MARTIN CLEARY
The track and field discipline of high jump is based on going up and coming down.
In a way, that springy sport parallels life, which is filled with ups and downs.
Eddie Ekiyor has had a double dose of the ups and downs this school year as a Grade 9 student at Mother Teresa High School.
Not only did he have to deal with a serious medical issue at the start of his school year, but also that was balanced by winning a provincial high school high jump championship at the end of his school sport year.
Shortly after starting classes at his new school and making the Titans football team as a wide receiver, the six-foot, eight-inch Ekiyor was sidelined with pain. He thought he had a head cold or a sinus infection.
When the pain in his head became too much to tolerate, he was taken to CHEO, where he had a scan
Doctors discovered a blood clot in his head. But after 10 days in hospital on prescribed medications, Ekiyor was cleared to return home.
He also had to rest for two weeks at home and when he returned to school, it was a for half-days for a short period.
“I was scared, kind of,” Ekiyor, 15, said in a telephone interview.
By the time he returned to school full time, the football season was over, but he was later able to play for the boys’ junior basketball and volleyball teams.
As well, Ekiyor signed up for track and field in April. When he attended Monsignor Paul Baxter School, he did high jump in Grade 6 and long jump in Grades 7 and 8.
In his first year at Mother Teresa, he debated whether to do high jump or long jump. He chose high jump and added the 400 metres.
“I’ve tried long jump and high jump,” he said. “We looked at the OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations’) record and I had a better chance in high jump.”
He almost rewrote the OFSAA history book earlier this month at the OFSAA track and field championships in Brockville.
After finishing second in high jump at the National Capital Secondary School Athletic Association championships at 1.75 metres and winning the East Regional meet at 1.80 metres, Ekiyor won the OFSAA title at 1.90 metres.
He made three attempts to break the five-year-old OFSAA boys’ midget record of 1.95 metres, which was set by Jeff Webb of Eden High School in St. Catharines, but missed three jumps at 1.96 metres.
“I was surprised,” he said about the high jump win. “I wasn’t sure which would be better, the 400 metres or the high jump.”
“The first two (jumps at 1.96 metres) were not so good, but on the third, I was focused on the jump. I got over, but I kicked it with my feet.”
He also qualified for the boys’ midget 400 metres by finishing third in the preliminary race in 53.46 seconds. In the final, he ran faster, but was fourth at 53.22.
“It was good. But I didn’t run fast enough in the beginning,” he added.
