WAHPETON, ND - Wahpeton senior Josh Darwin has had his eyes set on the North Dakota high jumping record for years.
Last season he got within a fourth of an inch of Dickinson product Shawn Gabbert’s record, but some knee issues slowed his late season momentum.
This year the knee was cleared after a summer Platelet-Rich-Plasma (PRP) injection, but the weather hasn’t allowed for many good attempts.
“It’s been pretty hard, I haven’t been able to practice much cause we’ve only been outside for the last five weeks maybe and we’ve had a lot of back-to-back meets, so I’ve only had one day between practices," Darwin said. "We’ve had not good weather at all, it’s been really hard jumping, we need some really nice weather to get those big jumps.”
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Similar to a year ago Darwin is hoping he’s saved the best for last.
“I want to get that state record again," Darwin said last week at the EDC track and field meet. "I had a shot at it on Monday (May 13th), I was kinda close. I want to save it for state though, I don’t want to peak to early like last year, so I’m gonna see if I can get that at state, it’ll be pretty nice that day, so I’ll have a good shot.”
Darwin's career won't conclude with the state meet in Bismarck, he will be competing in the New Balance Nationals this June and will start his collegiate career with NDSU in the fall.
