Kason O'Riley Wants Trip Back To State-Chances Are 7 Ft High

Marble Falls high jumper Kason O'Riley is tied second in the nation with a jump of 7 feet

Kason O'Riley was having a good start to the season last year. After a season initial jump of 6-4 on February 20,2020, the Marble Falls product went on a tear going 6-10 two weeks in a row.

That is when the unforeseen happened. It happened; it happened so fast. The season was over in matter of days due to the COVID-19 pandemic arriving in the United States. O'Riley would pick things back up when things in the state of Texas opened up and allowed competitions. 

This year, things were like a slow roll out for O'Riley. After basketball season finished, track and field meets were cancelled in his first two weeks of the season. His first competition was on March 4, 202; he showed he was ready for the season by going 6-8 in his first competition.

Now, O'Riley is tied for the top rank in Texas for the high jump and tied for US No. 2. He went 7-0 March 11th at the McNeil Maverick Varsity Relays for his PR and followed that up this past weekend at 6-10. "It feels great (to actually jump the way last year ended)," O' Riley said. Hopefully, I can get to state this year and hopefully win it."

The Texas UIL state meet is a realistic goal. He qualified as a sophomore and finished fourth place overall when he cleared 6-6. Since then, he has been consistent in jumping high and he feels like he can go even higher. "Honestly, I feel like I can clear 7-2 or 7-3 this year. On my 7-2 jump, I cleared it by 2 or 3 inches, but I just came down on it wrong," he said.

The University of Oklahoma recruit isn't satisfied yet and plans to work hard for more. He is tied with Summer Creek's Jalan Rivers for the state lead and if he wants the UIL 6A state title, that's who he'll have to go through.  O'Riley and his jump coach have been working on his steps and his lean,"I've been leaning into the bar a little too much, so if can lean out, that'll get me higher in the air."