I’M COMING FOR YOU, COACH
5/25/2019 12:02:00 PM | Track & Field
Madlock Chasing School Triple Jump Record That’s Stood for 20 Years.
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
In the 20 years since Stacey (Bowers) Smith won the NCAA Championship and set Baylor's record in the triple jump, few have come close to her mark of 46 feet, 1 ¼ inches. No one else had even hit the 45-foot mark.
Until now.
Smith, who has coached NCAA champion Felix Obi on the men's side and a pair of women's All-Americans in Jessica Ubanyionwu and Brianna Richardson, is tutoring a protégé that could eventually break all of her school records.
Sophomore Alex Madlock from Bangs, Texas, won the Texas Relays title this spring with a career-best mark of 45-3 that ranks fourth nationally going into this weekend's NCAA Championship West Preliminary rounds in Sacramento, Calif.
That also makes Madlock the No. 2 performer in Baylor program history with the fourth-best overall mark, behind only three of Smith's collegiate jumps.
Coach, she's coming for you.
"I might be sad for a little bit, but I'd get over it," said Smith, who's in her 17th season as an assistant track coach at her alma mater. "As much as I would love to keep it, I think it would be even better to see her get it. She's close, I think it's just a matter of time. She's been working really hard, so I don't know if she's working hard to get to nationals or beat my record. Either way, I'll be proud of her."
No one has been in Madlock's corner more than Smith. She believed in her at a time when she could have let her go, and she was with her in Austin when Madlock beat a field that included Kansas State's Shardia Lawrence, who swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles this year; and Tiffany Flynn, and indoor and outdoor All-American from Mississippi State.
"I jumped against the best competition I've ever seen in my life," said Madlock, who placed third in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump at the Big 12 outdoor meet. "I've never seen a girl go 44 on her first jump. I jumped 42 on my first jump – that was the first time I've ever done that – and I was sitting in 10th place. What the heck? What is this?"
After Baylor head coach Todd Harbour had to fight just to get Madlock in the A section, she made the finals with a leap of 44-4 ¼, topped that with a jump of 44-6 and then went 45-3 on her last attempt.
"I was just happy to be there," Madlock said. "I was an underdog for a very long time. I remember in Arkansas, where I had won the meet the year before, I couldn't even make the invitational. So, I was like, 'I have to prove myself. 42 isn't going to cut it, girl. You've got to get it together.' And I knew that."
That 45-foot jump is rarified air for the two-time 3A state champion from Bangs. She went 41-1 ¼ in winning the 2016 Meet of Champions at the end of her junior season, competing at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.
"I actually have this video where Coach Harbour is sitting on the sidelines, watching. And when I jump, you can see him look at me like, 'Who the heck is this girl?''' Madlock said. "And at that time, I was just doing it on really raw talent."
Smith offered her a full-ride scholarship on the spot. The only issue was whether Madlock could even get in school. She was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and had always struggled academically.
To get the extra help she needed in the classroom, Madlock transferred to nearby Brownwood High School, a larger school better equipped to handle any kind of special needs. But, the UIL ruled her ineligible to compete on the varsity level as a senior.
"I'm not going to lie, that senior year was the most depressing year of my life," she said. "No. 1, because I wasn't hurt, there was nothing wrong with me. . . . In track, it doesn't matter where you go, how big the school is, because a mark is a mark. If you jump 41 feet, you jump 41 feet, no matter where you are. It was obvious that I wasn't transferring for athletic reasons."
That was the moment when Smith and Baylor could have pulled the scholarship offer and abandoned Madlock, "because I hadn't signed my name yet," she said.
"But, Coach Stacey was like, 'No, I believe in you. You've got this. I'm going to get you there, I promise you,''' said Madlock, who signed her letter of intent with Baylor in November 2017. "To hear her say those words to me on the phone meant the world to me. I was so scared that she was going to tell me that maybe I could go to junior college and then come back. But no, she didn't do that. That was so powerful, beyond words."
Despite basically taking her senior year off, Madlock had her first 42-foot jumps as a freshman at Baylor, finishing second at the Michael Johnson Invitational with a new career best of 42-6.
What she's done this outdoor season, though, is mind-boggling. After not making the finals in either the long jump or triple jump at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February, she hit the ground running with a winning mark of 44-0 ¼ at the Baylor Invitational.
Harbour uses Madlock's story as motivation for his other athletes, saying, "Those guys could make the same kind of move Alex Madlock made. She goes from not making the finals at the Big 12 meet indoors to No. 4 in the country."
Other than the Big 12 outdoor meet, where she finished third in 43-1 ½, Madlock has gone over 44 feet in every meet.
"She was not happy (after the indoor meet), and she vowed not to ever feel that way again," Smith said. "We began to work on her technique a bit, changed a few things technically, and she trusted them and started jumping them big. I think the big thing year is she actually had a base. She didn't compete her final year in high school, so we had to start all over from scratch and get her into shape. It took a year for her to figure out my coaching technique and for me to figure out how to coach her. We understand each other, and she knows what I expect of her."
Ultimately, she expects her to break that school record that has stood for 20 years. Ranked second in the West region, Madlock will begin the triple jump competition at 5 p.m. CDT Saturday, with the top 12 advancing to the NCAA Championships next month in Austin.
"Even if these next couple of meets don't go the way I want them to go, I'm not going to doubt myself, because I have had a heck of a season," she said. "Sophomores don't jump 45 feet. That's unheard of. I'm just excited to see what I can do."
Baylor Bear Insider
In the 20 years since Stacey (Bowers) Smith won the NCAA Championship and set Baylor's record in the triple jump, few have come close to her mark of 46 feet, 1 ¼ inches. No one else had even hit the 45-foot mark.
Until now.
Smith, who has coached NCAA champion Felix Obi on the men's side and a pair of women's All-Americans in Jessica Ubanyionwu and Brianna Richardson, is tutoring a protégé that could eventually break all of her school records.
Sophomore Alex Madlock from Bangs, Texas, won the Texas Relays title this spring with a career-best mark of 45-3 that ranks fourth nationally going into this weekend's NCAA Championship West Preliminary rounds in Sacramento, Calif.
That also makes Madlock the No. 2 performer in Baylor program history with the fourth-best overall mark, behind only three of Smith's collegiate jumps.
Coach, she's coming for you.
"I might be sad for a little bit, but I'd get over it," said Smith, who's in her 17th season as an assistant track coach at her alma mater. "As much as I would love to keep it, I think it would be even better to see her get it. She's close, I think it's just a matter of time. She's been working really hard, so I don't know if she's working hard to get to nationals or beat my record. Either way, I'll be proud of her."
No one has been in Madlock's corner more than Smith. She believed in her at a time when she could have let her go, and she was with her in Austin when Madlock beat a field that included Kansas State's Shardia Lawrence, who swept the Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles this year; and Tiffany Flynn, and indoor and outdoor All-American from Mississippi State.
"I jumped against the best competition I've ever seen in my life," said Madlock, who placed third in the triple jump and seventh in the long jump at the Big 12 outdoor meet. "I've never seen a girl go 44 on her first jump. I jumped 42 on my first jump – that was the first time I've ever done that – and I was sitting in 10th place. What the heck? What is this?"
After Baylor head coach Todd Harbour had to fight just to get Madlock in the A section, she made the finals with a leap of 44-4 ¼, topped that with a jump of 44-6 and then went 45-3 on her last attempt.
"I was just happy to be there," Madlock said. "I was an underdog for a very long time. I remember in Arkansas, where I had won the meet the year before, I couldn't even make the invitational. So, I was like, 'I have to prove myself. 42 isn't going to cut it, girl. You've got to get it together.' And I knew that."
That 45-foot jump is rarified air for the two-time 3A state champion from Bangs. She went 41-1 ¼ in winning the 2016 Meet of Champions at the end of her junior season, competing at Clyde Hart Track & Field Stadium.
"I actually have this video where Coach Harbour is sitting on the sidelines, watching. And when I jump, you can see him look at me like, 'Who the heck is this girl?''' Madlock said. "And at that time, I was just doing it on really raw talent."
Smith offered her a full-ride scholarship on the spot. The only issue was whether Madlock could even get in school. She was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and had always struggled academically.
To get the extra help she needed in the classroom, Madlock transferred to nearby Brownwood High School, a larger school better equipped to handle any kind of special needs. But, the UIL ruled her ineligible to compete on the varsity level as a senior.
"I'm not going to lie, that senior year was the most depressing year of my life," she said. "No. 1, because I wasn't hurt, there was nothing wrong with me. . . . In track, it doesn't matter where you go, how big the school is, because a mark is a mark. If you jump 41 feet, you jump 41 feet, no matter where you are. It was obvious that I wasn't transferring for athletic reasons."
That was the moment when Smith and Baylor could have pulled the scholarship offer and abandoned Madlock, "because I hadn't signed my name yet," she said.
"But, Coach Stacey was like, 'No, I believe in you. You've got this. I'm going to get you there, I promise you,''' said Madlock, who signed her letter of intent with Baylor in November 2017. "To hear her say those words to me on the phone meant the world to me. I was so scared that she was going to tell me that maybe I could go to junior college and then come back. But no, she didn't do that. That was so powerful, beyond words."
Despite basically taking her senior year off, Madlock had her first 42-foot jumps as a freshman at Baylor, finishing second at the Michael Johnson Invitational with a new career best of 42-6.
What she's done this outdoor season, though, is mind-boggling. After not making the finals in either the long jump or triple jump at the Big 12 Indoor Championships in February, she hit the ground running with a winning mark of 44-0 ¼ at the Baylor Invitational.
Harbour uses Madlock's story as motivation for his other athletes, saying, "Those guys could make the same kind of move Alex Madlock made. She goes from not making the finals at the Big 12 meet indoors to No. 4 in the country."
Other than the Big 12 outdoor meet, where she finished third in 43-1 ½, Madlock has gone over 44 feet in every meet.
"She was not happy (after the indoor meet), and she vowed not to ever feel that way again," Smith said. "We began to work on her technique a bit, changed a few things technically, and she trusted them and started jumping them big. I think the big thing year is she actually had a base. She didn't compete her final year in high school, so we had to start all over from scratch and get her into shape. It took a year for her to figure out my coaching technique and for me to figure out how to coach her. We understand each other, and she knows what I expect of her."
Ultimately, she expects her to break that school record that has stood for 20 years. Ranked second in the West region, Madlock will begin the triple jump competition at 5 p.m. CDT Saturday, with the top 12 advancing to the NCAA Championships next month in Austin.
"Even if these next couple of meets don't go the way I want them to go, I'm not going to doubt myself, because I have had a heck of a season," she said. "Sophomores don't jump 45 feet. That's unheard of. I'm just excited to see what I can do."
Players Mentioned
Long Jump/Triple Jump
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