Green strikes gold—twice—in Puerto Rico

Posted Jun 1, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Jun 3, 2012 at 08:00 PM

Hillsborugh junior Jeremiah Green has taken his triple and long jump skills overseas and has come up with two more gold medal.

Despite his last competition coming a month ago at the Class 3A state track and field championships, Green produced a first-place mark of 49 feet, 2 inches to take first place Friday at the Caribbean Scholastic Invitational in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Saturday, Green earned a second gold medal by winning the long jump at 23-3.

‘‘It feels great,’’ Green said Friday after winning the triple jump. ‘‘I didn’t feel rusty. I’ve kept up my training and was ready to go today.’‘

Green, the Tampa Tribune’s male Athlete of the Year for track and field, got his winning mark in the triple jump on his first attempt. He took the long jump lead for good on his second attempt. The meet features some of the top prep athletes in the sport from the United States and Caribbean. This was an invitation-only meet, where athletes received an all-expenses paid trip to Puerto Rico. Green says he is staying at a Marriott hotel directly on the beach.

Although he scratched on his final two attempts of the triple jump, Green managed to hit a second mark of 48-10.

At the 3A state finals, he won with a jump of 50-3.5, which for two weeks was the No. 1 wind-legal mark of the prep outdoor season.

Saturday, Green also earned a silver medal by running on the USA’s second-place 4x100-meter relay team. In two weeks, he will compete in the New Balance Outdoor Nationals at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, N.C.