Neepawa’s Daxx Turner jumps from DQ to gold

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/03/2024 (569 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fault.

Fault again.

Act out.

Get disqualified.

Disgraced.

In a sport wins and losses are decided in brief moments, judgement is cast just as quickly.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap. Those who have your back will join in.

Sprint. Like your legacy depends on it.

Jump.

Again.

One more.

Land. Further than you ever have before.

Erase the past in an instant.

One year ago, Daxx Turner received a red card at the U Sports track and field championships, ending the triple jump medal hopeful’s season.

The Neepawa product faced stares and whispers around every corner when he competed later in the year.

But on Saturday, Turner broke a Manitoba Bisons record at 15.82 metres, blew away the field and stood atop the podium with a national gold medal around his neck.

“That was definitely an incredible moment,” Turner said.

The third-year jumper helped the Bisons men earn a silver medal in the team event as well, finishing 7.5 points back of the powerhouse Guelph Gryphons.

“Just to get that close and prove we were one of the best programs in the nation,” Turner said. “Definitely really proud of how the team performed.”

Turner had a tough year last season, one he doesn’t like to discuss in detail but admits he wasn’t taking care of himself, sleeping well or doing anything to put himself in the best position to thrive.

He still won Canada West gold with a jump of 15.06m last year but took just two jumps, faulting on both and letting a year of issues come to a head in the moments following the raised red flag.

“I was a bit expressive maybe when I shouldn’t be,” he said. “It was a behavioural issue but that’s in the past, it’s been resolved.

“I have a tendency to get overwhelmed when I view a workload as a whole and then I lose parts or I’m not performing at the quality that’s necessary. This year, I shifted my focus to smaller pieces and doing them consistently.”

Turner said he used to work with just one coach, U of M’s jumping guru Mingpu Wu.

He realized a fuller support system already in place with the Bisons could help. He enlisted sprinting coach Gee-ef Nkwonta to help him get faster, got closer to strength and conditioning coach Adam Stevenson and looked to assistant coach Alanna Boudreau to help him stay focused during meets.

“Every single one of them is always there to listen to my rants and raves whenever those may be,” Turner said. “Even beyond the actual coaching aspect, having them there as a really strong support team was a key role they played in my success this year.”

Turner still didn’t have everything go his way this year. He came into nationals with a PB of 15.63m at the Canada West championships two weeks earlier and a silver in the high jump, hitting 2.04m.

He cleared 1.95m at nationals but failed at 1.98 and settled for 11th place.

He shook it off, reset and on his first triple jump attempt, he hit posted 15.60m a mark only he would beat the rest of the day.

Last spring, Turner added injury to insult, hampering his outdoor season. He’s looking forward now to hopefully training and competing in Los Angeles in May and nationals in Montreal in June.

Then, after focusing a lot on himself in the past year, he’s eager to push his team one last step up the podium in 2025.

“We’re losing some key players, some key point scorers for sure but we have a good recruiting class coming up. Our current athletes are really starting to mature as athletes and become more integral parts of the team,” Turner said.

“I don’t doubt that we have another shot next year. I’m hoping when we get back to it in the fall, everybody shares that mindset once again.”

» tfriesen@brandonsun.com

» Instagram: @thomasfriesen5