Prep phenom powered by peanut butter


Posted May 15, 2009 by Jenni Carlson Comment on this article Leave a comment

A fun tidbit from my story on Del City High standout Toni Young ended up on the cutting room floor.

Through the power of the blog, it lives here as an outtake.

As I mentioned in the story, Young was a beanpole three or four years ago. Even now as an Oklahoma State basketball signee and the national high school record holder in the high jump, she’s won’t be mistaken for a bodybuilder, but she’s nowhere near what she was. She said she weighed about a hundred pounds in eighth and ninth grade when she first tried sports, but really, she admitted later, it was more like 85 pounds.

So, how did she go from beanpole beginner to 6-foot-1 powerhouse?

“Peanut butter and my brother,” she said.

While the story talked about her brother’s influence, I didn’t have a chance to mention the importance of peanut butter. Just about every night, Young mixed together peanut butter and syrup. She told me that the ratio had to be just right, too. The perfect formula was a little heavy on the peanut butter.

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Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist at The Oklahoman since 1999, came by her love of sports honestly. She grew up in a sports-loving family in...


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