The Padre of the Month for March is CHS sophomore Nick Lombardi, whose long list of achievements this year includes personal bests in the long jump, triple jump and high jump.
The most notable achievement, however, is his personal record in the high jump. On March 22, Lombardi cleared a 6 feet, 3 inch jump at the Garlic Classic in Greenfield. It was the fourth highest jump by an underclassman in the nation this year and second among sophomores so far this season, and the jump was 6 inches higher than his previous personal best.
“Everything just clicked for me that day,” Lombardi says. “But I think the thing that really made the difference was the support I was getting from all my teammates, the other competitors and especially my coaches.”
“I fully expected he would beat his personal best,” high jump coach Matthew King says, “and I knew he had a 6-foot-3 jump in him.”
King says that Lombardi is a hard worker and willing learner, and the rest of his teammates learn from his example.
Lombardi notes how good that day was not only for him, but the rest of the team as well.
“There was so much energy from the Carmel athletes all day,” Lombardi says. “I think every one of my teammates set new personal bests in their events.”
The sophomore gives a lot of credit of his success to his King, who Lombardi says has spent extra time working with him.
Lombardi’s goals are for Carmel to win MTAL, go to CCS, and go to state as well. He has also targeted some universities for his future in track and field. As far as college goes, Lombardi hopes to go to a Pac-12 team such as UCLA.
-Jason Clarke
