Maize’s Alan Hanna sets new record in the high jump at Kansas state track meet
The silence was deafening.
As Alan Hanna stared down the high jump bar at a height — 7 feet, 3 and 1/2 inches — no one in Kansas history had cleared at the state track and field meet, an eerie silence filled University Stadium late Friday evening.
With all of the races on the track wrapped and nearly every field event concluded, Hanna was left alone with his thoughts before attempting a history-making leap. He kept coming back to how all of the hard work, all of the sacrifices were made with this day and this attempt in mind.
Then he took one deep breath, exhaled and made his way toward history.
It’s rare an athlete challenges what seems possible at the Kansas state high school track and field meet, but Hanna did just that with his mesmerizing clearance of 7-3 1/2 to etch his name in the state history books and win his second straight Kansas Class 6A championship. At the high school level, it is the second-best mark in Kansas history and second-best mark in the United States this season.
“I just had the feeling that I’ve really got to be number one,” Hanna said with a grin. “Anything lower than that is not really that good.”
Hanna has long been a member of the 7-foot high jump club, but that never quenched his thirst for improvement. He wanted to go higher. More accurately, he needed to go higher.
Even when he cleared 7-2 earlier this season, joining truly elite company with only 11 other jumpers in state history to reach that height, Hanna demanded more. He wanted the 30-year-old state meet record of 7-3 1/4 set by Garden City’s Jason Archibald.
“We started putting the bar up that high, just so he could see it,” said Jason Hanna, his father. “And then he went to work.”
It was evident early in the competition Friday that Hanna could have something special in store. He glided over the bar effortlessly at 6-10 to clinch the title, then made it look even easier on his first try at 7 feet.
When he matched his personal-best mark of 7-2, again on the first try, Hanna said he knew the record was falling.
“That one felt crazy. When I was over the bar and I didn’t feel anything, I started celebrating a little early,” Hanna said. “I looked up at the bar and I said, ‘I got you. I’m going higher than you.’”
Maize high jump coach McKenna Pontius has only worked with Hanna this season, but couldn’t imagine a more enjoyable athlete to coach.
“He is an elite athlete, and it’s just been amazing to have a front-row seat to his gift,” Pontius said. “For him, every competition is between him and the bar.”
In a field with two other jumpers, Olathe South’s Jahmari Clifton and Olathe North’s Cole Smither, who could threaten 7 feet, Hanna left everyone mesmerized. After going out of the competition, Clifton and Smither were hyping up Hanna after each jaw-dropping leap.
The trio even have a text group chat together where they celebrate each other’s successes.
“In Texas, they ain’t jumping as high as us,” Smither said with a smile.
After watching how easily his son cleared 7-2, Jason Hanna knew a personal record was possible. But thinking something is possible and actually watching it play out in front of you are two entirely different things.
“It was just unbelievable,” the father said. “I still can’t believe it. It was just breathtaking. It’s just awesome, and I’m so proud of him that he was able to say that he wanted to break a record and he put in the hard work and did it.”
Moments after climbing down from the podium, Hanna was still focused on how he “barely” missed his three attempts at 7-5, which would have been the No. 1 mark in Kansas history, and the country this season.
Much like when he cleared 7 feet and 7-foot-2 for the first time, Hanna wasn’t satisfied. He’s already craving more.
And as he prepares to head to Kansas State on a Division-I scholarship to focus solely on high jump, Hanna believes more record-setting jumps are coming.
“Now I get to go to a real D1 weight room, and I get to be around some of the greatest to ever do it and I get to compete against some of the greatest to ever do it,” Hanna said.
“I love the challenge.”
This story was originally published May 30, 2025 at 9:45 PM.
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