Madelayne Varela thought she was born to run.

It turns out the Kentwood senior was also born to jump, but until this last March it was confined solely to basketball. The thought of doing the long jump for the track and field team was something that for years was encouraged by her coaches, but to her the idea seemed boring compared to sprinting.

“I was never interested in jumping into dirt,” she said. “I feel like I was born to jump. I just wasn’t interested in it for track.”

Despite her aversion to jumping into dirt, Varela took second place in the long jump at the 4A state championship meet May 25-26 at Mt. Tahoma, the highest she placed in any of event she competed in.

The first time someone proposed she try long jump was her summer track club coach, Nate Willford, when she was a sophomore. But it wasn’t until the Kentwood sprinting and jumping coach, James Goodlow, confined himself to just jumping, that Varela gave it a try. When the first meet of the season was held at Kent-Meridian, she said she felt extremely relaxed about it.

“I wasn’t even nervous about jumping,” she said. “I thought I might be pretty good.”

Her first two jumps were around 16 feet, which were respectable, but not spectacular. On her third jump, however, was 18 feet, 1.25 inches, four inches farther than the distance that had won state the year prior.

“Everyone was in shock,” she said. “They were all like, ‘Well, you’re doing long jump from now on.’”

Varela said she was initially divided over how to view long jumping. She had a natural talent for it and wasn’t as apprehensive about her performance as she was in her sprinting events, where she felt the slightest mistake in her technique could have a strong impact on her time.

“I had no form or natural mechanics to start with,” she said. “At meets something turned on and I just jumped off of it. There’s more details you have to pay attention to (in sprinting). I feel like it takes a lot more fine tuning. For jumping, you can jump without all the right choreography or physics.”

She was also performing better in the long jump than in her sprinting races early in the season.

“My times were slow,” she said. “I wasn’t competing in it. I didn’t feel up to par. I didn’t feel ready for the beginning of the year.”

Nevertheless, she felt there was a greater risk of injury long jumping, something she couldn’t afford to suffer her senior year.

“I was really worried about hurting myself,” she said. “I didn’t want it to affect my sprinting, so I was hesitant.”

Her fears proved to be well-grounded. Although she jumped her farthest at the Oregon Relays in April, she suffered from a sprained ankle after she jumped off the opposite foot than usual. Complicating it was the fact that she had previously sprained that same ankle during basketball season two years prior.

“My whole track season and career flashed before my eyes,” she said. “I thought, ‘There goes state, there goes college and all those scholarships.’”

The injury, however, proved to be non-catastrophic for the remainder of her season. She was told to take two weeks off and ultimately did not compete at the remaining two track meets before league.

In the meantime, to keep herself in shape Varela swam and lifted weights while working on her explosive work out of the sprinting blocks.

“I wanted to be able to move with the pack, not just getting back to where I was,” she said. “I felt I was two steps before everyone else.”

At the league meet, she took fourth in the 100 meters and the 200 meters. In the long jump, she took third and qualified for district after her first jump. At the district meet, she placed seventh in the 100 meters and eighth in the 200 meters, while securing fourth in the long jump.

Going into state, Varela was determined to perform well, not just for herself but for the team, which had won state last year.

“I wanted to show everyone we’re still a team no matter what, even though we lost people last year,” she said.

Varela ultimately earned silver in the long jump with a leap of 19-0.25, a new personal record. She also broke her personal record in the 100 meters, where she placed fourth.

“I could have been happier,” she said. “I could have done better in the 100 meter, but overall, I feel like it was a major feat for me after being injured.”

The Conks girls team overall took third with 45 points, the highest of any Kent and Tahoma team, coming in behind Auburn Riverisde and Curtis, which scored 55 and 62 points respectively.

Although Varela said they hoped to win, she was just as happy that they proved they were not a one-hit wonder.

“I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed,” she said. “But we worked hard and we didn’t let anything get to us despite some setbacks. You’re not always going to be the best. But it’s the nothing to frown upon. We all know that, too. In the grand scheme of things I’m proud of our team.”

As for her future collegiate track career, Varela is still choosing between schools, with an offer for a full-ride scholarship to at least one university on the table.

But whichever one she chooses, she said she will be jumping. It’s an identity, she said, she has come to embrace.

“I actually look forward to jumping now,” she said. “I’ve gained a fondness for it. It’s so unknown. You never know what you’re going to produce. It’s a roller coaster.”