Hayden Snow Aiming To Bring National Title Back To Cleveland

           St. Mary Central Catholic grad, Hayden Snow will represent John Carroll at D3 Nationals. 

* Two days ago, the article below (and on the next page) was posted about John Carroll University's Hayden Snow and his pursuit to bring a Division 3 long jump title back to his greater Cleveland school. 

Well, the mission was accomplished! Snow made the trip to Boston count, as he claimed that national title he was seeking. See the updated summary immediately below provided directly from the new national champ! 

"Going into the meet I felt very confident. My first jump was a 7.49 and I was very happy about that, but I wanted more. I was going into finals with the the number one jump, but I knew everyone else was going to bring the heat during that round."      

"As my last jump came around the 7.49 stayed as the number one jump so I knew that I secured the title. The meet record is a 7.70 so that was goal on my last jump. That final jump was a 7.57 which I was pumped up about. Overall, the whole day was amazing, I still don't think it has all hit me yet. This was my goal all season and to see hard work, great coaching and the best support group I could ever ask for all come together as one, was a dream come true!" 

* Continue reading the original article that was posted on Friday, March 8th.  

Hayden Snow has made his way to Boston this weekend, where he'll take part in the NCAA Division 3 National Championships as one of the pre-meet favorites in the long jump competition. 

To say he's come a long way in his track and field career in a short period of time would be an understatement. Now a junior at greater Cleveland's John Carroll University, Snow didn't start participating in the sport until his sophomore year of high school and even then, he was only somewhat engaged as he was splitting training time with his original athletic passion - baseball. 

Things really got going in earnest for Snow during his junior year at St. Mary Central Catholic (Sandusky). At this time, he realized that track and field is where his athletic future resided and with the enhanced commitment that he put forth, he quickly began posting impressive results. Throughout that first season of dedicated training, Snow was consistently jumping 21 feet and he even hit a mark of 21-3.5 at the State Championship meet, where he placed eighth overall. Snow indicated, "after my initial success in the long jump event at State's, I knew right away that I wanted to come back the next year and win the thing." 

           Hayden Snow made a seamless transition from high school to college competition. 

As a senior, Snow's dream became a reality. He was locked in from the onset of the campaign, jumping high 21's and low to mid 22's, but it was at the state meet that year where everything clicked. Snow leaped 23-1.75 and secured the D3 state title that he had coveted.  

Following his brief but decorated high school career, Snow committed to John Carroll University with hopes that he'd take both his academics and his athletics to the next level. "I was very excited to get to John Carroll and immediately start working because I knew it was a program that was going to help me become better in all aspects of the sport as well as in life, for that matter," says Snow. 

It's clear that Snow demonstrates a high degree of talent, desire and a strong work ethic, but he feels the true factors that have helped him achieve the success he's enjoyed are the outstanding coaches on the John Carroll staff and the hard-working teammates that he trains with day in and day out.

Snow notes that, "so far my career at JCU has been everything that I could have asked for and more. The track and field success has been incredible and that means so much, but the team, coaches and the environment are everything for me. My progression in the sport from jumping to sprinting is credited to the fantastic coaching staff we have here and the work that my teammates and I put in together every day."  

In addition to being a great athlete, Snow is a very grounded and reflective young man. He understands that putting in the work is necessary to achieve lofty goals and despite the fact that things are going well for him currently, he never takes his success for granted. "Becoming eligible to compete at the national championship level was a goal of mine as soon as I stepped on John Carroll's campus and my coaches knew that and they believed in me. They put me in the best possible positions to attain my goals and they truly cared about me, not only as an athlete, but also as a person outside of the track and field realm." 

           Hayden Snow credits his coaches, teammates and the JCU environment for his success.

So how does Snow stack up to his long jumping counterparts, as he puts the final preparations in place prior to the biggest meet of his track and field career? The answer is he finds himself in a very good position, to say the least. Entering D3 Nationals in Beantown this weekend, Snow ranks first nation-wide with a mark of 25-1.25, which he achieved at the OAC Championships. In fact, he'd be in the mix for a long jump title regardless of division. He would reside in a tie for third place in Division 2 with his season's best jump and in the top division in the country - Division 1 - he'd be ranked as a highly respectable tie for thirty-fourth. 

To outside observers, those rankings may come as a surprise, but not to Snow and certainly not to John Carroll head coach, Kyle Basista, either. "Hayden is as competitive as they come. Everyone thinks his biggest attribute is his talent, but I believe that it's his competitiveness. He performs the best when he competes against himself. Our coaching staff throw numbers at him to hit and records for him to achieve and he responds very well to our challenges. To support that claim, he is the reigning John Carroll University record holder and he owns the fifth (tie) best jump in Division 3 history." 

Securing a national title is by no means a sure thing, but Basista feels that, "if things go well with his flight phase and his finish in Boston, that prestigious honor could very well be in Snow's grasp." 

As far as Snow's personal expectations go, he's got a positive outlook on how he feels things will unfold and he's ready to do whatever it takes to ensure that he ends his 2019 indoor season on a high note. "Athletically, I've progressed a tremendous amount since high school and I'm willing to take the measures that are necessary for this success and progress to continue," he says.  

MileSplit caught up with Hayden to discuss his track and field career, his remarkable 25-1.25 jump, what advice he'd supply to young athletes and more. 

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