the 2A EvCo meet, and limited her number of jumps at the district meet to help speed up recovery. She said she’s been working with her dad, who is a chiropractor, and she hopes to be at 100 percent by Thursday.

“I’ve just been working on getting back so I can go for the three-peat,” she said.

Russell could, after all, become the first female track and field athlete in Tumwater history to win an event three years in a row.

“It’s kind of unreal,” she said. “At the time, I don’t really think about it, but then, looking back on it, I just feel great about it. I feel really blessed to have gotten that. Hopefully, I’ll get it this year.”

This story was originally published May 25, 2016 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Tumwater’s Russell eyeing three-peat in 2A triple jump."