Natalie Barnes now state long jump champ
Fred Jeter | 7/16/2018, 9:28 a.m.
Virginia’s high school long jump champion has deep Richmond roots.
Natalie Barnes, a rising senior at Stone Bridge High in Ashburn, is the daughter of former Maggie Walker High and VCU basketball center Norman Barnes and Fran Barnes.
The 17-year-old Barnes flew 19 feet, 1¾ inches to win the State Division 5 long jump crown last month in Newport News.
She also excelled in hurdles and sprints and was named LoCo (Loudoun County) Track and Field Athlete of Year.
Since then, she has won the USA Track & Field Region 3 Junior Olympics with an 18-foot, 3-inch leap July 8 at Hampton University.
Barnes also finished second in 400 hurdles (1:02.5) in Hampton and ran a leg on the victorious 4 x 100 relay for MVP Track Club.
Next up for the 5-foot-11 athlete is the Junior Olympics Nationals from July 23 through 29 in Greensboro, N.C.
A straight-A student, she is being recruited by schools such as of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Nebraska and Miami (Fla.).
Standing 6-foot-8, father Norman Barnes played for Coach Pierce Callaham at Maggie Walker (Class of ’73) and at VCU under Coach Chuck Noe.
Barnes, a Northern Virginia resident much of his adult life, averaged 6 points and 5 rebounds for the 1975-76 Rams in Coach Noe’s final season.
Between Walker (where he was second-team All Metro) and VCU, Barnes helped Western Texas College to the 1975 National Junior College title.
Daughter Natalie also played basketball at Stone Bridge through her sophomore season before opting to focus on track.
