Dallastown's Jalen Cook 'has no words' after setting PIAA high jump record

Yahoo

25-05-2025

Call him Mr. Pennsylvania High Jump.
No, seriously. He could go by that. He's earned the right.
As the PIAA Track and Field Championships were winding down at Shippensburg University, Dallastown's Jalen Cook was heating up.
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He cleared 6-9 to win the Class 3A gold medal when the two remaining jumpers ran out of attempts.
He cleared 7-1 to top his personal best of 7-0 and break the 40-year-old PIAA record of 7-0.25. That jump attracted attention. Athletes, officials and media surrounded the high jump area on the infield. Fans crowded in the stands turned their attention his way and started clapping.
Officials moved the bar to 7-3. The other medalists went over as a group to see just how high that was. It wasn't too high for Cook, who became the first high school jumper in Pennsylvania to hit 7-3 in a sanctioned meet.
The bar went to 7-5. And even without a word from the public address announcer ― and a four-restart saga happening on the track less than 50 feet away ― the buzz was about Cook and his jump.
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And he nearly made it.
As the cherry on this proverbial sundae, this was Cook's first time at a PIAA meet. It was his first year in high jump. His first in track and field.
Jalen Cook's parents celebrate with the Dallastown senior after he cleared 7-3 to set a state record in the high jump during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Saturday, May 24, 2025.
'I don't think we ever thought of him participating in track because it was always just football and basketball,' his mother, Danielle, said. 'And football workouts start in January. We knew he was fast, we knew he could jump. But this just totally came out of the blue.'
His dad, Terry, said track had always been a 'hard no.' As his son's football coach, those workouts came first.
'He decided it was something he really wanted to do with his friends, so we said just go for it,' Terry Cook said. 'It's his last year, senior year, have fun. And then it turned into something greater than we ever thought it could be.'
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Jalen Cook is still a football player first. He is going to East Stroudsburg to play the sport, but after Saturday's performance, it wouldn't be a surprise if he started to hear from some major college track and field programs. If it works out, he could jump for the Warriors.
He said the goal all along was to hit 7-3.
Dallastown's Jalen Cook clears 7-3 to become the all-time Pennsylvania high jump record holder during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Saturday, May 24, 2025.
'My coach stood out before [the event] and said, 'You got to get up today,'' Jalen said. 'And he was like, 'I'll be disappointed if you don't get 7-3.' So, really, it was more as a joke than it was an actual thing.'
Until it became an actual thing.
And the thing, the atmosphere, the attempts, weren't something Jalen had experienced. Especially the support from his opponents. He noticed it at districts, but it went to a new height at states.
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'None of us are best friends,' he said. 'None of us know each other all the time. We don't talk all the time, but they obviously had my back the whole time down there. We're all smiling and laughing throughout the whole thing. It's amazing to have them out there with me because I couldn't go to my coach. But having them out there is like a substitute.'
Only athletes and officials are allowed on the infield during competition, so any coaching has to be done from across the track and from the other side of the fence.
He even had to get permission to cross the track and see his parents after he cleared 7-3.
'I wasn't going to make him talk to his mom from across the track,' the head high jump official said. 'So, I walked him over.'
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Jalen's jump at 7-3 wasn't clean. The bar wobbled, which must have been why there was such a look of disbelief on his face when he bounced off the mat and saw it was still up.
Dallastown's Jalen Cook celebrates with competitors after becoming the all-time Pennsylvania high jump record holder during the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University on Saturday, May 24, 2025.
He ran to his opponents. One by one they congratulated him. His bright smile got wider with each high five, handshake and hug. There was shock, but genuine enjoyment.
'There's just not words,' Jalen said of seeing the bar in place. 'I couldn't form a sentence after that. It's just like pure happiness getting over that, and as soon as you land, looking up and seeing it's still there. It's just happiness.'
Jalen will have another chance to add to his record as a high school athlete when he competes at the New Balance Nationals at the University of Pennsylvania in June. He'll be competing on his 18th birthday.
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'The expectation is to keep climbing,' he said. 'That's always been the goal since we started. As soon as we got over a high one, we said try and go higher. Keep going higher and stay consistent with what we're doing.'
Shelly Stallsmith covers York-Adams high school sports for GameTimePA and the USAToday Network. Connect with her by email [e-mail] or on X, formerly Twitter, @ShelStallsmith.
This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: PIAA track and field: Dallastown senior snares high jump gold as rookie