Mainland Regional’s Mawali Osunniyi, the JUCO indoor national high jump champ, took over the outdoor JUCO lead Saturday in a meet at Canyon, Texas.
Osunniyi, a sophomore at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N. Mex., cleared 7-0 ½ at the Jo Meaker Classic and Multi at West Texas State’s Track & Field Complex at Buffalo Sports Park.
He’s the only 7-footer in the National Junior College Athletic Association ranks so far this spring.
Osunniyi cleared 6-7 ½ and 6-9 on his 1st attempt and 6-11 ½ on his 2nd. He got over the bar at 7-0 ½ on his 3rd and final attempt before taking three attempts at 7-1 ¾, which would have been a lifetime best.
Osunniyi set his PR of 7-1 ½ in February of 2024 as a freshman at Connecticut at an indoor meet at the Armory. He won the indoor Big East last year with a 7-0 ¼ in Chicago and then won the outdoor Big East title last May at Villanova with a 6-11 ½. He matched that 7-1 ½ in his first meet at New Mexico JC in Lubbock. He cleared 6-11 ½ to win the JUCO national title last month, also in Lubbock.
He’s the 2nd high jumper from Mainland Regional to clear at least 7-0. Paul Klemic cleared 7-4 ½ at the National Scholastic Championships in Raleigh, N.C., still the New Jersey state record 25 years later and No. 9 in U.S. history. He began his collegiate career at Northeastern, where he ran 14.244 and jumped 6-9 ½ and 24-8 ¾, then transferred to Stockton, where he still holds school records of 6-11 ¾, 14.05 and 25-2. Klemic was a two-time NCAA Division 3 long jump champ and a six-time All-America in the 110-meter hurdles, high jump and long jump.
7-4 ½ … Paul Klemic [Mainland Reg.], June 17, 2000, Raleigh, N.C.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 