Anthony Zackery matches his dad’s long jump title

Many sons of athletic fathers strive to match or surpass their dads’ achievements.

Some succeed, while others fall short.

Ferris High School senior Anthony Zackery managed to match his father’s accomplishment when he won the Pasco Invitational long jump competition 22 years after his father did the same.

“He had the big reputation in high school as being a great track athlete, let alone football player,” Zackery said of his father, Tony, who played college football at the University of Washington in the late 1980s.

“Now I can add that to my resume as being a Pasco champion in one event. It’s definitely satisfying.”

While Tony won the 1984 event with a jump of 23 feet 11 inches, setting a meet record that stood for 20 years, on April 15 Anthony made a meet championship jump of 22 feet 7 ½ inches.

“Just to get to the finals, I had to jump 22 feet 5 inches,” the Ferris senior said. “I think the adrenaline was flowing, and I just focused and that’s when I popped off the 22 feet 5 inches to get to the finals.

“In the (long jump) finals, I was coming off the finals for the 100. I was kind of tired and fatigued from the day’s events. My first jump I scratched. I was like, OK, I’ll scoot back a couple of inches, and that’s when my second jump in the finals hit 22 feet 7 1/2 inches. I was pretty happy with myself.”

Zackery also made the finals in the 100- and 200-meter sprints at Pasco, events in which he placed at the state meet last year as a junior. Quite an accomplishment for someone who hadn’t run track and field until he entered Ferris.

“I had no aspirations to do track,” said Zackery, who played football and basketball primarily. “Coach (James) Fisher came up to me and said, ‘I really want you to come out and see how you like it.’

“It was before I broke my foot (in his freshman year). I said I might try it, but I wasn’t sure if I’d like it or not.

“Then I broke my foot, and that erased that. I bounced back from it in two months, which was in the middle of track season. Coach was still trying to get me to come out, even to be a manager.

“I ended up going to one meet, and I really enjoyed what I saw.”

It wasn’t until late in his junior year that Zackery finally put it all together on the track.

“It definitely came together at districts,” he said. “At districts, I ran PRs (personal records) in both the 100 and 200. Then regionals went even better, and then I ended up placing in state.”

Zackery would finish sixth in the 100 and eighth in the 200 meters after battling injuries half of the season. He would carry that success on to the football field the fall of his senior season, as his receiving and defensive back play would help lead the Saxons to within one game of the playoffs.

His efforts did not go unnoticed; he will take his talents to Western Washington University next fall.

“I’m really appreciative and at the same time really excited,” said Zackery. “Throughout the whole process, I didn’t really hear a whole lot about Western. I did have other offers from a lot bigger schools from 1-A and 1-AA.

“Coaches and peers were all trying to sway me to those other schools, but I ended up giving Western a chance and took one of my official visits there. I just fell in love with the school.

“They had a new head coach, and I had so much respect for the guy, I really couldn’t pass it up. I have been told I’ll be able to play early in my freshman year.”