Independent file photo Canby’s Isaac Hennen competes in the long jump during the section meet last week in Pipestone. He took second in the event to earn a trip to state.

MINNEOTA – This spring marked the first year of competing in the long jump for Isaac Hennen, who is a member of the Canby track and field team. The first-year jumper was a longshot to qualify for state at the section tournament held in Pipestone this past Thursday. Hennen entered the section meet ranked eighth in the event.

Hennen turned heads when he set a personal best with a jump of 21-00.75 to place second in the event. With his big leap Hennen punched his ticket to state for the first time in an individual event.

“It was pretty surprising,” Hennen said. “I was ranked eighth going into the meet. I ended up getting second. I was pretty surprised and didn’t really expect to qualify. I jumped two feet further than I had ever jumped before. It was a pretty cool moment.”

Last year Hennen was a member of Canby’s 4-x-200 relay team that qualified for state. Hennen and his fellow sprinters finished dead last. With this being his first year competing in the event, Hennen said he’s not placing too much pressure on himself.

“That would be pretty cool,” Hennen said. “Last year we were up for the 4-x-200 and got dead last. It’d be a surprise, but it’d be fun to place at state.”

Hennen is a three-sport athlete. He plays football in the fall and basketball in the spring for the Minneota Vikings. In the spring he competes in three events for the Canby track team. Hennen said enjoys the long jump due to the fact that it’s a competition against oneself.

“It’s not as much pressure as a race,” Hennen said. “You are not running against anyone at the same time. It’s more just you against yourself.”

The state track meet will start Friday at Hamline University in St. Paul. The long jump will be held at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hennen said he’ll be focused on practicing jumping high this week as he prepares for his final jumps of the year.

“I’m focused on jumping high, instead of jumping out,” Hennen said. “That’s what helped me in the section meet. I focused on jumping higher instead of jumping far. I’ll be focused on that in practice.”