SPORTS

Marquis Dendy makes U.S. Olympic team

PATRICK O'NEILL
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS JOURNAL

EUGENE, Ore. –  Against all odds, and despite a month of lost training due to an ankle injury, Marquis Dendy is going to Rio de Janeiro after making the U.S. team in the long jump.

Dendy, a Middletown graduate, finished tied for third place in Sunday's final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the University of Oregon's Historic Hayward Field.

Dendy made the U.S. team despite an injury on his fourth jump that ended his day. Still, with a clutch jump on his third attempt, Dendy secured his first trip to the Olympic Games.

Facing a do-or-die jump in the final, Dendy soared through the air on his third jump of the night to move from 11th place to first place. Only the eight best jumpers after three attempts qualified for three additional jumps. Dendy did more than enough to avoid elimination with his longest non-wind-aided jump ever.

With his Olympic hopes on the line, Dendy nailed a jump of 27-feet, 7-1/2 inches to momentarily take over the lead heading into his final three jumps. When the white flag signaling a legal jump went up, Dendy leaped again — this time for joy because he knew he had hit the big one he needed.

When Jeffery Henderson, the man Dendy displaced from the lead, flew 28-feet, 2-1/4-inches on his third jump, he retook the lead, and then a few minutes later, Jarrion Lawson moved into second with a mark of 28-feet,1-3/4, leaving Dendy alone — for a few minutes — in third place.

Middletown graduate Marquis Dendy's qualifying jump landed him a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

Another jumper, Will Claye, tied Dendy's mark, but because Claye has not hit the Olympic Games competition standard, and Dendy does, that is the tie-breaker that sends Dendy to Rio.

However, in the Olympic Trials a third-place finish can be as good as a victory because the top three at the Olympic Trials all get the same prize — a trip to Brazil for the Olympic Games.

In 2012, following his freshman season at Florida, and just 19 years old, Dendy qualified for his first U.S. Olympic Trials. But four years, seven NCAA long- and triple-jump titles and two USA Championships later, Dendy is the one going to the Olympics.

At press time, Dendy was in the medical tent waiting for an MRI on his right leg, which appeared to cramp up as Dendy took off on his fourth jump. After a few steps, Dendy stepped off the runway, and left the competition, unable to go on.

Dendy said the injury was not to the ankle he injured at the Prefontaine Classic meet in late May. He said he thought Sunday's injury was a cramp in his right calf.

"I think I cramped up and it shocked me," he said. "I just won the fight. I had to keep battling."

Making the Olympic team still seemed surreal to Dendy as he awaited medical attention. He said he did not think the injury was serious enough to sideline him in his training for Rio.

"It hasn't really hit me because I'm hurting," he said. "Once I get my MRI and I know I'm OK I'll celebrate. I am very excited."