The Race For The Nation's Top High Jump Clearance Continues

There is an ongoing race for the country's top high jump clearance, and at this point it could be anyone's guess who ends the year at No. 1. 

While it's been three seasons since we last saw the event feature such high-flying talent, perhaps there's something special brewing here between Sterling (KS) High School senior Tyus Wilson and Indianapolis Lawrence Central's (IN) Kamyren Garrett. 

The pair are currently tied for the nation's top clearance in the event, each having topped 7 feet, 3 inches. 

Both are tied for the fifth-best jump over the last decade. Only Vernon Turner (7-6, 2017), Darius Carbin (7-4.5, 2016), Darryl Sullivan (7-4, 2016) and Nathan Patterson (7-4, 2018) have gone higher since 2010. 

Turner has been the only high school athlete over that stretch to qualify for a U.S. Olympic Trials meet, doing so in 2016 -- where he no heighted.

And yet in other ways, 7-feet remains an elusive mark: Only six athletes across the United States have cleared that height in 2021. 

That's a stark change from recent years, when as many as 18 athletes cleared the bar in 2018. Twenty-three did so in 2017. And twenty-six nabbed a mark that high in 2016.

Since then, development in the high jump has ceased. Only eight athletes cleared the mark in 2019. In 2020, it was only two.

Which is why it's been so important to see such robust talent right now.  Those moments haven't been strokes of good fortune, either. 

Wilson and Garrett have been consistently skying over that coveted barrier all spring, perhaps indicating that the race for No. 1 is just beginning. Garrett even did so another two times indoors, setting a new Indiana state record at 7-2.5. Wilson achieved a Kansas state record in 2020 (below).

With a little more than three weeks remaining until the closure of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials qualifying period, both Wilson and Garrett have reasonable opportunities to meet the standard of 2.26 (7-5) meters. 

Garrett, who cleared 7-3 first on April 17, remains just an inch shy of tying the Indiana state outdoor record of 7-4, which wasn't accomplished all that long ago: Plymouth's Nathan Patterson topped 7-4 in 2018 at the IHSAA State Track and Field Championships. 

Wilson, meanwhile, finds himself currently tied for Kansas' all-time mark, having eclipsed Shane Levy's personal best -- and his 26-year-old record -- on April 30 at the James Thomas Invitational. 

Perhaps that was the start of a theme. 

It seems each time Garrett has gone bigger, so too has Wilson. 

Just 13 days separated the Indianapolis native's career best mark from the Kansas native. 

Recently, on May 14, Garrett once again found his form, hitting 7-1 at the Marion County Boys Championships. 

Two days later, Wilson equaled it, hitting 7-1 at the Heart of America League Meet. 

While both have proven they're at a standard far beyond the current crop of national leapers, some numbers divide their resumes. 

Wilson has cleared 7-feet a total of eight times. According to the Indianapolis Star, Garrett has done it a reported nine times in seven meets this spring. 

Beyond the pit, though, Garrett might have Wilson's number. He's explosive in the long jump, too, landing an impressive mark of 22-4.25 on April 30-- that's 15th best in Indiana. Wilson has gone 21-11. 

All of that said, it's still anyone's guess who could potentially finish the year in the top spot. 

With a few choice meets ahead of both athletes -- their state championships are in the coming weeks -- each will have opportunities to make their visions a reality. 

And with it, perhaps more good fortune over the bar. 

Related Links: 

Kansas athletes taking aim at state records

Kamyren Garrett talks high jump win