Inika McPherson barely finished her speech before she became frozen in emotion.

It wasn’t the first time the tears captured the Olympic high jumper from Port Arthur. But she was frozen enough for friends and family to surround her with a group hug to comfort her.

The tears and cheers steadily flowed inside the Memorial High gymnasium Friday, as locals cheered on McPherson, who turns 30 in September. Next Friday, she’ll walk along with her United States teammates into the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro for the Summer Olympics.

“I can’t even take this all in right now,” she said. “When I was down, I was just like, ‘I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for everyone. So, I really had to pick myself up.’”

McPherson spoke all of 1 minute, 20 seconds, even pepping up the crowd of about 1,000 inside the gymnasium of her alma mater, where she graduated along with Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles in 2005.

She had every reason to dry her eyes constantly, as well.

For one, she got to hold the gold medal Beaumont native Luke Jackson won in basketball from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Jackson went on to win an NBA championship with Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers in 1967.

Then, Port Arthur Mayor Derrick Freeman declared Friday as Inika McPherson Day, giving her pause before she took the microphone. Freeman also announced that banners would hang on Memorial Boulevard light poles reading “Go for Gold Inika,” similar to the hashtag #GoForGoldInika.

“If you think we’re having fun tonight, ooh, wait ’til she brings home the gold,” Freeman said. “We’ll really break out the red carpet for her.”

The city organized the pep rally and offered a fair-like atmosphere inside the lobby, offering the well-wishers cotton candy, cookies and face-painting.

Port Arthur comedian Todd Sanderson suggested the idea of a pep rally to the newly-elected mayor.

“Being from the area and the Golden Triangle, we have a lot of athletes who played football, basketball, baseball, boxing and etc., etc.,” said Sanderson, a 1990 Lincoln High graduate. “I think something had to be done and send her off properly with the support of her city and the surrounding area.”

McPherson is the ninth person with ties to greater Port Arthur who will participate in the Olympics and the fourth to compete in the high jump, following silver medalist Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1932), gold medalist Buddy Davis (1952) and five-time Olympian Amy Acuff (1996-2012). Lincoln alumna Barbara Jacket coached the U.S. women’s track team in 1992.

McPherson, a 5-foot-4 former All-American at California, qualified by finishing third in the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on July 3 with a height of 6 feet, 4 inches, or 1.93 meters. Her personal best is 6 feet, 6¾ inches, which she set to win the 2014 U.S. outdoor national championship.

That title, however, had to be forfeited when she accepted a 21-month ban for using a metabolite of cocaine.

To her middle and high school coaches, the idea of McPherson joining such an elite list of local Olympians wasn’t far-fetched when they were coaching her. Her coach at Lincoln, Ora Smith, recalled following McPherson during the trials.

“What do you call it, streaming?” she said of watching live online video. “That was the first time I streamed. They had to cut away to NBC. Cut away to NBC? It wasn’t long before [Port Arthur Flyers Track Club coach] Gerald Armstong called and told me she made it.”

Smith will be among the many friends and family members journeying to Rio.

“I want Inika to try and get to the front [of the U.S. opening ceremony march] because she’s too little to be in the back,” she said.

McPherson will head to Houston, where she trains, for Olympic processing Tuesday before leaving for Rio. The women’s high jump begins Aug. 18 and concludes with the finals Aug. 20.

“We’ve really been focusing on hitting it hard in the weight room and hitting it hard on the track, like really putting that load on,” she said.

Her successful career, which also includes two U.S. indoor championships, has carried her the long journey from Port Arthur.

“Every success I’ve ever had, the downfalls … everything,” she said. “I see all these people who made me proud, and I just want to thank each and every single one of you because I know, one conversation to the next, everyone has taught me something,” McPherson said. “I love my city.”

•

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews