Star sophomore gives new Lexington high school its first region champ

Frederick Douglass' inaugural school year has produced its share of memorable sporting moments, but the program was without a region champion until Saturday, when sophomore Christian Lewis won the long jump by more than two feet over Bryan Station's Moses Botaka (who won the triple jump).

Lewis hoped the Broncos, who won the city championship on May 1, could walk away with the program's first regional team title on Saturday; they edged Henry Clay for third place by a point.

He has got a great shot at becoming the school's first state champion. Lewis owns the best mark of the year — 23 feet, 4.25 inches — and is ranked among the best jumpers in his class nationally. He's shooting for a mark of 24 feet, and said the weather conditions would have been ideal for achieving that mark on Saturday if not for a steady breeze.

"Sometimes you have to try harder holding (the jump) in the air and then you can't really get up in the air as much, or you put too much going into the air and you can't hang into the air and be able to hold your form," Lewis said. "That's what happened (today). I wasn't really able to hold my form and hang in the air, and I threw it too fast."

Lewis said he tweaked his back on his final jump and decided to remove himself from contention in the triple jump. He'll be fine for state competition, though.

"It's just a little slight tweak, we'll be all right," Lewis said. " ... I want to try and break the state record as a sophomore and continue to make the state record harder and harder for the next person to get to."

The Class 3A state-meet record is 24-00.50, set by Shelby County's William White in 1985.

This story was originally published May 12, 2018 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Star sophomore gives new Lexington high school its first region champ."