Sheppard will try to give Temple its first high jump gold medal since 1916 when he competes tonight at the University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Meet at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Sheppard’s appearance in the Class 5A competition - regardless of outcome - will be the last in a small number of highlights for the Wildcats this school year.
Prior to today, Stewart Glenister’s appearance at the state swim meet - he did not make the finals - had been the brightest moment during a year in which Temple went 2-8 in football, 13-18 in boys basketball and 10-17 in baseball.
“It feels good that I could do something shining for Temple,” said Sheppard, who punched his state ticket by winning the Region II title two weeks ago.
“In the first few days after regional, family, friends, people at church and people at school were telling me good job. It made me feel good to know that there are people out there who care and are supporting me along the way.”
It was Sheppard’s second trip to the regional meet and tonight’s competition will mark his first appearance at state, which is no small feat in itself, according to Temple coach Wayne Ransleben.
“It’s very difficult to get to state, coming out of our district and our region,” said Ransleben, who last brought an athlete to Myers Stadium in 2004 when Jacob Norman ran to gold in the 100-meer dash. “It’s quite an accomplishment.”
Sheppard will vie for the Wildcats’ first gold in the high jump since Theron Brown cleared the bar at 5 feet, 5½ inches to win the Class A title in 1916.
Brown’s winning height seems absurd these days - Sheppard cleared 6-8 for regional gold - but so does the performance of tonight’s favorite, Grant Lindsey of Mansfield. Lindsey, last year’s bronze medalist, won the Region I crown after soaring over 7-1. And that came a week after he cleared 7-3 at a regional qualifiers meet in Waco.
“The best you can hope for right now is for (Lindsey) to have an off day,” Ransleben said. “There aren’t very many guys who can go 7-3. But you have to figure that 6-10 will get you a medal and 6-8 might get you one.”
Those heights are certainly within reach for Sheppard, who’s been preparing for this day for five years.
“In seventh grade, I tried the high jump because my coach made me. It seemed really easy,” Sheppard said. “I got second place at the first meet I was in and I thought then that this could be something I was good at.”
Sheppard and six of the other jumpers likely will be competing for second place tonight. To overcome his challengers, Sheppard will rely on his strengths of speed and vertical burst.
“Before I start, I’m thinking about getting up and how long I need to hold my curve to get over,” he said. “Then it all happens so fast; it’s just instinct. That’s what I’m going to focus on again at this meet, and hopefully it will help me bring back some hardware.”
Added Ransleben: “People always say you look for height in a high jumper, but I still haven’t had a tall high jumper. Harry is usually the shortest guy there. He makes up for it with his speed and vertical jump.”
And for this year anyway, it’s those traits that have fueled him to raise the bar for Wildcats athletics.
NOTES: The area’s only other 5A state qualifier is Killeen Ellison’s Bobbie Williamson, who will compete this afternoon in the girls discus. She won the Region II title with a throw of 126-8 but will need to improve to have a chance at a medal. Carrollton Creekview’s Doreas Akinniyi (139-1) and Katy Taylor’s Emily Nnokwam (138-8) are the favorites. . . . In addition to those of Brown in the high jump and Norman in the 100, Temple has 11 gold medals to its credit - Jeff Coker in the 440 in 1929, Telly Moss (5A 800, 1994), Kevin Ross (5A 800, 1996), Henry Wentzell (hammer, 1914), Jessie Giles (hammer, 1915), Burt Davidson (discus, 1912), Brown (pole vault and Class A pole vault, 1915 and ’16) and Gilbert Keeling (Class A pole vault, 1917) along with the Wildcats’ mile relay of 1912 and Class A mile relay of 1918.
edrennan@temple-telegram.com
