Hillsborough’s Jeremiah Green is a special person, a special athlete. He stands at 5-feet 9-inches tall runs 40 yards at a staggering sub-4.5 pace. He holds the country record in the triple jump and has been invited to the New Balance National Indoor Meet held in New York City on March 9-11 to showcase that jump as well as his long jump.
Jeremiah Green is strong-willed. When he was in seventh grade he lost his father to cancer. Two and a half months later he lost his mother to the same disease.
His older brother Alonso Williams was a junior at Hillsborough High School, running track with coach Joe Sipp.
“He said that he wanted Jeremiah to be under our wing, for us to watch over him,” Sipp said about what Williams wanted.
Green has a supporting circle. He lives with his sister Shontae Hobby and can lean on coach Sipp as well as his jump coach Karieem Webb.
“Between coach Webb, me, his brother and his sister he can go to any of us about anything, Sipp said.
Green has turned in to one of the best high school talents in the nation – his invitation to the New Balance National Indoor Meet proves that.
“As soon as he jumped 50 feet I got word from that they wanted to invite him up,” Sipp said. “Registration was closed, but they opened it for him. He is one of the top high school kids in the nation for sure.”
Green is unique, but not only because of his extraordinary athletic abilities. It’s unfortunate, but so many young peoples’ lives go the opposite direction when faced with such a traumatic experience – his supporting cast refused to let Green even venture ‘that direction.’
“It’s a combination of his sister and brother who are both very strong willed,” Sipp says. “He is an outstanding guy, has great character, a great fun-loving personality and does everything you ask of him and always does it with a smile. You never know if anything is wrong with him because he always does everything with a smile.”
Things continue to be tough for Jeremiah. Although honored by the invitation to compete against the very best track athletes in the country he may not be able to attend.
Joe Sipp says that he needs to come up with around $2,500 in order to send himself and Jeremiah to the meet. Fundraising regulations at the high school level negate Hillsborough from being able to raise any kind of money on an individual basis.
While things continue to be unsettled a week away from the New Balance Indoor Meet Green and Sipp hope to take his County Record 50-feet 6.5-inch triple jump to New York City.
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