'Stangs' soph Dwol sets AFA meet mark

 

It happened on her first attempt, which usually results in her best jump, but Agur Dwol really had no idea.

“I went out and I jumped,” the Mullen sophomore said, “and then the guy comes over to me and tells me about it, and I thought it was wrong. Then I started walking away and they said it over (the speaker system), and I went ‘Oh, shoot!’”

Indeed, Dwol shot past everybody … and nearly everyone in the nation.

At the recent indoor Air Force High School Open, Dwol won the triple jump with a leap of 40 feet, 3¾ inches. It gets better – her effort surpassed a 26-year-old meet record, was a personal best and ranks No. 4 in the U.S. in 2020. The performance also lifted her to MVP of the meet.

It’s happening for Dwol, all of 5-7½, 130 pounds. She won’t turn 16 until after her spring season and is the defending Class 4A champion in the event.

“It’s a really big deal,” an excited Mustangs coach Caitlin Able said. “Last year as a freshman, when she won state, there was some attention. But this is the big whammy ... everybody was clapping for her.”

An ever-modest Dwol said she’s “still super-surprised and I thought, “Dang, this is really No. 4 in the nation!’ … I’m still trying to figure it out.”

Figuring it out? Dwol’s mind has been working harder and longer than she can jump. The daughter of Sudanese parents who came here in 2000 had never participated in track or other sports before showing up for the Mullen team a year ago. Now, working with Able and Darius Reed as well as participating in their Mile High Track Club, Dwol suddenly has a chance to stay among the event’s elite.

“I thought to myself, ‘I may as well go do it,’” she said of joining last year’s tryouts. She was drawn to Mullen “by the academics and I wanted to play at least one sport for the school.”

In an event that requires physical gifts as well as leadership and wanting to follow the leadership, Able said Dwol “is a good student and terrific character-wise. She’s a wonderful person and I thoroughly enjoy coaching her. She’s always at practice on time and she’s very adamant about taking things seriously. She’s like a technician.”

Dwol’s jump surpassed her previous best by nearly 2 feet and is within range of the 42-0 turned in by Montbello’s Toni Smith in 2003, tops in Colorado female efforts according to MileSplit.com and local historian Tim Rutherford, who tracked bests for years. Only four others are between Smith and Dwol, including Widefield’s Nyeisha Wright, who leapt 41-8 in 2006.

Dwol won 4A a year ago in 37-2 and the current national bets is 42-10..

The thing is, she said she turns in her best work when she simply goes out to compete and doesn’t overthink.

“Yeah, because if I start thinking about it, I won’t do the little things right or think about the things I have to fix,” she said. “If I just go out there and do it, I usually perform better.”

Next for Dwol is this weekend’s indoor Nike meet in Boise, Idaho. A strong showing ensures advancement to a national gathering later in the season for a competitor experiencing major success in her first seasons.

“Yeah, I’m super-excited about it,” she said. “Actually for my age, I’m definitely performing very well and I’m just excited to see how I’ll do as senior.”