Taking a big leap
EUGENE, Ore. — Hayden Smith wasn’t at 100%. It would’ve been hard to tell.
Rubbing shoulders recently with some of the most talented high school athletes in the country at the 2023 Nike Outdoor Nationals, the rising Union High School senior finished tied for second in the high jump — while tending to an iffy ankle.
Smith’s leap of 6 feet, 9 inches at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field matched his effort from last month’s Redbank Valley Invitational, where he broke the school record.
“It was a great experience going out there,” Smith said. “It was far. I’ve never jumped at a big stadium like that before ... Especially seeing the other guys jump, too. The one ranked No. 1 in the USA there — Riyon Rankin. Seeing other people and how they do their approaches and stuff was kind of cool.
“The best of the best was there. Seeing a bunch of people, like runners and everything — people that you see that are on the ranking on athletic.net — it’s just huge.”
Smith and Emmitt Kietlinski, from Wisconsin, finished behind Rankin. All three cleared jumps of 6-9. Rankin is a Georgia state champion who’s headed to the University of Georgia.
“I’m totally pleased with that,” Smith said of his finish. “Just as long as I stay consistent throughout the numbers, then I’ll be fine.”
Smith treated the week-long trip out west with a business-like mindset.
“We kind of stayed in,” Smith said. “I had trouble with my ankle since basketball season. I rolled it ... We’ve been taking things slow.”
Smith’s mother, Tressa, heard about the event last year, but it was too late for Smith to be able to compete. Instead, he took part in the AAU Junior Olympic Games, where he jumped 6-10 3/4 to win gold.
“She said, ‘Hey, there’s this meet out here if we can gather a bunch of people,’” Smith said. “I want to thank all my sponsors, too. If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t have (had) the opportunity to go out there.”
Even with the nagging ailment, Smith earned a third District 9 title and second PIAA crown in the event this past spring.
“I was so thankful that it didn’t affect my consistency as much with the higher numbers,” he said. “I couldn’t really tell the difference. The con about it (was) every meet it did take a while to warm up. Even in practice, as well. I just got to sit there and stretch it and warm it up.”
Having already put together an impressive collection of medals, Smith wants to attend more out-of-state invitationals as a senior, along with finishing top-five nationally and clearing seven feet.
Going up against elite competition should help with knocking down the latter two objectives.
“Practice, it’s kind of hard to clear those heights, because there’s no adrenaline, no people to get you going,” said Smith, who’s drawn interest from — among others — Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Florida State, and North Dakota.
Smith plans on once again competing in the AAU Junior Olympics. Regionals take place later this month and qualifiers will go to Des Moines, Iowa, for the finals.
