When Cayden Spencer-Thompson goes airborne these days, a new record usually isn’t too far away.
The Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln junior, already a high school All-American indoors in the triple jump, broke a 41-year-old state record in the long jump outdoors last Saturday. His leap of 23 feet, 1 3/4 inches during the Class C state meet at Massabesic High School in Waterboro topped the 22-8 3/4 set by Ricky Thompson of Maine Central Institute in Pittsfield in 1977.
Spencer-Thompson also won the triple jump at states by more than 4 feet with a best of 46-5 and heads into Saturday’s New England interscholastic championships at the University of New Hampshire in a frame of might he might not have imagined for himself just a year ago.
“Confidence is such a big part of it,” he said.
Spencer-Thompson was set to win the New England triple jump last June with a best of 47-8 1/2, only to watch as Triston Delicema of Nashua, New Hampshire, relegated him to second place by jumping 48-1½ on his final attempt.
A week later at the 2017 New Balance outdoor nationals at Greensboro, North Carolina, Spencer-Thompson won the emerging elite division of the long jump but suffered major disappointment by fouling on all of his attempts in the championship-level triple jump.
“I was the only sophomore in the event and I was extremely nervous,” he recalled. “I went into that national meet with zero experience and not a lot of confidence and it just overwhelmed me pretty much and I couldn’t handle the pressure.”
That setback ate at Spencer-Thompson’s psyche as he played football and basketball at Mattanawcook last fall and winter. It also motivated him — along with a growth spurt that made him physically more in line with his regional and national competition.
That physical and mental growth eventually conspired to propel Spencer-Thompson to his best performance to date in March, a 48-10 1/4 triple jump at the New Balance indoor nationals good for fourth place.
“I was extremely nervous on the bus ride down,” he recalled. “But when I got there I realized how I had been jumping all year and as much as I didn’t think I was that prepared I was very well prepared and ended up showing how well I could do by finishing as an All-American (which goes to the top six finishers at nationals).
“Last year I was maybe 6 feet tall, but coming into indoor season this year I had grown four inches so I was just as big and tall as the rest of them and that was another thing that helped me overcome my nerves.”
Spencer-Thompson has built on that momentum this spring, triple jumping an all-time Maine high school best of 48-2 1/2 outdoors earlier this season before doubling up atop the podium at states.
“My goals this season were just to stay healthy, keep jumping my 48s and 23s, and getting excited for college,” he said.
Spencer-Thompson is motivated to avenge his last-minute loss at last year’s New Englands, where he also finished third in the long jump (23-0 3/4). He also hopes to return to All-America form at the New Balance outdoor nationals June 15-17.
“Coming off finishing fourth in the national indoors just a few months ago I have all the confidence in the world that I can do just as good at the outdoor nationals,” he said.
Spencer-Thompson plans to scale back his competitive schedule after nationals and is unlikely to play football for Mattanawcook Academy this fall as he contemplates his college destination.
“My form is as good as it’s going to get until I get to college and I’m as strong as I’m going to be until I get into a college weight room with a plan, so at this point it’s all mental,” said Spencer-Thompson.
He is expected to join Mattanawcook’s indoor track team for the first time next winter, in part because he wants to pursue official Maine Principals’ Association indoor records that can be achieved only at state championship meets.
“I’ve never done it before but I’ve always jumped better indoors,” said Spencer-Thompson, who has a personal best of 23-10 1/4 in the indoor long jump. “Plus in college I’ll be doing indoor track so I might as well get a feel for it while I’m in high school.”
The prospective anthropology major said he already has been contacted by more than 20 colleges, interest that also helped ease his earlier anxieties.
“I had no idea what the college coaches thought of me until I started getting contacted,” said Spencer-Thompson, who hadn’t realized they weren’t allowed to talk to him until he was a junior.
“I didn’t know what they thought of me and that made me extremely nervous, but now that they’re talking to me and colleges are interested that nervousness has gone away. Pretty much all that’s on my mind now is having fun with it and continuing to do what I do.”
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