Results | Photos (coming soon)
Tyler O'Garro made history on Saturday night when he became the first athlete from New Jersey to make 7-0 in the high jump since 2016 when he cleared that height to win the event in dramatic fashion at the Hispanic Games at the New York Armory.
The 6-1 junior at North Brunswick, competing in his first indoor season after giving up basketball, soared over the bar on his final attempt at 7-0 to become the first NJ jumper to clear that magical barrier since Markquese Bell of Bridgeton, who currently plays safety for the Dallas Cowboys, made 7-0 outdoors at the Cape-Atlantic League Championships in May of 2016.
O'Garro, who came into the meet with a PR of 6-10 that he made at the Mike Glynn Holiday Carnival at Ocean Breeze on Dec. 28, broke the Middlesex County record with his 7-0 clearance and is the first NJ jumper to go over 7-0 indoors since Mark Jones of Summit cleared 7-0.25 to win the high jump at the 2011 New Balance National Championships at the NY Armory.
O'Garro is only the 10th NJ high school athlete to ever make 7-0 or higher indoors and he's the 31st NJ jumper (indoors and outdoors combined) to join the 7-0 club.
The 7-0 by O'Garro places him No. 3 overall in the nation this season and No. 1 among juniors, and it broke the 49 year-old Middlesex County record of 6-10.25 that Vince Reilly of St. Joseph (Met.) set at the 1977 NJCTC Championships.
The NJ indoor high jump record of 7-4.25 was set in 2003 by Mike Morrison of Willingboro when he finished first at the Nike Indoor Classic in Landover, Maryland. Morrison also owns the NJ Junior Class record of 7-1, which he cleared in 2002.
O'Garro's record breaking high jump performance led a flurry of NJ No. 1 marks at the Hispanic Games, including one by his teammate! Here's a look at all of them.
MORE NJ HIGHLIGHTS
Michael Perry added to North Brunswick's memorable day by joining O'Garro on top of the NJ season leaderboard as the junior won the boys' 55 hurdles with a NJ No. 1 time of 7.32.
Sophomore Jasmine Jackson of Winslow ran a NJ No. 1/US No. 4 time of 7.90 to place second in the 55 hurdles and ran on the runner-up 4x200 that stopped the clock at a NJ No. 1 1:40.48