Photo of Mackenzie Dagrosa at the 2023 UIL State Meet
When it comes to high jumpers in the San Antonio area this year the girls would seem to have more top talent returning than the boys. On the girls side there are numerous State medalists including a pair of former State champions. The top jumpers on the boys side in 2023 were mostly seniors who have since graduated leaving a void at the top.
6A Boys
Last year there were three 6A boys who cleared at least 6-6 including Brennan's Armando Acevedo who won the Regional title with a clearance of 7-feet! It would be highly unlikely for that to happen this year. Johnson's Demetrio Cardenas is the top returner after clearing 6-2 twice last year. Cardenas' teammate, Thomas Sutton, cleared 5-10 as a freshman last year and should provide the Jaguars with a strong 1-2 punch.
There is a quarter of returners who all cleared 6-feet last year: Logan Miller (East Central), David Coffman (San Marcos), Patrick Severyns (Churchill) and Diego Amador (MacArthur). All four should have a chance at winning a District title with an excellent chance to advance to the Regional meet.
6A Girls
This should be a loaded year for 6A girls high jumpers in San Antonio. There are a total of 16 returners who cleared at least 5-feet last year including four who were freshmen. The top-end talent is also there with five girls over 5-3. Reagan senior Mackenzie Dagrosa was the State bronze medalist and cleared 5-8 last year. She has an all-time best of 5-10 which she has done on two occasions.
Dagrosa's teammate Aryiel Sherman cleared 5-6 as a freshman last year and ended the season with a sixth-place finish in the Regional meet. Ayleceia Pierson of San Marcos also cleared 5-6 last year and is also one of the top long jumpers in the area. Kendall McKee of O'Connor cleared 5-4 and Michaela Mitchell of Johnson cleared 5-3 and both were Regional finalists. Steele's Justice Boston is another one to follow. She cleared 5-2 last year and is also one of the top long and triple jumpers in San Antonio.
5A Boys
It does not always happen this way, but the 5A boys should be better than the 6A boys this year. Most of that is thanks to Alamo Heights who has three returners who have each jumped at least 6-3. Michael Terry, recently named the #1 Texas football athlete heading into next year, cleared 6-4 a year ago and was the top sophomore at the Regional meet. His teammates, Hayes Waddy and Cole Crosley, each had a season best of 6-3. Waddy won the Area meet and Crosley was third but neither was able to clear a height at the Regional meet.
After the jumping Mules, Wagner's Rodney Staley is the next man on the list. He cleared 6-3 last year and was one of six jumpers who went out after clearing 6-2 at Regionals. There are six others who have cleared 6-feet including Pieper's Andrew Grinestaff who reached that height as a freshman.
5A Girls
Pieper's Caroline Peterson heads into her junior season with some outstanding credentials. As a freshman, she was the 4A State champion and then she followed that up with a runner-up performance in 5A. She cleared 5-6 or better at four different meets including the Davenport Wolves Relays where she won with a 5-8 clearance over Boerne's Kendall Lemm who we will talk about in the 4A writeup.
Other than Peterson winning the Regional meet with a 5-6 height, it was a tough meet for all the competitors. The experience should help heading into this season for Leah Brown (Seguin), Laney Crowell (Alamo Heights) and Iyonna Sherwood (MacArthur) who each cleared 5-0 but went higher during the season. Brown, Sophia Zadel (Alamo Heights), Kennedy Roland (Lockhart) and Kendall Gain (Canyon) each posted season best marks of 5-4 which means it could be a great season for 5A girls in the high jump this year.
4A Boys
Kyler Payne of Davenport and Marshall McConnell of Canyon Lake return as the only two 4A boys who cleared at least 6-feet last year. Payne went 6-2 in the meet leading up to the postseason but could not match that at the District 27-4A meet while McConnell set a personal record at the same meet with a clearance of 6-1.5. Each could be one of the top high jumpers in the entire Region.
The name that sticks out the most after Payne and McConnell is Wimberley's Nolan Waida. Waida is among the top-5 returners in all three jumping events although the long jump is probably his best event. Twin brothers, Jeremiah Conaway and Raishaun Conaway recently completed a strong football season for YMLA and both were 5-10 high jumpers last year. Jeremiah is the better jumper of the two while Raishaun is a strong hurdler.
4A Girls
Kendall Lemm of Boerne had the highest clearance of any high jumper last year with her 5-10 mark at the Regional meet and she cleared at least 5-4 in every meet except one... the State meet. That is the only hurdle left to climb for this outstanding jumper and I am sure it will be a driving force for her as she heads into her senior season.
Wimberley's Juniper Daniels cleared 5-4 last year and should compete for a spot at the State meet although the competition will be fierce with the top six girls from last year's Regional meet all returning. Davenport has a pair of athletes who cleared went over 5-feet last year, Logan Strong and Ashtan Dodson. In addition to Lemm, Boerne also boasts a pair of sophomores who showed a lot of promise, Prisca Igbo and Alyson Bendele.
3A Boys
Joshua Cornelius of Great Hearts Northern Oaks could lay claim to being the top returning high jumper in San Antonio this year. Only he and Michael Terry (Alamo Heights) cleared 6-4 last year. Cornelius had a string of clearing at least 6-2 at every meet until the Regional meet where he went 6-0.
It will be interesting to see if Cornelius has any real competition at the 3A level locally this year. There are four returners who cleared 5-10, but no one else got to 6-feet. Cole's Jackson Christmas and James Livingston, Kai Evans of Randolph and Eric Dominguez of Jourdanton were each 5-10 jumpers a year ago. Livingston is also a 43-foot triple jumper.
3A Girls
Tiana James of Randolph and Berklie Urbanczyk of Poth return as 5-foot high jumpers and each qualified for the Regional meet last year, but each had their worst performance of the season and they will be looking to improve this year. James cleared 5-2 to win a district title.
Both James and Urbanczyk have teammates who cleared 4-10, Aliana Huesca for Randolph and Halleigh Kopecki for Poth. In addition, Cole's Abigail Levings and Jourdanton's Blake Thomas also fall in the group that cleared 4-10 last year.
Other Boys
I am combining private schools, smaller public schools and homeschool athletes into one group. Josiah Wentrcek of the Christian School at Castle Hills was a TAPPS 3A State runner-up last year and has a best mark of 6-0. There are a few others who made it to the State meet including Hudson Russell of San Antonio Christian, Amir McClain of Holy Cross and Bridger Welch of Fredericksburg Heritage who all cleared 5-10 and will be looking to get to that elusive 6-foot barrier this year.
Other Girls
It is an easy pick to name Elaina Craven of Fredericksburg Heritage as the top returner in high jump. The senior was the TAPPS 1A State champion and had a season best mark of 5-4. Only her teammate, Lilli Bray, and Incarnate Word's Chloe Hawkins even cleared 5-0. Bray finished third in the State while Hawkins was the runner-up in 6A.
Hawkins' teammate, Chloe Nellis, finished tied for third as a freshman last year in 6A and cleared 4-10 during the season. Meredith Quinn (UC First Baptist) is also a returning State qualifier at the 2A level. Quinn's teammate, Breezy Hall, cleared 4-10 during the season but did not compete at the State meet.
* Please note that all times are taken from the MileSplit website. There is always a possibility that someone I mentioned no longer competes for the school they did last year or that they are even competing in track and field anymore. These articles are just a very early preview of the upcoming season.