Olympic's Talarico honoring late father with track and field talents

One, two, three. That's all it took — three total meets — for Olympic High School senior Mia Talarico to go from being a long jump novice to a league champion.

"This is my first year doing long jump actually," Talarico said after jumping 16 feet, 2 inches last Saturday at the Olympic League track and field championships at North Kitsap. "My dad told me to try it out."

Talarico is dedicating her senior season to her father, John, who died last summer. During his daughter's first three years competing in high school, John Talarico made it a priority to be involved as a fan.

"He was my biggest supporter," Mia Talarico said. "He would leave work early, come to my meets. So this season has been a little difficult, but everything is for him."

Talarico, who also won the 200-meter girls title at the league meet with a personal-best time of 26.16 seconds, focused on sprint, middle-distance and relay events prior to her senor year. After suffering an injury in the 800 during as a junior, Talarico listened to her father's advice when preparing for this spring.

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"He told me to try hurdles, long jump," Talarico said. "Anything jumping."

Talarico participated in her first long jump event April 13 during a meet in Forks, jumping 15-3.75. Five days later at a league meet at North Mason, Talarico achieved her season PR: 16-5. That's currently the 12th-best mark in the state among 2A girls jumpers.

"She has natural ability, so that gets her really far for starting something so new," Olympic jump coach Janelle Munro said.

Having jumped past 17 feet in practice, Talarico will have two more chances to improve on her 16-5 mark this month: North Mason is hosting the West Central District track and field championships May 17-18. The 4A/3A/2A state championships will be at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma on May 23-25.

Despite being a relative newcomer to the event, Talarico said she's learned some of the keys to being a consistent long jumper, including speed and repetition of approach and take-offs. Then there's something important that doesn't involved mechanics or physical talent.

"Trust in yourself," Talarico said. "Believe in yourself."

Olympic head coach Margo Peterson is a big believer in Talarico, who is a team captain this spring. She used words like integrity, respect, responsible and kind to describe the senior.

"All-around awesome human being," Peterson said.

Earning a 7th-place state medal as a member of Olympic's 4x200 relay team as a junior, Talarico is hoping to add more state hardware later this month as she makes a push toward being a collegiate-level track and field prospect.

Talarico is currently ranked ninth in the 200, so there's potential there for a podium visit. As for her goal in the long jump? Considering where she started, it's simple: find a way to finish top-eight.

"I didn't even think I was going to be there originally," she said.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Olympic's Talarico honoring late father with track and field talents