Fort Cherry jumper soars
Fort Cherry’s Koryn Jozwiakowski has an addiction of sorts.
A junior jumper, she can’t get enough of the runway, Rangers coach Ben Maxin explained.
“She’d work out 15 times a week if you'd let her,” Maxin said.
Maxin recalled a story about when he found out that Jozwiakowski actually set up a de facto runway at her house.
“She had started to do pretty well with the jumps and realized that she liked it and had a knack for it,” Maxin said. “She talked her parents into buying her some mats for the garage for her to jump on. She would go home and do it in her driveway and garage.”
Such a healthy addiction has placed Jozwiakowski among the top jumpers in WPIAL Class AA as she started this season by winning the triple jump at the South Hills Classic at Baldwin with a mark of 35 feet, 3 inches. As a sophomore last year, Jozwiakowski finished second at the WPIAL Class AA championships and competed in the PIAA championships at Shippensburg University.
“She’s always been one of the more explosive athletes in terms of short quickness and jumping ability even as a freshman,” Maxin said. “The triple jump she does well in because she’s a stickler to fine detail. She’s very critical of herself. She watches a lot of film of herself. She critiques herself quite a bit.”
Maxin credits jumping coach Kevin Center for showing Jozwiakowski how to break down film, and pairing that with natural ability is the X-factor for her success thus far.
“[Center] shows them Olympic jumpers just so they can see the perfect phases, the perfect finish. I think she’s taken a lot of that from him,” Maxin said. “Right from the get-go she had a very natural second phase, and that’s one of the hardest parts to teach a young jumper.”
So far this season, Jozwiakowski's top mark is 35 feet, 9 inches, but Maxin said she's jumped in the high 36foot range in practice, and she hopes to surpass 37 feet as the championships near.
“She has the ability to pop some big ones out here. I know she came into the season wanting to be in the 37s,” Maxin said. “I can see her easily jumping in the 37s.”
Fort Cherry doesn’t have the luxury of track facilities at the school, which limits preparation, especially in jumping events where proper runways and sand pits are required. The team has weekend practices at nearby schools Chartiers-Houston and Burgettstown.
“Anytime one of our kids does something well, it makes us really proud,” Maxin said in reference to the practice adaptations.
Jozwiakowski is also a hurdler and has emerged as a leader on a team that looks to compete in the team championships.
“She’s without a doubt one of the top leaders on the team. From the way she carries herself to the way she works out, she has a lot of respect from the younger athletes,” Maxin said.