Following long jump victory a month ago at California Winter Outdoor Championships, two-sport standout seeks All-America honors in Boston in debut on national stage

By Landon Negri for DyeStat

Long-term success is never an accident. But there are occasions where the results of hard work might go in a different direction than first thought.

Such has been the case of JSerra High senior Josh Jornadal.

With one leap at the California Winter Outdoor Championship, he might have altered the trajectory of his sporting life.

Now, Jornadal will test his jumping talents for the first time on a national stage Sunday at the New Balance Nationals Indoor Championship in Boston.

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Jornadal won the long jump title at the Feb. 4 meet at Arcadia High, leaping a personal-best of 23 feet, 5.50 inches (7.15m).

That surpassed his previous best by a foot and firmly planted him as one of the top high school jumpers in the state, as 23-5.50 would have been good enough to make the podium at last year's CIF State Championships.

And it’s early, but at the moment, he has the top long jump mark in California.

This from a student-athlete who didn’t make it out of the Trinity League Finals a year ago.

“I was possibly going to play football,” Jornadal said of his upcoming college plans, “but after that, I don’t think that’s an option anymore.”

Jornadal was JSerra’s leading receiver in the fall, catching 21 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns. But with his newfound success in track and field, his future plans have become more fluid.

For a guy who feels like he excels on the big stage – perhaps that feeling came from the bright lights and big stadiums of football – this is an opportunity like he’s never had.

He feels like the stage is his. And maybe the stage is set. Only five athletes surpassed the 23-foot mark at New Balance Nationals Indoor last year, with two of them graduating. And just six of the 38 entries in the long jump championship have better performances this year than Jornadal.

“I love those last jumps, where you scratch those three and then you get the last one to put a number up there,” Jornadal said. “I like that scenario for me. I like being under pressure.”

His coach agrees. JSerra track and field coach Chase Frazier believes Jornadal will thrive at The TRACK at New Balance.

“I think for a guy like him,” Frazier said, “that’s a really good venue for him.”

Last spring, Jornadal had a difficult day at the league championship meet and didn’t move on to the postseason finals. His only other big-meet experience was at the CIF-Southern Section finals his sophomore year, when he fouled.

“I’m stoked,” he said of New Balance. “I can’t wait.”

Jornadal cleared 22 feet in the long jump as a sophomore, with a personal best of 22-4 (6.80m) that season at the Arcadia Invitational.

Last year, he set a new PR of 22-5.75 (6.85m) at the Stanford Invitational. But once again, postseason success eluded him, as his eighth-place long jump at the league finals ended his season there.

“I had the worst day,” he said. “No pop at all.”

So, that is one huge motivating factor for this season.

“I want to go back there and prove it,” he said.

Jornadal hasn’t done anything radical to become a better jumper. The only specialized training he did was with a football receiver specialist in Costa Mesa last year.

But with football season already being over, he said, the normal distractions of a season are gone. There are no spring practices to divide his interests.

He can just jump.

“It’s basically just like opening him and letting him go,” Frazier said.

Jornadal’s own improvement, combined with the number of strong jumpers who graduated last year, has put him in a great position for the outdoor season.

The top five finishers at last year’s state championship meet – including winner Jason Plumb of Corona del Mar – have all graduated.

“Since (Winter Outdoor), it’s been 100 percent,” he said of jumping. “I’m starting to take it more seriously.”

One major improvement Frazier has seen has been Jornadal maintaining consistency through his jump series.

“He’s always been talented,” Frazier said. “Last year, the problem was that every jump would get worse through his series.”

Jornandal will also triple jump this season, an event where he’s modestly bettered 40 feet, but will have renewed momentum as the outdoor season shifts into gear.

So, he will see what happens for his senior year and beyond.

“He asked me as soon as he jumped (23-5.50), ‘Is this good enough to go to college?’” Frazier said.

“I definitely thought it was possible,” Jornadal added. “I didn’t expect it so early in the season.”

He believes surpassing 24 feet is entirely possible because “on that (23-5.50) jump, my butt hit 24; my elbows were back.”

Most importantly?

“I still have more to give,” Jornadal said.