Focused Carter follows father’s lead
James Carter has the tools. The 6-foot-3 senior from Oak Creek has the spring off the track to be one of the state’s top jumpers. He also has the speed and technique to be one of the top hurdlers in the Southeast Conference.
He even has the pedigree as the son of a former track athlete who had more than his share of glory in his day.
The essential gift, however, isn’t anything physical. It’s all upstairs.
“You’ve got to want it,” Carter said. “If you want it, you’re going to do the things that you’ve got to do to get better at it.”
It is a simple philosophy that has helped elevate Carter from a run-ofthe-mill performer two years ago to someone who is a threat to win titles in the long and triple jumps at the WIAA state meet next month in La Crosse.
A year ago, he qualified for the Division 1 state meet in every jumping event, taking second in both the long and triple jumps.
Video study, attention to detail and a genuine passion for the sport could put him over the top this time around.
“He takes pride in what he’s been able to accomplish,” Oak Creek coach Rick Stack said.
The University of Iowa recruit entered the week leading the
wisconsintrackonline.com state honor roll in the triple jump with a mark of 46 feet, 111⁄2 inches, which he recorded at the state indoor meet April 7. His season-best jump of 22-4 in the long jump ranks seventh.
On Tuesday, he won both events at the Southeast Conference relays and took second in the 110-meter high and 300 intermediate hurdles in 16.44 and 42.33 seconds, respectively, to help the Knights score the team title.
It is the first of what could be many titles in which Carter plays a large role. Not only does Oak Creek have what it takes to win at a conference level, but it has the high-level talent to score points at the sectional and state meets.
“Just begin a competitor in general, I love it,” Carter said. “Just getting out and competing and doing what you love, that’s the best. You can’t get much better than that.”
Carter has followed in the footsteps of his father.
James “Jimmy” Carter Sr. was a standout at Beloit in the early 1990s, helping it win the 1991 state title. As a senior in 1992, he was the runner-up in the Division 1 triple jump.
He was a half inch short of first place.
Carter Jr. also knows a little something about being oh-so-close to the grand prize.
He led the triple jump after his final attempt at state last year, but Bay Port’s Cordell Tinch passed him with a staterecord mark of 49-21⁄2 on his final attempt.
The points were the difference between first and second place for Oak Creek in the overall team title. The Knights finished one point behind Kimberly.
Carter has a chance for a better outcome this time. The advice he gets from home, however, focuses more on the process than the final result.
“Study,” Carter said when asked for the best advice his father has given him.
“You can never have too much knowledge about the event. Every day he’s showing me something on YouTube, showing me new drills to try, how to improve and that.
“You can always get better. You can always work more and improve.”
Carter started to come into his own in the jumps around this time last year.
He improved his season-best mark in the triple jump from 45-5 at the conference relays, to 46-11 at the conference outdoor to 47-1 1/4 at the sectional and 48-61⁄2 at state.
He enjoyed a similar experience in the long jump where he went 20-9 at the conference relays to 21-8 at the conference meet, to 22-3 at the sectional and finally 23-6 at state.
A year earlier his personal best in those events were 19-113⁄4 and 41-11.
“I knew eventually I was going to get up there. It was just a matter of just growing, getting stronger,” he said.
“After my sophomore year I wasn’t strong enough to even finish my races strong. Last year I started to feel stronger.”
That growth continues even though his attention is divided. One day in practice he’ll be focused on the high jump.
Another day he’ll be working on the vertical jumps. And on yet another day he might focus on the hurdles.
In the coming weeks, however, his focus will shift more to the jumps and another highly anticipated competition with Tinch, who owns the state’s top long jump (24-31⁄2) and is right behind Carter in the triple jump (46-91⁄2).
The last time they met Carter turned the tables on his friendly rival, winning the triple jump at the state indoor meet on his final jump of the day.
Until they meet again.
“It’s kind of funny,” Carter said. “I talked to him at the meet a little bit and then after we were done competing, we basically said to each other, ‘See you in La Crosse.’ ”