Wichita Trinity hooper tried high jump on a whim. Now he’s a state champion
Three months ago, Jesse Eklund walked into his first high jump competition with one modest goal.
Do not finish last.
The Wichita Trinity junior cleared 5 feet, 6 inches that day, a mark that told the truth about where he was in March: nervous, raw and nowhere close to thinking about school records or state medals. He was just a first-year jumper trying to survive an event that quickly taught him there was a lot more to it than running fast and jumping over a bar.
Three months later, survival had turned into a state championship.
Eklund cleared 6 feet, 6 inches — a full foot higher than his first competition — on his first attempt at Crossland Stadium on Friday to win the Class 3A boys high jump title, completing a stunning three-month rise from a total beginner to Kansas state champion.
“It’s so crazy, I still can’t even process it,” Eklund said. “I am still so shocked. I’m just blessed with amazing coaches and a great support system with my family.”
The ending was hard to believe because the beginning had been so humbling.
Eklund came into the spring known as a basketball player first. At 6-3, he had been an all-state player in Class 3A this season for Wichita Trinity, a high-flying junior who could dunk and play above the rim. That was why Trinity basketball coach Nate Awbrey suggested he try track in the spring and pointed him toward the high jump.
The idea made sense. Eklund had size. He had bounce. He had explosiveness.
What he did not have was any idea how technical the event really was.
“I never thought I would actually want to do high jump,” Eklund said. “It was more like, ‘Whatever, I’ll see if I’m decent at it.’ It looked pretty chill, so I gave it a shot.”
His first meet at the Southeast Invitational quickly changed that perception. Eklund cleared 5-6, a respectable starting point for a newcomer but nowhere near where he wanted to be as a competitor.
“I was just trying to get over the bar,” Eklund said. “I was so nervous. I came in at such a low mark and I could barely get it. I felt really discouraged because so many other guys were so much better than me.”
Wichita Trinity high jump coach Patricia Daily saw something else.
Daily, a former high jump standout at Wichita Southeast, understood how much work Eklund needed. But she also saw the kind of natural ability that cannot be taught. He was a ball of clay, still new enough to be molded, athletic enough to dream big and competitive enough to keep coming back after a discouraging start.
“We really honed in on what his strengths were and he challenged me to help him lean into his strengths,” Daily said. “It was clear he was explosive, so let’s lean into that. What is going to make you more confident in your explosiveness?”
Daily did not try to fix everything at once.
At first, Eklund was “cannonballing” over the bar, a common beginner’s mistake. So Daily stripped the event down to small, manageable pieces. One day, they might focus on the approach. Another day, extending an arm. Another day, keeping his head back.
The inches started coming quickly.
Eklund went from 5-6 to 5-10. Then he cleared 6 feet. By his third meet, he cleared 6-2, tying the school record. That alone felt like a breakthrough.
Coming into the season, 6 feet had been the dream. Now, after tying the school record, Eklund had to reset what he thought was possible.
“Once I started working more with my coach and got used to everything, I came in with a completely different mindset,” Eklund said. “I started coming in thinking that I was the best jumper in the competition, instead of just trying not to be last.”
Then came April 24 in Buhler, when Eklund did more than break the Wichita Trinity school record.
He shattered it.
With a clearance of 6-8, Eklund added more than a full foot to his opening mark in less than a month. He later matched that 6-8 jump to win the Central Plains League title. After the Buhler breakthrough, Eklund never went below 6-4 the rest of the season.
“I look at coaching as more of a ministry,” Daily said. “This is exactly what I signed up for, to see his confidence grow during his journey and to see that glimmer in his eye when he realizes he can do this.”
There were moments in practice when Daily couldn’t help but laugh.
Not because Eklund had done something wrong, but because he had suddenly done something so smoothly that she could hardly believe it was the same athlete who had shown up only weeks earlier knowing almost nothing about the event.
Eklund would ask why she was laughing. Daily would just shake her head.
“It’s funny how you can take someone super athletic and have them do track plyometrics for the first time and it’s not the prettiest thing,” Daily recalled with a laugh. “But I’m so proud of how far he’s come.”
By the time Eklund arrived at the state meet Friday, he was no longer an up-and-comer. He was a contender.
Five jumpers cleared 6-4 in the Class 3A field, but Eklund remained in the strongest position based on misses. Garden Plain junior Brant Long was still with him entering 6-6, making the title come down to one more bar.
Eklund cleared it on his first attempt, while Long bowed out.
The kid who started the season hoping not to finish last had just finished first in Kansas.
Eklund took three attempts at 6-8, but could not clear it this time. That was about the only thing Friday that hinted at how much of this story still feels unfinished.
He still considers himself a basketball player first, but high jump has become more than a spring experiment. Eklund said he has fallen in love with the event, wants to train more this summer and is interested in seeing whether he can pursue both basketball and high jump in college.
Three months ago, that would have sounded almost impossible.
Now it sounds like another goal to chase.
“If you have a goal, go chase it,” Eklund said. “It feels so amazing to get there and see all of my hard work pay off. I want to give all the glory to God for that because I could have never done it without him.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 7:00 PM.
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