Ian Weider occasionally refers to his long-jumping exploits as “playing in the sand.” The Thetford Center resident’s success, however, suggests he takes it much more seriously.
Weider, 21 and a rising senior at the University of Vermont, recently represented his school at the NCAA Division I East Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla., a precursor to the national meet in Oregon. The Thetford Academy graduate didn’t reach the latter event, but he still had an exceptional year, setting UVM’s indoor long jump record at 24 feet, 1.75 inches and creeping toward Al Gutterson’s outdoor mark of 24-11, which has stood since 1912.
That Weider’s become so proficient is a bit baffling. Not because he lacks any athleticism. But because his high school doesn’t have a track.
“I really didn’t practice the long jump then,” Weider said of his days as a Panther, when he nonetheless won four consecutive Vermont Division III long jump titles. “I just trained for getting a good mark on the board, and then we’d show up early to meets so I could get a few attempts in before they started.”
Weider, 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, also played soccer and basketball at Thetford, but his size and speed made track his most likely college sport. He was recruited by some NCAA Division III schools but narrowed his choices to the state universities of Massachusetts and Vermont. Attending a meet at which both teams competed, Weider found himself more comfortable with the Catamounts and chose to enroll at UVM.
“I hadn’t really shown any interest before, so the coaches were a little surprised when I said I was coming,” Weider said. “I was an unproven walk-on.”
Vermont’s men’s track team is not as thoroughly funded as the NCAA allows, so scholarship money can be scarce. Weider didn’t receive any as a freshman and sophomore, earned a little for his junior year and will be on a full ride for his senior campaign. He should also have plenty of motivation to break the record of Gutterson, a Springfield, Vt., native who is regarded as the university’s greatest track and field athlete.
Gutterson won what was then called the broad jump at the 1912 Olympics in Sweden with a then-world record leap that fell short of 25 feet by a fraction of an inch. He also competed in high hurdles, discus, high jump and sprints. Gutterson was a university trustee from 1954 to ‘60 and the CEO of Springfield’s Lovejoy Tool Company.
UVM’s hockey arena is named for Gutterson, who died in 1965 and was selected fifth among Sports Illustrated’s Top 50 Vermont athletes in 1999. Weider’s been known to jokingly wonder: If he beats Gutterson’s record, will he too get a university building named after him? No other UVM men’s athletics record dates back further than 1975, but Weider’s best outdoor leap is 24-8.25, so besting Gutterson seems possible.
“I feel like I’ve had jumps that beat his record, but they were called fouls,” Weider said. “If everything comes together, I’ll have no problem beating it, but that’s a lot easier said than done.”
Weider said that because of Thetford’s lack of facilities, he was probably a better sprinter than a jumper upon graduation. However, he credits his high school coaches for conditioning him well and Brett Willmott, until recently his UVM jumps coach, said playing multiple sports for the Panthers was beneficial.
“Basketball is the whole of track in that’s it’s running, jumping and throwing,” Willmott said. “When I put Ian’s skills on the runway and into the pit, it didn’t take him long to dial in.”
Weider had to adjust to playing only one sport and to competing in only one event within that sport. His speed was good, his vertical leaping ability was strong, but the long jump requires competitors to mesh those abilities with a proper takeoff angle and to control their bodies in flight and upon landing. There are also precise approach steps and a takeoff ever so close to, but not over, the line.
“I was super bummed at just doing long jump, and I got hurt as a freshman,” said Weider, a business major who’s working an insurance internship in Williston, Vt., this summer. “I had to work on what I do in the air, when I’d be flailing too much. It would look like I was still running after I’d taken off.
“The goal of long jump is to let everything just hang in the air and be relaxed. If you flail, the physics is that it brings you down to earth a lot faster.”
Weider placed 42nd in Jacksonville, admitting he had an off day and noting that he wasn’t feeling fully healthy. There were no preliminary jumps, so each athlete made only three attempts, not the six they were used to taking during a regular-season meet. The difference in leaping in 65-degree New England temperatures to doing so in 90-degree Florida air brimming with humidity also played a role.
“I should have gotten to nationals, if I’d jumped as far as I’m capable,” Weider said. “I plan on being back next year, and I’ll know what to expect.”
Tris Wykes can be reached at twykes@vnews.com or 603-727-3227.