By Adrianne Nash
ady@newsroom.byu.edu
Senior high jumper Marc Chenn will be leaping his last for BYU this week at the NCAA track and field championships.
Chenn hit the second highest jump in BYU history, 7 feet 4 and a half inches, at the Mountain West Conference Championships and qualified for nationals. This marks Chenn's fourth appearance at the national championship meet.
This year, he said, he feels that he is more prepared than ever.
'My first year, it was pure excitement,' Chenn said. 'I had these big dreams of winning nationals as a freshman.'
Although Chenn's dream wasn't realized that year, he said that he was very grateful for the lesson that the meet taught him.
'It put a lot of things in perspective in my life and in sports,' Chenn said.
Over the years, though, Chenn has developed a mature outlook on his performance.
'I was pretty much a head case at the previous meets,' Chenn said. 'The difference last year, though, was that I came in very focused.
'I was mentally tougher. I didn't care about the guys I jumped against.'
At the NCAA championships last year, Chenn took seventh place and was earned All-American honors.
Chenn said this year he will be very happy with a top three performance.
'I've got more confidence,' Chenn said. 'It helps to be an All-American. It's always a big honor to go to this meet.'
If he performs well enough, Chenn also hopes to compete in the United States Olympic trials, to be held in July in Sacramento, Calif.
Chenn's jump in the conference championships already qualified him for the Olympic B standard team. At the NCAA's Chenn hopes to jump the Olympic A standard height of 7 feet 6 inches. That would greatly improve his chances of being selected.
However, if he fails to qualify for the American team, Chenn, who is also a citizen of Hong Kong, said there is still a possibility he could qualify for the Hong Kong national team, since his jump would be the highest jump in that country.
Chenn said he would be very happy to represent Hong Kong at the Olympics, since he lived there from age fifteen to his freshman year of college.
His parents worked there in a government-related Hong Kong Science Park. At the urging of his father, Chenn began jumping in middle school, and in his freshman year of high school took third place in the state of Washington.
Chenn's father worked together with BYU track coach Willard Hirschi's father-in-law. He eventually referred Chenn to Hirschi.
Hirschi said Chenn had a scholarship offer to Idaho State University, but nevertheless redshirted here at BYU.
'I had a good feeling about coming to BYU,' Chenn said. 'You compete along with guys who share the same standards.'
Hirschi said he not only admired Chenn's determination to succeed on the BYU track team, but his personality as well.
'Marc's a delightful young man,' Hirschi said. 'He has great social skills, he's very easy to be around.'
Besides the track team, Chenn is also active in the Student Athletic Council and is supportive of many different BYU athletic events. Previously, he has also sung in the Mormon Youth Chorus.
'He's a young man of incredible character and standards,' said assistant track coach Mark Robison. Robison also said he thinks Chenn has a good chance at the NCAA tournament.
'This is the first year he's had that he's been healthy all year,' Robison said. 'He's finally broken through some barriers.'
Chenn attributed much of his revitalization to his coaches.
'Coach is really encouraging,' Chenn said. 'He doesn't tell you you can do anything unless he believes you can do it.
'I've always thought I could jump higher, and I know I'll continue to jump higher.'
The NCAA tournament will be one of a series of milestones for Chenn this year. He will get married less than a month later, and then he will retire from the BYU team to finish his degree in global economy.
He and his fianc?e, Theresa Call, both said that if Marc could have a chance to jump professionally in Hong Kong, where athletes are subsidized by the government, they will move their after their graduation and find work.
'My fondest memories will be the associations with the guys,' Chenn said. 'This team's going to keep on winning.'