Nashua North's Jahmar Gathright competes during a meet this season.
Jahmar Gathright is back at full strength.
Anyone wondering doesn’t have to look any further than the Nashua High School North junior’s performance in the opening track meet of the spring season.
Gathright, who suffered a broken collar bone at the end of the football season, turned in two individual first-place performances. He was tops in the long jump, going for 20-feet, 3-inches, and he was first in the high jump, leaping 5-10.
And if that wasn’t enough, Gathright ran a leg of the 4×100-meter relay, helping the Titans to a first-place finish in the event, and leading North to a 97-48 dual meet win over Manchester Memorial.
For his efforts, Gathright was selected as nh-highschoolsports.com’s Athlete of the Week.
“I’ve been doing track since probably middle school,” Gathright said. “I really started taking it serious last year.”
The work that Gathright put in started to pay off this winter. After sitting out about a month with the collarbone – an injury that also kept him out of North’s championship game loss to Salem – Gathright returned to compete in three events at the Class L Championship meet. He scored points in the long jump by finishing fourth and helped the 4×200 relay team finish second.
The Titans ended up finishing third overall behind Bishop Guertin and Merrimack.
“We’ve always been there, but never could get to first place,” Gathright said. “This year, we’re going at it. If we keep going as strong as we’re going, we definitely can win it.”
If the Titans are to find that level of success, they’re going to need to get top performances from their top athletes, including Gathright, who has his sights set on the Class L long jump title.
“That would be a good accomplishment for me,” he said of his favorite event. “The competition within the event. One guy might jump further, so you gotta go jump further. It’s back and forth. If you mess up, you’ve got a chance, you’ve got the next jump. You can redeem yourself.”
So far, Gathright is doing so good.