St. Francis dancer leaps to triple-jump school records

Three days after launching themselves to the top of the state's triple jump class, Minnetonka senior Mia Barron and St. Francis junior Bailey DeMar competed head-to-head at the Hamline Elite Meet.

Barron, runner up at the Class 2A state meet last season and future Division I jumper at Virginia, was expected to be there. DeMar, a 5-4 future dance team captain, was not.

"It was really intimidating being next to her," DeMar said. "She has a lot more muscle than me. I'm quite short compared to what most triple jumpers are, probably by six or seven inches."

Explosive things can come in diminutive packages. Only Barron, with a leap of 39 feet, eight inches, has gone farther than DeMar (38-7½) so far this spring. Both surpassed last season's state-winning mark from Piper Jensen of Minnetonka (38-3/4).

DeMar said she "didn't believe it at first," but her performance was no fluke. She kept outdoing herself at the April 22 meet at Cambridge-Isanti, going past 36, then 37 and finally, beyond 38 feet. Each mark was a new school record. Barron unleashed her big jump on the same day about 60 miles away at Minnetonka. Crowd reaction was likely similar.

"Bailey gets a lot of oohs and ahhs because people don't expect a 5-4 girl to jump that far," St. Francis track and field coach Andy Forbort said.

Elements of a competitive dance background helped DeMar become an elite jumper. But her desire to excel at both activities taught her hard lessons.

She struggled in her sophomore season as she "lost a lot of muscle," DeMar said. "During the dance season I'd go to the gym afterward to train for track. But I ended up losing a lot of weight because I wasn't eating enough for how much I was burning off."

Better eating habits helped DeMar gain back about 12 pounds. She worked with a personal trainer at the YMCA to strengthen her legs. She lifted weights and jumped at school last summer and watched the triple jump online to learn techniques.

The keys to successful a triple jump, DeMar said, are reinforced by dance: Power. Flexibility. Ability to sustain momentum.

"When we do leaps in dance, it's like extending the second phase of a triple jump," she said.

Muscle memory, another of her strong suits, comes from dance, where "you had to memorize a whole dance routine in two or three days," she said.

"That gave me a drive to go and compete there," DeMar said.

Attention earned through her jumping exploits also provided fuel.

"It's really scary but it's a good feeling, too," DeMar said. "All of my hard word is paying off and it's made me want to work harder to keep my position."

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574