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Houma native Julian Maze is still waiting to unleash that perfect jump – the leap that see him surpass his personal best marks from his storied career at Terrebonne High School.
“It’s coming soon,” Maze said with a smile. “I know it is.”
But what he’s doing while waiting isn’t too bad, either.
Now a true freshman at Southeastern Louisiana University, Maze is having a big impact for the Lions’ track team in the team’s indoor season.
The former Tiger has already finished second in two of the team’s meets, while recording leaps that are on par with the best jumpers in the entire Southland Conference.
The experience has been “amazing” to Maze, who said he’s honored, but surprised to be such an impact performer this early in his collegiate career.
“It’s going good. This is going better than I expected it to go so far, for sure,” Maze said. “I wasn’t expecting to come out and have such a big impact already, but I’m honored that it’s all gone this well for me. My focus right now is just on working hard, trying to get better and trying to be the best jumper that I can be.
“But knowing that I can do this and that I’m already doing well – it’s something that makes me feel really good about the future.”
The fact that Maze is even able to compete at the collegiate level is a testament to the young man’s competitiveness and ability to overcome adversity.
After having sophomore success as a long and triple jumper at Terrebonne High School, Maze headed into the 2012 track season as a favorite to win the Class 5A State Championship in his events.
But that changed when he tore his ACL, lateral meniscus and medial meniscus during a jump early in his junior season. Maze also fractured a bone and dislocated his kneecap in the melee, which doctors said could possibly end his young career.
They were wrong.
Maze rebounded from his injury and returned to the Tigers in 2013 for his senior campaign.
He wasn’t 100 percent, but he still gave it a go and placed in most of the team’s meets. Maze admits that the pain limited his ability to practice and compete at the level he was accustomed to performing.
“I felt it,” Maze said. “It still bugged me. I couldn’t do all of the things that I like to do. I couldn’t compete at the level that I wanted to compete at. And I just couldn’t practice enough, honestly. I would have to be sidelined too often because I hurt too much to work.”
But with a combination of courage, talent and experience, Maze “winged it” and scored a fourth place finish in the triple jump at the state meet – a performance that earned him a scholarship to Southeastern to continue his career.
Since that time, nine months have passed and Maze touts that his knees are finally close where they were before the injury 23 months ago.
Maze occasionally sits out of meets or practices when he feels an ache, but he said those times are few and far between.
“I can go a whole week of practice now without having to shut myself down – I couldn’t do that last year,” Maze said. “I still feel it. I still get a little bit or soreness here and there, but it’s nothing like it used to be. It’s gotten a whole lot better.”
So with 100 percent health has come early collegiate success – a reward for the Lions, who rolled the dice on Maze’s continued recovery.
The Houma native placed second in the triple jump in his first-ever collegiate indoor meet – the McNeese Cowboy Indoor Invitational in mid-January.
His prized leap on that day was a 45-foot, 4.25-inch (13.82-meter) gem that surpassed most of the elite in the Southland Conference and also Maze’s own expectations for his freshman season.
Maze also posted a second-place mark in the triple jump at the A-State Invitational on Jan. 24 with a 45-foot, 9.25-inch (13.95-meter) leap.
“The first meet, I was so nervous, man – I really, really was,” Maze said with a laugh. “It seemed so unreal to me that I was actually there jumping on that level as a college athlete. It was so different from a high school meet. The competition was better, and it was much more competitive.
“I warmed up and I was nervous. I got ready to make my first jump, and I stared down at the pit, and I was nervous. I don’t think I really settled in until I got in the sand for the first time. I think I started to settle in after that and realize that I was really jumping for a college.”
But even with the early success, Maze believes the best is yet to come.
He said that he’s never jumped on the indoor level before, so he’s had a hard time finding the board in early meets, which has led to some of his best jumps being disqualified for foot faults.
With practice and technique, Maze believes those jumps are going to start to count as the indoor season rolls to its climax.
“Some of my jumps, I’ve missed the board by like an inch, but I’m out there in the sand way deeper than I am for the jumps that I’m marking,” Maze said. “Once I get my steps right and I get all of the timing down, I think that I have it in me to do way better than I’m doing right now. It’s just tough. I’m at a little bit of a disadvantage because I’ve never done indoor. But I’m learning it on the fly as I go. I’m catching onto it.”
That perfect jump – it’s what Maze is waiting to see. But even without it, a young star is budding in the Southland Conference.
“I’m going to hit one soon that’s going to be past my personal records – I know it,” Maze said. “I have it in me. I’ve been working so hard – I know it’s coming soon. But I think that it makes me feel good to know that I’m competing so well while not doing as well as I think that I can.
“That makes me feel great about where I’m headed and what I think I can do to help our team for the next four years of my collegiate career. If I’m doing pretty well now, but still feel I can do better, that’s great.”
Former Terrebonne High School track and field standout Julian Maze stares at the sand pits before making a triple jump at a meet last season. After overcoming a severe knee injury, Maze returned to Terrebonne and had success as a senior for the Tigers. From there, he earned a scholarship to continue his career with Southeastern Louisiana, where he is enjoying success as a freshman.
