The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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MAY 2016 ■ 53 BY TIM PEELER N C State senior long jumper Jona- than Addison has engineered quite a future for himself. The Raleigh native and Enloe High School graduate not only graduated with a degree in industrial engineering this spring, he has been busy posting blazing speeds and record jumps for the Wolfpack men's indoor and outdoor track and field teams. By the time he received his degree in early May, he already had a job offer and an invitation to the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. He's delayed starting his full-time job with a Raleigh engineering firm until after he competes at the national trials in Eu- gene, Ore., during the first week in July, and, hopefully, at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in Brazil in August. "My job is supposed to start in July, but I've already talked to them about delay- ing my first day until after the Olympics if I'm able to make that," Addison said. "That's been a dream of mine for a long, long time." It's been an exciting 2016 for the three- time All-American jumper. For the second year in a row, he was named the top field performer at the ACC Indoor Champion- ships. He won the ACC long jump title for the third year in a row. He finished second in the long jump at the NCAA Indoor Championships and had the longest indoor jump of any collegiate athlete in the country this season at 26 feet, 9.75 inches. He helped the Wolfpack finish 14th at the NCAA Indoor Champi- onships, the highest team showing since 1991. Addison took off enough time between the indoor and outdoor seasons to accept a 2016 ACC Postgraduate Scholarship to further pursue studies in engineering, join- ing cross country standout Kaitlyn Kramer, who completed her degree in chemical engineering and textiles. He's had little trouble adjusting to the outdoor season, which runs through the spring and concludes with the ACC Cham- pionships May 13-15 in Tallahassee, Fla.; the NCAA East Preliminary May 26-28 in Jacksonville, Fla.; and the NCAA Champi- onships June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore. He earned back-to-back ACC Outdoor Field Performer of the Week honors, first after winning the long jump at the Raleigh Relays and then after he jumped 25 feet, 11 inches at the Florida Relays, the second best mark in the nation to date this spring. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Addison is that he didn't come to NC State, his hometown school, to be an All-American athlete. He came to prepare for a career. He's known for years that he wanted to be an engineer. He looked at a few other schools for athletics, but decided there was no place like home for the educational opportunity at NC State's nationally prominent engi- neering college. "The main reason I came to NC State was because of the engineering program," Addison said. "Track was the No. 2 thing. I wanted to be prepared for a career after school. That's always been my focus. "Engineering is what drew me to the school to begin with." He found an accepting spirit in Wolfpack head coach Rollie Geiger, who always tells his recruits that they need to focus on not just their four years of athletics competi- tion, but on the next 40 years of their lives. "We encourage student-athletes in our program to challenge themselves academi- cally," said Geiger, now in his 34th year with the Wolfpack. "We don't want them to take the easy path. Jonathan has been that way since he enrolled in school. "He's one of those special young men you have in your program over the course of a career." Addison has improved dramatically un- der the tutelage of NC State sprint and jumps coach Chris Coleman. Specifically, he's adjusted his technique to improve his angle of takeoff, his landing and his speed. For him, the long jump is just another mathematical calculation. "I'm a very technically minded person when it comes to the long jump," Addison said. "As a sophomore, Coach Coleman changed one little thing in how I landed, just slightly, and over the course of a month, I improved a foot and a half. "I worked on my speed after that and added another foot. Small changes can lead to extreme gains." He surprised even himself with his indoor performances this winter. After posting his world-best mark, however, he ramped up his expectations. At the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Ala., he was just 0.75 inches short of the winning jump of 26 feet, 1 inch by Jarrion Lawson of Arkansas. The improvement really shouldn't be so shocking — he's gotten better with each passing season. In 2014, he was 20th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Last year, he was 14th at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fourth at the outdoor event. And in the winter, he was second at indoor nationals. In addition, he's gotten faster as a sprinter. At the Raleigh Relays, he had a wind-aided 10.47-second 100-meter dash, which is just 0.03 seconds off his personal best. At the Virginia Relays in late April, he ran a wind-legal 10.53-second 100 meters and teamed with football standout Nyheim Hines, Shannon Patterson and Quashawn Cunningham to post a 39.42 time in their season debut in the 4x100 relay, a mark that ranked in the top 10 in the nation heading into May. Now that's he gotten so many other goals accomplished — and his future is well planned — Addison will try to over- take Lawson when they meet again at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and the Olympic Trials later this summer. "I definitely think I have the ability to beat him if I have a good day," Addison said. "That's what I'm working for." It's all part of his well-planned calcula- tion. ■ GettinG A Jump On Life Jonathan Addison Is Leaving NC State With An Engineering Degree, A Job Offer And A Chance To Make The U.S. Olympic Track And Field Team Tim Peeler is a regular contributor to The Wolfpacker and can be reached at tmpeeler@ncsu.edu. Addison will compete for a chance to rep- resent the U.S. in the 2016 Olympics at the national trials in July. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS