Mann Leaps Again

Terrence Mann--he has been down, now he is going up, literally six feet nine inches and over. A contender this season for the Ivy League high jump championship, Mann is back from a year-long foot injury and wants all to know a comeback can be accomplished.

Mann's athleticism developed during high school where he played basketball and ran track. As a distinguished high jumper, leaping seven feet (five inches more than his 6'7" frame), Mann won the southern California regionals.

Mann's natural high jump talent surfaced his freshman and sophomore years, although his training time was cut short by basketball. With only two weeks of high jump practice both years, Mann leapt to a fourth-place finish in the 1993 championships and a silver the following year. Passionate about track, Mann quit basketball to focus on high jump his junior year.

But in November injury struck.

"It was a stress fracture misdiagnosed three separate times by three separate doctors," Mann says. "Each told [me] something different and none of them were sure."

Determined to recover, Mann followed the advice of three UHS doctors but to no avail--seven months later, he was properly diagnosed by a family doctor. Mann's foot required surgery this past September for an advanced stress fracture. Like other injured athletes, Mann experienced difficulties.

"The trainers are competent, but they're overwhelmed," Mann says. "It's so easy to fall through the cracks and feel like you want to give up. It's easy to fall into self pity."

Through dealing with the mental aspects of the injury, Mann realized that enjoying the sport is more important than winning.

"Everyone here is so competitive, and with that goes a burning desire to succeed," Mann says. "Once you can deal with the fact that you can't be a champion each time, you want to have fun again."

At what point did Mann's mind-set change for the better?

"You get fed up. At some point you look in the mirror and decide, 'I'm just gonna do what it takes to meet my goals.,"' Mann says. "You set short term goals and work your way up."

And so he did. Each afternoon Mann practiced, slowly re-building his fitness. Watching others "come back" was Mann's impetus to get to work.

"Killian Lonergan, he stayed laid back, remained in good humor," Mann says. "He finally got better and qualified for nationals this year. That pumps me up."

Paul Turner, Mann's coach of two years, has been supportive throughout, keeping Mann in "good spirits" during low times and "intense" during work time.

"Terrence has a positive spirit," Turner says. "He realizes last year he didn't accomplish what he wanted and now, as a senior, he wants to place at Heps."

Mann's comeback has been an inspiration for freshman Scott Taylor--a triple-jumper with a foot injury, who undergoes surgery today.

"[Terrence] is a team member one can look up to because he's shown dedication and perseverance--what an athlete needs to overcome set-backs in a career," Taylor says.