* Curtis Williams produced a US No. 21 all-time long jump on Friday at the FHSAA Class 3A Championships
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Up until the end of this week, not a single athlete in the United States had authored a wind-legal long jump over 25 feet.
Curtis Williams changed that.
The Tallahassee Leon (FL) High School senior didn't just win the long jump at the FHSAA Class 3A Track and Field Championships on Friday at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
He went straight beast mode.
Williams tied a 19-year-old state championship record held by Dixie Hollins graduate Kevin Marion ('02), screaming off the board for a 7.75 meter (25 feet, 5.25 inch) jump.
Hialeah Miami Lakes graduate Michael Timpson secured the all-time Florida state record in 1985 with his 7.87 (25-10) meter mark at the Golden South Classic.
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The new US No. 1 jump stands at No. 21 all-time.
More, it was one of just 40 jumps over 25 feet all-time, and one of 19 over 25-feet since 2010.
It was the farthest wind-legal registered leap since Matthew Boling's outstanding mark of 26-3.5 at the Texas Relays in 2019.
It also might have single-handedly derailed Fort Myers Dunbar's Leonard Mustari's efforts at a Florida state triple.
If not for Williams, Mustari would have gotten it.
Mustari secured the best overall jump of his career, too, capturing a mark of 7.56 meters (24-9.75). That leap is now No. 9 in Florida history.
He also won the 110mH in a career-best 13.62w and the 300mH in a career-best 37.16.
For Williams, his success was the culmination of a year that saw him on the cusp of achieving that elusive big mark. In previous weeks, without wind-gauges, he had captured some incredible jumps.
At the FHSAA Region 3A-1 Championships on May 1, he had secured a winning effort of 24-11. Previously, on April 3 at the Chiles Capital City Track and Field Classic, he had pocketed the nation's top all conditions mark at 25-1.50.
Perhaps Friday's performance was a fitting conclusion to a season leading toward that mark.
The legendary performance gave Williams his first individual state championship. He also finished seventh in the 200m (21.91) and third in the 400m (48.34).
3A BOYS LONG JUMP FINALS PLACE ATHLETE TEAM RESULT WIND H# 1 Curtis Williams 12 Leon HS 25-05.00 1.6 2 2 Leonard Mustari 12 Dunbar HS 24-09.75 0.6 2 3 Edward LOUIS 9 Dillard HS 23-03.25 2.2 2 4 Brayan Augustin 10 Charlotte HS 22-08.75 4.0 1 5 De'wante Deas 12 Blanche Ely HS 22-05.75 1.5 2 6 Kelton Henderson 10 Island Coast HS 22-05.75 4.3 2 7 Mateo Smith 11 Boyd Anderson HS 22-05.00 1.6 1 8 Markez Sermons 12 Orange Park HS 22-04.50 0.5 2