Weider to chase Gutterson’s UVM long jump mark at NCAAs

Nearly every athlete at the University of Vermont operates in the shadow of Albert Gutterson, the Catamount Hall of Famer, a gold medalist from a long-gone era, whose name is emblazoned on the state’s largest arena.

The long jumpers have it worst of all: 104 years of sandy landings and the Springfield native is as elusive as ever. But another athlete from the Upper Valley is coming for Gutterson.

“Inches, yeah — eight centimeters. Nine would clinch it,” said UVM junior Ian Weider. “It would be cool. It really would be special. It’s one of the oldest school records in the country for an event.”

After his leap of 24 feet, 8.25 inches at the America East championships earlier this month, the Thetford Academy product is as close as anyone’s come in a while to Gutterson’s mark of 24-11 set in 1912. And Weider has at least one more meet to see if he can topple the iconic record with a spot in the NCAA Division I east preliminary this week in Jacksonville, Florida.

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“He’s worked really hard this year and I think he’s ready to perform again at a high level and it’s what I expect,” UVM coach Matt Belfield said.

“I think if he goes in there and competes and does the best he can than good things sometimes happen and you get a record without even planning for it,” Belfield said. “Just compete hard.”

Vermont's Ian Weider competes in the long jump during the America East outdoor Track Field Championships at the Frank H. Livak Facility on the campus of the University of Vermont on Saturday May 7, 2016 in Burlington. (Photo: BRIAN JENKINS/for the FREE PRESS)

Weider flew south Monday night for the national championship qualifier with Belfield, assistant coach Greg Wisser and an athletic trainer.

The long jump competition is set for Thursday, allowing for a day of practice on Tuesday and a rest day on Wednesday. His conference championship jump has him tied for 44th in the region this year.

The competition makes the challenge of advancing to next month’s NCAA finals in Eugene, Oregon, obvious enough.

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“These are the best jumpers in the country, simple as that. Half of them are in the west, half are in the east, but I think I’m up to the challenge,” Weider said. “I’m going to enjoy it — soak it all in but by the time I get on the track it’s going to be all business for me, ready to roll.”

Getting within a loose shoelace of Gutterson was a recent development for the Catamount standout, who set the program’s indoor long jump mark (24-1.75) in January.

“I knew his mark was just unreal,” Weider said. “Since last year I was going for the indoor record, it was what I wanted, and the outdoor record was a massive jump.”

Vermont's Ian Weider competes in the long jump during the America East outdoor track and field championships at the Frank H. Livak Track on Saturday May 7. (Photo: BRIAN JENKINS/for the FREE PRESS)

When Weider cleared 7.3 meters in his second outdoor meet of the spring — Gutterson’s converted mark is 7.6 — the mindset changed.

“My coach, Greg Wisser, came up to me and said, ‘Let’s go get Gutterson,’” Weider said. “I think that was where it clicked. I’m still about a foot off, but I’m only two years through, one meet through my junior year, so I was starting to look at it.”

The view got even better on May 7, when Weider beat his personal best by nearly nine inches to capture the America East title. But Vermont athletes have been looking at 24-11 for more than a century.

No other UVM men’s record is older than 1975, though, and that makes Gutterson’s pedestal even more impressive.

“It’s our gold medal from the Olympics that we have in our program and certainly I don’t think there’ s a lot of people in the community that know Gutterson Fieldhouse is named for a track and field athlete, a long jump gold medalist,” Belfield said. “It’s not just an old record, it’s a really good record. It’s a record that at the time was an Olympic record, so I think it means a lot.”

What if Weider gets there?

Standing on the school’s Frank H. Livak Track on Monday morning, he nodded toward the arched roof of UVM’s venerable hockey rink.

“I joke with my friends and my teammates that it would be cool if that was the Weider Fieldhouse in a couple years,” Weider said

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