The state champion in the long jump will be staying behind in Rome when the National Scholastic Indoor Track and Field Championships are held this weekend in New York City.
Rome Free Academy senior standout Anthony DeJean will not attend the meet, which includes some of the elite track and field athletes in the country, because he did not sign a permission slip before the March 1 deadline.
DeJean had already exceeded the qualifying standards for the meet before his victory in Saturday’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association indoor championships at Cornell University in which he cleared a distance of 23 feet, 9 inches on his final try.
Five members of the RFA girls indoor track and field team did sign the required permission form and will be taking part in the national meet in New York, which is scheduled to begin on Friday.
There are conflicting accounts of why DeJean missed the deadline.
"Anthony will not be able to attend because he wasn’t able to sign up in time before the deadline," RFA boys indoor track and field coach Billie Mays said.
"I sent a letter to the parents and I let Anthony know a week in advance that the slip had to be in by March 1. I never got a call nor had I heard anything back from his parents about why they didn’t or were they going to send one in, and I left it at that."
But according to DeJean’s father, Anthony DeJean Sr., he wasn’t reminded of the deadline for when the permission slip was due.
He said he then attempted to try to sign his son up for the Nike Indoor National Scholastic Meet in Boston, Mass. being held this weekend as well, but missed the March 1 deadline for that meet also.
"I’m not trying to prevent my son from doing something he wants to do," DeJean said.
"If he wanted to go to the nationals, he would. When we realized that the deadline was missed, we tried to sign him up for the one in Boston, but we missed that deadline, too.
"Money was never an issue in any of this, we just missed the deadline," he added.
The younger DeJean was unavailable for comment.
Families of the athletes attending the national meet are paying all costs to attend the national meet, which are approximately $500 per person, according to Mays.
Rome Schools Superintendent Jeffrey Simons said that it is unfortunate that DeJean will not be able to make the championships and offered his assistance to try to get DeJean to the nationals.
"I was told by the coach (Mays) that neither the student nor his parents responded to a letter of invitation requiring completion of the necessary permission and registration slips," Simons said. "I even offered the coach financial assistance if that was the sole issue of holding the student back from participating, and I was told that wasn’t the case. It was just too late to register the student for the meet," he added.
Athletic director Mike Stamboly did not return phone messages seeking comment.
Mays said that DeJean is disappointed on not being able to compete but added that he is now going to rest up and prepare for the upcoming outdoor track and field season.
Meanwhile, five RFA girls will be making the trip to the Big Apple.
The 800-meter girls relay team of Jessica Razy, Hilary Baker, Erin Thomas and Jessica Gallagher as well as pole vaulter Kelly Benfey all met the championship qualifying standards and sent in their necessary forms by the March 1 deadline.
RFA girls track and field coach Brett Couchman said his girls are excited about the opportunity and the experience of the tough challenge ahead of them.
"We’re going to try to improve on what we’ve been doing," Couchman said. "Competition is going to be out of this world, with the best kids from throughout the nation, and we’re going to try to do our best."
This marks the third time Benfey and Baker have competed at the nationals, and it is the second attempt for Razy, who also qualified in the 200-meter dash.
Couchman said Benfey’s attempt at the pole vault will be the squad’s best chance for a high finish. He mentioned that even though Benfey placed fifth in the state championships, she struggled in her consistency of her jump attempts.
"She has to be consistent from jump to jump and not over-think things," he said. "She has to go in there and just go for it because she has nothing to lose and everything to gain."
This weekend’s championships will be the final attempt for seniors Baker, Razy and Thomas, and when all the events are complete it will be a bittersweet moment for all of them.
"The track and field program is designed to help kids grow into competent young adults," Couchman said.
"Seeing this group gets me emotional sometimes. Its been really enjoyable to see the kids develop into competent young women, and it’s bittersweet to see them end their journey."
