On Saturday, Jyles Etienne cleared 7′ 2.5″ at the St. Anthony’s Invitational, giving him the #1 spot in the US indoor rankings for 2016-17. Here is a recap of the astonishing feat from Sheldon Longley, writing for Jyles’ hometown Bahamian paper, The Nassau Guardian.
Jyles Etienne Moving Up the Ladder in High Jump
Bahamian Jyles Etienne is rapidly turning into one of the better junior high jumpers in the world.
The 18-year-old is now well over seven feet in the high jump, clearing a personal best 2.20 meters indoors — 7’ 2.5” — at the 46th Saint Anthony’s Invitational in South Huntington on Long Island, New York, on Saturday.
With that mark, Etienne defended his high jump title at the meet, shattered the Suffolk County high school indoor record of 2.14m (7’ 0.25”) that was held by American Daniel Claxton, and is now the number one high school indoor high jumper in the United States this season. Etienne is also the holder of the Suffolk County high school outdoor record of 2.18m, and is now the all-time number two leaper for high school athletes indoors in the state of New York. This was also the first time that Etienne cleared seven feet in the United States. The other two times were during the CARIFTA Trials at the Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium here in The Bahamas, and at the CARIFTA Games in Willemstad, Curaçao.
Etienne, a senior for the Stony Brook School Bears in Stony Brook, New York, has committed to Indiana University–Bloomington in the fall. He finished significantly ahead of Claxton at the Saint Anthony’s Invitational this past weekend.
Claxton, of Smithtown High School East, finished second with a clearance of 2.09m (6’ 10”), and Southampton’s Nakia Williams finished third with a clearance of 1.93m (6’ 4”).
Etienne was named the meet’s top performer, joining Taylor Colucci as the only two Bears athletes to earn that distinction at one of Long Island’s top high school meets.
In the U.S. indoor rankings for high school athletes, Etienne has the best performance. Nathan Patterson from Plymouth, Indiana, is at number two with a clearance of 2.16m (7’ 1”), and there is a four-way tie for fourth at 2.14m.
In the world’s top rankings list, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) Top Performance List, Etienne is in a three-way tie for fourth with Metin Dogu from Turkey and Maksim Nedasekau from Belarus.
German Lucas Mihota heads that list with a clearance of 2.23m (7’ 3.25”). Americans Darius Carbin and Justice Summerset are second and third with heights of 2.22m (7’ 3.25”) and 2.21m (7’ 3”), respectively.
At the CARIFTA Games over the Easter holidays in April, Etienne had to settle for third behind defending champion Jermaine Francis, of St. Kitts & Nevis, who broke the CARIFTA record of 2.21m, and fellow Bahamian Kyle Alcine. Francis broke Bahamian Raymond Higgs’ CARIFTA record, soaring 2.22m for the win. Alcine was second with a clearance of 2.18m (7’ 1.75”), and Etienne finished third with a jump of 2.16m.
On the world’s outdoor list for juniors, Francis is at number two behind Vernon Turner of the United States (2.28m – 7’ 5.75”), and both Alcine and Etienne are in a six-way tie for ninth with season-best leaps of 2.18m each.
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