Germantown’s Pratcher hopes to repeat form in long jump
GERMANTOWN – Gifted athletes just don’t have it together physically. Something clicks for them upstairs, too.
Take Germantown’s Shon Pratcher.
The senior long jumper was ready to shut it down at the sectional meet, content to win the title with a mark of 22 feet, 41⁄2 inches to save his legs for another day. But when Sussex Hamilton’s Ty Olejnik passed him on his final attempt, Pratcher called an audible.
Rather than be content with second-place finish and his third straight state meet berth, the competitive juices started to flow. A challenge was issued and Pratcher produced his best jump of the day to win the sectional for the second straight year.
His competitive spirit took him to another level.
“I’ve always grown up trying my hardest. Second place, yeah that’s cool, but it’s not first place,” Pratcher said. “I was going to scratch my last jump, but when he jumped that, I used that as extra motivation to get there.”
There probably won’t be any need for extra motivation this week. The WIAA state track and field meet is scheduled for Friday and Saturday at UW-La Crosse’s Memorial Stadium, and Pratcher is one of eight defending state champions from the area.
The reigning king of the Division 1 long jump, Pratcher is tied for the No. 1 seed in that event thanks to that sectionalwinning mark of 23-23⁄4. He’ll be trying to become the first repeat champion in the division since Milwaukee Bradley Tech’s Marcus Jenkins and Richland Center’s Paul Annear won in 2007 and ‘08.
“There is a lot of confidence going into it, but I have to put that in the back of my head and not worry about that,” Pratcher said. “I’m in the same place as everyone else. That’s how I
think about it.”
That is a wise mindset for a jumper to have. The combination of factors that make a great long jump the approach, how much of the board you hit, how you land — add an element of unpredictability that some other events don’t have.
Pratcher, however, is ahead of his performance from last season. As a junior, he posted a 22-7 early in the season and didn’t improve on that until he went 23-13⁄4 at state.
This year he has won with longer jumps on three occasions and they have improved as the season has gone on. His season bests of 23-3 at the Bulldog Invite on May 11, 24-31⁄2 at the North Shore Conference meet on May 16 and 23-23⁄4 came at the sectional
came within a span of two weeks.
Pratcher experienced similar progress in the triple jump, an event in which he also is also making his third straight appearance. He took ninth in state last season. After posting a season-best 45-4 last season, his only triple jump past 45 feet,
Pratcher has consistently had marks past 45 feet this season. His season best of 45-91⁄2, the seventh-best on the Division 1 honor roll, came at the North Shore relays May 3 and at the Bulldog Invitational.
Pratcher also posted the third-best 200-meter time (21.79) in the state this season, though he didn’t advance out of the sectional.
“You want him peaking at the right time. Hopefully we’re there,” Germantown jumps coach Rob Fliss said. “It’s kind of hard to tell. ... I think we’re in a pretty good space now.”
At state, Pratcher’s competition in the long jump figures to come from a handful of jumpers who have gone longer than 23 feet this season: Bay Port junior Cordell Tinch (23-6), Baraboo senior Kody Weiland, Waukesha West senior Adam Lembke (23-21⁄2) and Kenosha Indian Trail senior Armani Carmickle (23-2).
In other words, they’ll be plenty of motivation out there for Pratcher, who will compete at Indiana State next year.
“He’s a gamer,” Fliss said. “He wants to win. He’s used to winning. He likes winning. He’s quiet about it. He’s got that quiet confidence.”