Profile: Curtis jumper Geubelle

Andrea Geubelle is a difficult one to spot at first.

As the tiny Curtis junior with a lean, muscular frame quietly prepares herself for competition, her opponents are busy measuring each other up and waiting for the high-profile entrance you might expect from a potential world-class athlete.

"It's fun. I come out and I'm the littlest girl there," Geubelle said. "People will walk up to me and say, 'Hey, that girl from Curtis went 19-7.' And I say, 'Yeah, that's me.' "

Of course, by the time the 5-foot-5 Geubelle flies down the runway and busts out yet another 19-foot jump, she isn't so hard to spot.

The Geubelle dynasty strikes again.

Track fans can see the phenom today and Saturday at Star Track XXVI at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco, where she qualified for the long jump, the triple jump and the 100 meters.

"We've had a lot of great jumpers (at Curtis), and I've worked with a lot of 20- and 40-footers, but I haven't seen anybody with the pop she has," said Curtis jumps coach Nate Wilford."

But if not for a twist of fate four years ago, her budding career may have never taken flight.

It took Wilford's keen eye to bring her unique talents to the forefront. Wilford has 40 years of experience guiding the best and brightest in track and field, including a coaching stint at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif.

"I first met her in the summer of her seventh-grade year. She was running the 800, but you could kind of see a certain balance and movement in the hips," Wilford said. "I talked to her and said, 'You might make a really good jumper.'

"Andrea has always wanted to jump, but the junior high people were afraid she might get hurt."

Once Geubelle finished her freshman year at Curtis Junior High, Wilford's vision for her began to take form. As a sophomore, Geubelle jumped 18-1 during a jamboree in her first appearance with Curtis High. But in late March she uncorked a personal record 19-7 in a dual meet against Spanaway Lake.

"You don't create talent like that. You build off the talent that's already there," said Curtis head coach Terry Rice, noting that the swirling winds at Edgar Brown Stadium could keep her marks down but not her spirit. "She's been fighting the weather. Her 19-5 at districts was into a 7 mph headwind, and she was behind the board by eight inches."

Wilford believes she can go much farther.

"At (the Arcadia Invitational in April) she jumped 19-3 and was a good foot-and-a-half behind the board. She was jumping 21 feet," he said. "She's Olympic cailber within the next few years. Right now, we don't have a woman who can jump that far.

"She just needs to learn how to run a little better. We're slowly taking her out."

As good as Geubelle has been in the long jump, Rice said she has plenty of untapped potential in the triple, Geubelle's favorite event.

"I just like the triple because it's more technical," said Geubelle, who became just the fifth girl in state history to go over 40 feet May 7 at the South Puget Sound subdistrict meet, jumping 40-4.

"In the long jump, speed and strength gets you where you go, but in the triple you need more."

She's drawn plenty of interest from several Division I schools, but she's leaning toward the sunny climate in southern California -- a hotbed for track and field's finest.

"I'm kind of hoping she wants to go to UCLA with (world long jump record holder) Mike Powell down there," Wilford said. "How can you go wrong?"

But Geubelle says she's got some work to do before making that decision.

"I'm trying to get to the Olympic Trials this year. You have to jump 20 feet to get in," said Geubelle, who will compete in the Junior Olympics this summer along with several other meets.

Geubelle will have a few peers to push her at Star Track this weekend -- Bree LeRoy of Gig Harbor (long jump) and Jessica Yates of Snohomish (long and triple) are both within striking range -- but she already knows another way she can keep herself motivated.

"Listening to what the boys are jumping gets me pumped up," she said. "I'll be trying to beat them."

* Jack Millikin; 582-1406; jmillikin@tricityherald.com