Bethel Park junior leaping to record heights
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jeremiah Hamilton used a leap of 42 feet, 6 inches to win the triple jump during the TSTCA Invitation. The jump also earned the Bethel Park junior a berth in the Adidas Outdoor Track and Field National Championships set for June 15-16 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jeremiah Hamilton
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jeremiah Hamilton sticks his landing on the triple jump during a sectional meet.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jeremiah Hamilton used a leap of 42 feet, 6 inches to win the triple jump during the TSTCA Invitation. The jump also earned the Bethel Park junior a berth in the Adidas Outdoor Track and Field National Championships set for June 15-16 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
Jeremiah Hamilton doesn’t believe in practice. Rather, the Bethel Park junior espouses the benefits of work.
“Practice makes perfect technically is a lie because you can never be perfect,” he said. “There is always something to work on because you can always get better.”
Because he labors, Hamilton keeps getting better and better, both on the track and the football field.
During the TSTCA Invitational this spring, Hamilton won the triple jump with a personal record of 42 feet, 6 inches. The leap also earned him a berth in the Adidas Outdoor Track and Field National Championships set for June 15-16 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
“When I first found out, I was shocked because I didn’t know what it took to qualify but I was very happy for Jeremiah,” said BP jumping coach Alex Winschel. “He deserves this. He’s been having a great season and he’s always looking for different things to improve.
“Jeremiah is always asking about the competition. He scouts them and sees what they do so as to help him get better. He’s a raw talent and a good kid who tries in practice. Some kids are good but they don’t have his work ethic.”
During the period between fall football and spring track, Hamilton religiously adhered to a strength and conditioning program designed by BP’s offensive coordinator Phil Peckich. The program combines many forms of squats, lunges, plyometrics, and unilateral (one-leg) movements. The program is designed to improve strength, explosiveness and overall athleticism.
“Jeremiah has really taken to it,” said BP head football coach Brian DeLallo. “He really has been devoted to it and it has paid off, not only on the football field, but on the track too. He’s more athletic and explosive.”
In a scant two seasons, Hamilton’s track career has boomed. In the two weeks he coached him before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down spring sports, Winschel noted that Hamilton entered high school as a “very talented” freshman. As a sophomore, he was only jumping around 38 feet.
“Already this season he has improved by five feet,” enthused Winschel. “That’s because of all the football work he does. Because he does that all year, he comes into the track season well conditioned. He already is at the level he needs to be when track starts. So he is only going to get better.”
Hamilton is improving in the long and high jumps as well. He owns a 20-feet, 2-inch long jump, which is less than a yard off the school record of 22 feet, 11.25 inches set by Zach Taylor. His best high jump is 5 feet, 4 inches.
“High jump is my weakest event and triple is my best. I like it best, too,” Hamilton said. “I’m hoping to some day break the school record.”
The school mark is 46 feet, 1 inch set by Billy Ruschel. Hamilton “anticipates” surpassing the mark this year as he recently jumped a personal best of 43 feet, 5 inches during a sectional meet at Upper St. Clair.
Hamilton will showcase his skills at the prestigious Baldwin Invitational on May 6. The meet is the final tune-up before the WPIAL and PIAA championships later in the month.
“I’m hoping that I can get another PR and hopefully win at Baldwin then compete well enough at WPIALs to qualify for states,” Hamilton said. “First would be nice. I feel like I could get that but there’s a lot of good competition out there.”
Dwayne Taylor of North Allegheny is the defending WPIAL champion. He won the triple jump last year with a leap of 45 feet, 8.5 inches.
“(Taylor) is one of the best I have seen but Jeremiah has one of the farthest jumps this season, winning Tri-States by a foot,” said Winschel. “So Jeremiah has a good shot. I think he can win at WPIALs. At the very least, I expect him to do very well and qualify for states.”
In the fall, Hamilton is expected to be a contributor as a wide receiver on offense and as a defensive back in the secondary for the football team. Last season, he excelled on special teams and played sparingly on defense.
Hamilton’s passion and fire will enable him to “seize the opportunity” to play a bigger role on the gridiron, predicts DeLallo.
“Jeremiah has so many great qualities,” DeLallo said. “First, he is committed. He works his tail off and doesn’t miss a workout. He’s also intelligent and coachable. Plus, he is a great teammate. He does whatever is asked and he never complains. He does whatever is necessary in football and he is the same way in track and field.”
As a youth, Hamilton gravitated to sports because of his family. His mother, Keonda, was a standout gymnast until she “blew out” a knee in college. His oldest sibling, Jehvonn Lewis, excelled as a running back and defensive back at Bethel Park before walking on to the Pitt football team in 2020. Lewis is a redshirt sophomore for the Panthers.
“I’d say my ability is a mixture of my genes and my hard work, too,” said Hamilton.
After competing in wrestling, baseball and football as a youth, Hamilton picked up track at the behest of his science teacher.
“I was in eighth grade when Ms. (Jennifer) Evans told me that I should do track because I was tall,” said the 6-1, 175-pound junior. “I didn’t know if I wanted to but all my friends my freshman year were doing track.”
Now Hamilton is considering it as a possible career path. He hopes to obtain a college scholarship.
“I like football but I think that I am better at track,” he admitted. “I’d like to do either one in college. It depends on which gives me the scholarship. I’d love to be a pro athlete or maybe be in the Olympics and be a multi-gold medal winner but right now I’m just trying to get my name out there.”
A good showing on the district and state level could achieve that but Hamilton knows nationals will gain him broader exposure.
“It’s going to be a great experience. I’m hoping to make progress and get my 46 mark,” he said. “All I have to do is keep practicing my jumping and working hard.”
Age: 16
Parents: Keonda and David
Siblings: Jehvonn Lewis, a redshirt sophomore at Pitt; Jaice, 14
Grade: Junior
School: Bethel Park
Sports: Track, football
Favorite athlete: Usain Bolt
Color: Pink
Ice cream flavor: Strawberry
Class: Chemistry
Book: Diary of a Wimpy Kid
TV Show: Sponge Bob
Dream school: Pitt
If becoming a professional track athlete does not work out, what will you do: “Something in technology or chemistry.”
Person with whom you like to have dinner: Michael Jackson. “When I was a kid I listened to his music all of the time and I really liked it.”