At the Pocatello City track meet a year ago, Century junior Amari Evans set the school record in the long jump with a personal record of 21 feet, 11 inches.

Later in the meet, though, he pulled his hamstring. With the state championships two weeks away, it was uncertain whether Evans would be able to participate.

He missed the district meet the week after, but pulled through to jump at state. Despite not being fully healthy, Evans still hit a jump of 20’-7’75”, his third-best of the year, to place sixth.

“That was something that was really impressive, just to show his tenacity,” Century track coach Bill Vasas said. “He was hurt and he ended up jumping. ... It was impressive just to see him do that at state after pulling his hamstring two weeks before, just to see him work hard and get back to being able to jump, being able to work through that.”

The coronavirus pandemic means that state meet was Evans’ last performance on a high school track, but it won’t be the end of his career.

The Century senior signed with the College of Idaho on Tuesday.

“It feels pretty good. A lot less stress now,” Evans said. “I’ve pretty much just been really excited to move on and go to the next chapter of my life.”

Evans reached out to several local coaches before settling on College of Idaho, where he’ll join his sister, Kaya, a senior on the Yotes’ soccer team.

“(When) the College of Idaho coach got back to me, we emailed a little bit, went down there for a visit, talked to him,” Evans said. “I just really liked the vibe that I got from him, school seemed nice, everybody was really cool that I talked to, so that just kind of helped push me in that direction. That was pretty much it.”

A four-year participant for Century’s track team, Evans also ran sprints for the Diamondbacks, focusing on the 200 and the sprint relays.

He comes by his track talent honestly.

Evans’ father, Henry Evans, jumped for Idaho State.

“It’s always kind of been something that I’ve known, and just seeing the passion that he had for it really sparked that in me,” Amari Evans said.

The younger Evans got his start in middle school, and now he’s following his dad, chasing his passion for track to college.

“I think they’re getting a tremendous kid with a tremendous upside,” Vasas said. “I think he’ll help them out early. He’s only going to get better, I think, as he gets older and he matures. ... It’s always nice to see kids get the opportunity to go on and do what they love in college, and to be given that opportunity, so I’m just really, really happy and excited for him.”