Video: State champ aims high

Carl Heinz doesn’t waste any time during high jump competition. He doesn’t take a warmup and enters the competition long after his opponents have topped out at their heights. That was the case Friday night at the West Suburban Silver indoor meet at York. York’s Emmett McCoy took second place in 6-feet. Heinz didn’t start jumping until 6-6.

The Duke-bound Heinz hopes to become the first OPRF competitor to win back-to-back state titles in the high jump. The school’s previous state champions were Philip Heckendorn (1924), Donald Canham (1936), Robert Sweeney (1938), Calvin Boyd (1952) and John Steele (1980), but Heinz long ago knew Steele was the only champion of his era using the Fosbury Flop.

One of Heinz’s great thrills in his life was meeting the legendary Dick Fosbury in a summer high jumping camp.

Heinz fell short of equaling the conference indoor meet record by one inch. His personal outdoor record is 7-feet set at last year’s Hinsdale Relays in Darien. That event will take place April 7. Heinz will compete Saturday in the Illinois Prep Top Times meet in Bloomington, which is known as the unofficial state indoor meet.

The only remaining question Heinz is can he go beyond 7-feet? The state record is 7-3 1/2 by Heyworth’s Tom Smith in 1985 and the national record is 7-5 3/4 by James White of Grandview, Mo. in 2009.

To see James White’s record-setting high jump, click here.