Willie Alexander leaping into new territory for Long Beach State

Picture the length of a Volkswagen Beetle. Then picture another one parked right in front of it. Long Beach State senior long jumper Willie Alexander jumped further than that on his way to wiing his event at the USC Trojan Invitational earlier this month.

His mark of 25 feet, 10 inches was a personal best, an NCAA-best this season, and a Long Beach State long jump record, eclipsing a 20-year-old mark. Setting the school record eaed him Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Week honors, and is another step forward in an already brilliant career at Long Beach State.

“It felt really good. It made me feel that all of the hard work I had been putting in has been paying off,” said Alexander about the accomplishment. “I knew it was going to be a good jump day because I was confident in our adjustments.”

Willie Alexander has become the face of the Long Beach State program, but he and his coach Andy Sythe will say they want to reach further because there is room for improvement.

“Willie wants to be good. He’s a self-motivated athlete,” said Sythe. “We still have a lot of developing to do on the runway, but Willie is conscious of his mistakes and it’s going to help him a lot.”

Alexander has always been a freak athlete and he’s carried that to track and field. Growing up, he wanted to play soccer in college, but injury prevented that from happening. Instead, he was recruited out of Central High School in Fresno for the triple jump. Along with being one of the best long jumpers in the nation, Alexander has also been a prolific triple jumper throughout his career at Long Beach State. In 2014, he was the Big West champion in the triple jump, which isn’t even his main event.

“Willie makes the most of what he has,” said Sythe. “His athleticism really carries him to great distances.”

Alexander’s raw athleticism is a big reason why he’s such a talented long jumper, but chaeling that athleticism and combining it with technique has taken him to another level. This started with his approach on the runway, focusing on being consistent, controlled, and relaxed. He has made his run a little longer, allowing him to use his speed to explode off the runway. Alexander was insistent on giving the credit to sprinter coach LaTanya Sheffield, who embraced and worked with him in the fall to increase the speed in his approach.

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“She helped me with my speed work,” Alexander said. “Last year I felt really slow on the runway. Now I feel a lot faster since I’ve been doing her workouts.”

Alexander had not trained with the sprinters in his first three years at Long Beach State, but his work with the sprints program lit a fire in him and gave him a little extra motivation, not only as a long jumper, but as a sprinter as well. At the four-way meet in Irvine on March 12, he found out how athletically versatile he really was. In his collegiate debut on the sprint scene, he placed first in both the 100 and 200 meters. After all of the times he’s been named Field Athlete of the Week for long jump, he eaed the honor of Big West Track Athlete of the Week for his work in the sprints.

“There isn’t much that Willie hasn’t accomplished here,” said Sythe. “NCAA champion might be the only thing he hasn’t checked off the list.”

Alexander is a three-time All-American at Long Beach State. He was the 2013 Big West Freshman of the Year, 2014 Big West champion in the triple jump, 2014 NCAA ruer-up in the long jump, 2015 Big West champion in the long jump, and 2015 Big West Field Athlete of the Year. Even after those achievements, the only thing he talks about is wiing a fourth consecutive Big West conference championship.

“It’s business out here,” said Alexander. “We’re focused on wiing a fourth championship in a row. I just want to help make it four in a row.”

Sythe praised Alexander for being a great captain and team player, one who’s willing to do everything it takes on the field and on the track to take home another championship at the conference meet.

Alexander and his 49er teammates will have a chance at a Big West Conference four-peat at home at the Jack Rose Track on campus, May 13-14. They’ll be on campus hosting the Beach Invitational April 14-16.