Joshua Hill is almost too fast for his own good.
It’s not a bad problem to have for a track and field athlete.
The Crete-Monee senior is one of the state’s elite horizontal jumpers, having medaled in both events at last year’s IHSA Class 3A state meet.
He’s off to a good start indoors this year with big days at Proviso West’s Greg Foster Invitational on Feb. 22 and the Illinois Meet of Champions at the Worrill Track and Field Center in Chicago on March 9.
At the former, he won the triple jump at 14.55 meters (47-8.75) — a program indoor record — and was runner-up in the long jump at 6.90 meters (22-7.75). He swept the jumps at the latter with efforts of 13-86 (45-5.75) and 6.74 (22-1.25), qualifying for the New Balance Outdoor Nationals in June.
But he believes he should have done better.
The issue is getting his approach to the board down as he copes with his newfound speed.
“Last year, I wasn’t as fast as I am now,” Hill said. “I’ve got to change my steps up because I’m coming in way faster. … At the Greg Foster Invite, I ran faster on my run-through and I barely scratched by my big toe and i jumped a 7.56.
“So it’s really about staying consistent on that board because all the jumps that I have actually marked right now, they’ve all been behind the board.”
“The speed is coming in so much now it’s harder for him to control sometimes,” Crete-Monee coach Rory Lee said. “So it’s those moments with jumpers when their speed connects … that’s where we’re at.”
Watching Hill, Lee is reminded of former Warriors star Jamal Safo, who won the 3A long jump in 2019.
“He could jump, but sometimes finding the board with his speed (was hard),” Lee said.
It’s not really a surprise that Hill is still refining his technique. He’s been playing football for years, and was an All-Southland Athletic Conference defensive back for the Warriors last fall.
But he’s a relative newcomer to track and field.
“I didn’t start doing track till right before COVID,” Hill said. “And COVID messed up everything. So then when I came back freshman year, it was just like, ‘OK, I’m gonna try it.’ But I actually didn’t start jumping till my sophomore year.”
He was a quick learner, though, qualifying for state that season. Then last spring, he was third in the triple jump and eighth in the long jump at state.
This season, he has big dreams.
“I want to win both long jump and triple jump,” he said. “And then not only do I want to win, I want to try to break records. That’s really my goal.”
Hill works toward his goal every day, both with weight work and track practice.
“I do a lot of Olympic lifts for explosiveness,” he said. “I get a lot of height when I jump. I know that working explosiveness is going to get me where I need to go. But I also need to work on balance when I jump, because when I jump, I’m a wild jumper.
“That’s what I have to work on now so when I get to those big meets I can produce everything that I need to.”
There are a lot more big meets in Hill’s future. He owns offers from DePaul and Eastern Illinois, and has been in contact with Michigan State.
“I want to make sure the school I go to is the right fit for me,” he said. “And I want to go chase the older guys. I want to go somewhere where there’s definitely going to be some competition.”
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