Yasemin Ugurlu never tried any of track’s jumping events prior to the spring of her freshman year at Lyndhurst High School, simply because, as she put it, “looks really fun,” to try.
“I did a track club for one year for one of the schools in town, but I never jumped or anything. I just ran,” said Ugurlu. “(As a freshman), I remembered seeing Julia (Tozduman) jumping and I was like wow, that looks really fun. I just really wanted to try it in practice and when my coach (Rich Tuero) saw it, he was like ‘oh you’re in.’”
Now a senior, Ugurlu has emerged as one of the state’s best in the Triple Jump.
During Saturday’s Gene Littler Bergen County Championship, Ugurlu set a new school record in the Triple Jump when she recorded a 37-05.5. The mark, the 11th best in the state this season, not only was enough to win the Bergen County Group C title, but was the top score of any jumper across the five groups.
Ugurlu’s record breaking performance makes her The Observer Athlete of the Week.
Ugurlu competed in four events total during the two-day event. She took second in the Group C Javelin Throw with a 108-05, and also finished fourth in Group C in the Long Jump at 17-00.50
Without question, it was a breakout moment for the Golden Bears standout, once that Ugurlu largely anticipated.
“I kept talking with my friends and I was like, ‘tomorrow’s going to be a great day. I feel like I’m going to PR,’” Ugurlu said. “The school record never crossed my mind, but I definitely thought I was going to hit 37. I was definitely looking forward to Saturday.
“This was definitely a huge breakout moment for her,” Tuero said. “I don’t want to say she was in Julia’s shadow because when we went to these meets, everybody knew Yasmein was that good. But this is definitely a huge moment for her. She’s been getting silver, silver, silver to Julia and now she’s got her gold in this major meet.”
Over her career, Ugurlu has enjoyed quite a bit of success in the Triple Jump, qualifying for the NJSIAA State Meet of Champions as a sophomore. Last year, as a junior, she placed second at the Bergen County Meet of Champions, with what was her prior personal best, a 36-09.75, just a quarter-inch short of the school mark.
“This season it was my goal to reach at least 37,” Ugurlu said. “Even if it was 37 flat, I just wanted that number to be on my board. Now, the goal is a high 37.”
Ugurlu hit that goal on her first try of the day when she cleared 37-01.She then later added the 37-05.5. No one else, in any of the groups, exceeded 37 feet.
“At first I thought I was just going to have the highest of my group because I knew that the girls from the other groups had crazy triple jump marks,” said Ugurlu. “When I looked at everyone else’s mark, I was like ‘wow I got the highest,’ I didn’t think I could get higher than everyone else here.”
Over the previous two seasons, Lyndhurst has dominated the girls jumping events with Tozduman, Ugurlu and Akar going undefeated in all jump relay events. It created a competitive situation that Ugurlu believes was beneficial in her development.
“Julia definitely had a lot of impact on the way we jumped. She would help us during practice and was kind of another coach to us,” Ugurlu said. “The whole jumping group, we were all really supportive of each other. We would just try to help each other and lift each other up. It was a really good environment.”
“These girls pushed each other and Julia started it. Julia was a great leader and she set the tone,” said Tuero. “It was so collaborative the way Julia and Yas and Asya all worked together. They won so much together, so many relays they dominated. It was really cool.”
Unlike Tozduman, who is currently jumping at Sacred Heart or Akar, who will play volleyball at Ramapo, Ugurlu’s athletic career will not continue beyond college. Instead, she will attend Drexel University, which does not have track or volleyball where she was a standout outside hitter, and study Exercise Science.
Knowing that these are the final weeks of her track career, Ugurlu knows she wants to end with a high note heading into the NJSIAA North 2, Group 2 this coming weekend, followed by the Bergen County Meet of Champions on May 21 and, hopefully, the Group 2 and State Meet of Champions after Memorial Day.
“I’m giving it my all this year,” Ugurlu said. “The past couple of weeks, my performance hasn’t been my best and I’m using that as my motivation.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)