Fifth-year senior Carter Berkey has broken the 37-year-old long jump record at Simpson College. The previous record was held by Jerry Daniels and was set in 1986. 

On Jan. 28, Berkey leaped a record-breaking jump of 23 feet and 8¼ inches at the Grinnell Invitational indoor track meet. Berkey came into the season with a personal best jump of only three inches off the record. 

With breaking the record early in the season, Berkey has a lot of room for improvement and he still has some goals to accomplish. 

“Each week keeps improving, and once we get to conference, I want to win conference in both long and triple jump,” Berkey said. 

Berkey came in third place last year in the American Rivers Conference (ARC) Championships.

Looking back on Berkey’s journey to becoming one of the best long jumpers Simpson has ever seen, it might not have been expected. 

Berkey went to Indianola High School, where he played baseball and basketball. He did not run track in high school until his junior year and began competing in the long jump his senior year. 

But in Berkey’s first season long jumping, he qualified for state and finished 14 out of 24. His personal best jump in high school was 21 feet and 2 inches.

Since high school, Berkey has had four different coaches helping him along the way to breaking the school record. He is also a two-time All-Conference long jumper. He dedicates a lot of his success to his current coach, Guy Mosher. 

“He’s coached over 240 All-Americans, 25 national champions… he’s fixed up a couple things that I had been doing wrong with my technique, and it’s paid off,” Berkey said. 

Coach Mosher coached previous record-holder Jerry Daniels to his record-breaking jump in 1986 and has now coached Berkey to his.

After Berkey graduates from Simpson, he wants to stay involved in sports. He would like to become an athletic director for a high school and become a coach as well. 

“I want to be able to give my knowledge of any sports to kids and give them the opportunity to compete in college,” Berkey said. 

With plenty of track meets left, Berkey has high hopes to keep improving in the long jump, triple jump and the 4×100 meter relay. When nationals come in six weeks, Berkey wants to be added to Coach Mosher’s long list of All-Americans. Berkey is currently leading the American Rivers Conference by a fourth of an inch in the long jump, with room to improve.