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Student-Athlete Profile: Leon Hunt
In college basketball, the three-point line in the women's game is 19 feet, 9 inches from the basket. In the men's college game, the three-point line is 20 feet, 9 inches from the basket. In the professional game, the three-point line is 23 feet, 9 inches from the basket. Imagine a basketball player leaping from beyond the three-point line in the professional game and dunking the ball. That's the distance Leon Hunt jumps at every track meet that Virginia State University competes. Hunt, a 6-1 sophomore from St. Croix in the Virgin Islands, has made a mark for himself in indoor track thus far this season. Hunt won men's long jump in the Vince Brown Invitational, held on February 7 in Newport News, Va., with a leap of 7.14 meters. That's 23 feet, 5.25 inches for those of you who don't use the metric system. He finished sixth in the men's long jump at the University of North Carolina Classic on January 28 with a jump of 6.88 meters (22 feet, 7 inches). Hunt finished 12th at the University of Maryland Terrapin Invitational, held on January 19 with a jump of 6.94 meters (22 feet, 9.25 inches) in the men's long jump. Hunt also won the the men's long jump at the University of Maryland-Eastern Shore "Lid Lifter" with a jump of 7.32 meters (24 feet, 1 inch), his longest jump of the indoor season. "My goal is to make the 2012 Olympics in England," Hunt said before the season. Hunt has already qualified in the men's long jump for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, to be held on March 13 and 14 in Houston, Tx.. "My best athletic moment came when I was running for the Virgin Islands National Team during the summer of 2008," he said. "I want to be known as a young island men, living in America, here to earn a degree and to explore the world," he said. And he's doing it one jump at a time. |
Let's put this in terms that everyone can understand.