No matter the conditions, Lincoln Lutheran sophomore Atley Janecek was ready.
Rain, wind, clouds, sun — whatever the environment threw at her, she was going to be ready.
“I did a lot of visualization stuff,” Janecek said. “That’s one of my main things that I do. I think it helps a lot, trying to get a positive mindset. The weather will be what the weather is; everyone has to be in it.”
Friday, at the 2026 Nebraska State Track and Field Championship, Janacek found her mark on the runway for her first attempt in the long jump. With her eyes forward, she took a breath, ran towards the rain-soaked wet sand, hit the board, leaped through the air and landed with a mark of 19 feet, 4.25 inches, a new Class C state record.
Ready to improve on her record, she had her sights set on the all-time charts with her second jump.
Janecek once again stared down the soaked sand pit. She ran down the runway, hit the board and leaped.
“Mark,” the official yelled, “19-9 ¼.”
That leap, good for seventh all-time no matter the class, didn’t count as a new Class C record. However, it does count for the seventh best long jump by a girl in state history.
The all-time chart does not account for the wind. The wind gauge read 2.9 meters per second, over the allowable 2.0 meters per second at the exact time Janecek leaped through the air.
She didn’t allow the disappointment to bring her emotions down. After all it was her second of what would be six on the day.
“I was just super excited,” Janecek said of her mindset after the first attempt. “I told myself, no matter what the conditions are today, I’m just going to be in a positive mindset. It’s just going to be a good time. Have fun, don’t over-stress, because I know if I get stressed out, it’s not going to go well. So I told myself the conditions are like what they are; if it’s a little bit windy, it’s a little bit windy. I was just in the zone.”
Janacek’s record and her state meet almost didn’t happen. A popliteal strain in the back of her right knee just before the Centennial Conference meet kept her out for nearly a month.
“When I was coming into the board, I overextended my knee,” she said. “So then, running the day after, I could barely walk. It was terrible. I thought my season was going to be over. Yeah, I was so stressed. I was so overwhelmed. I was just telling myself, ‘Oh no, state’s coming up, districts; am I going to be able to jump?'”
The C1 District meet was her first time jumping since suffering the injury. Undoubtedly, she was nervous.
“That stressed me out,” Janacek said. “So I was trying to get back in the mindset of ‘I can do this.'”
Visualization and trusting her faith in God is what helped her get over the mental hurdle.
“I started that a week before and then I amped it up a couple of days before state,” she said. “I think that helped me a lot. And then a positive mindset, remembering God put me in this position to be able to do this and not a lot of people can do this.”
Saturday, she will have a chance to add to her medal count, competing in the Class C 100-meter final, 200-meter final and anchoring the Warriors 4×100-meter relay team.
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