Sarasota High junior takes home the high jump state title

It was May 5, and it was darker than sin, and it was raining.

Selfishly, those are not ideal conditions for taking pictures. They are also not ideal conditions for competing in the high jump at the FHSAA Class 4A boys state championship meet, but that’s what Sarasota High junior Jaasiel Torres had to deal with at IMG Academy.

I first wrote about Torres in our March 10 edition. Then, he had just jumped 6 feet, 11-1/2 inches, the highest leap in the country at that point in the season. It’s not anymore — Vernon Turner, from Yukon High in Oklahoma, jumped an incomprehensible 7 feet, 6 inches — but it’s still an incredible accomplishment.

Unfortunately, I was never able to watch the 5-foot-10 Torres jump at a meet for that feature, only at practice. I was not going to pass up that opportunity at the state meet. So there I was, and there he was, despite the conditions.

“I’ve jumped at night before, like once,” Torres said. “I’ve jumped in the rain once, but never in the rain at night. It was pretty cold when it was raining, so it was not a good combination.”

The conditions caused Torres’ competitors to drop like a New Year’s Eve ball on Dec. 30: Too early. No one jumped to his potential, Torres said. While he didn’t alter his technique at all for the competition, he said, the rain did change his mindset as he approached the bar.

“I was hoping it would make it easier,” Torres said, “but I was also like, ‘Maybe if they’re jumping bad, it (the rain) might affect me, too.’”

It didn’t, or at least not enough to change the assumed outcome. While competitors crashed into the bar over and over, Torres remained calm. In the air, his body moved like it belonged there, his back bending into a concave shape, his legs dangerously curling like a spider’s around the bottom of the bar before suddenly straightening as he falls, successful.

He repeated this aerial dance until he was jumping only against himself, seeing how high he could go. He was bested by the bar at 6 feet, 7 inches, short of his personal best but 4 inches better than second-place finisher Brian Edwards of Miramar High.

Still, Torres wasn’t happy.

“I didn’t jump too good today,” he said.

Agree to disagree, Jaasiel.

The next day, I watched Torres take ninth place in the Class 4A boys triple jump. Not quite as impressive, objectively, but being top-10 in the state at anything is an accomplishment. Add that to his high jumping accolades, and now we’re really talking.

Torres has the chance to be special. He has only been jumping since last season, and he’s a junior. With one more summer of gaining strength and refining technique, there is no limit on what he can accomplish, not just statewide, but nationally. I can’t wait to watch him reach his potential.

Hopefully, for his sake and mine, that potential will be reached in the sunshine.