How this son of a former Georgia football coach tied Athens Academy's high jump record

Three days.

That's all the time Athens Academy junior Bryan McClendon had to train in high jump before the Spartans meet last Saturday.

And yet he came out with the gold medal, the first of his career, after tying the school record mark of 6-foot-8 previously set by now Notre Dame wide receiver Deion Colzie back in 2021. Coach Neville Anderson is still in disbelief, as is McClendon himself.

"It's the freakiest thing," Anderson said. "I've never seen anything like it in my 50 years of track and field. ... I've never seen a performance like that. I've seen short people jump, but not their third time out or without extensive training. ... We can't wait for the next meet."

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"At first, I was kind of scared," McClendon said. "We started out the lower heights and I was flying through those. But once we got to 6-0, I was like oh, I don't know if I can do this... My coach pulled me off to the side and she said, 'I know this is your first time doing it, so you don't have to, but I'm going to tell you, if you feel like you can, then go.'"

McClendon, son of former UGA receivers coach Bryan McClendon who has the same position now with Tampa Bay, only stands about 5-foot-9. Jumping nearly an entire foot taller than yourself is remarkable, especially with only three days of practice.

He said he took up high jump on a whim, after years of people telling him he'd be good at it and should try it out. Anderson said McClendon is typically a sprinter, but he'd been fooling around in the pit and decided, let's see what the field aspect is all about.

He was hesitant at first, only because he didn't think it would be his "thing." But it's in his blood. He's a basketball player. The idea is already there.

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"I'm 5-9, and that's not the tallest," McClendon said. "Last year I could dunk, but this year I could really dunk. Like, it'd get loud. ... What really got me (on board) was, there's this one kid on our basketball team, he runs track too. Ricky [Chastain]. He texted me and he was like, 'Hey, coach needs some jumpers, and I was telling him about you dunking and about how high you could jump. I think you'd be really good at it.'"

He doesn't have the technique down yet, but that's step number two in his eyes. He said he pictures dunking a basketball when he runs toward his takeoff point. Sprint, take those two critical steps and jump. It's a philosophy that works for him, with his background in other sports — he's like many other multi-sport student-athletes, who do track to stay in shape in offseasons.

His mantra is simple: Clear it, don't fear it.

He's not going to let this achievement get to his head, despite how impressive. He's got to improve; he's got to show that it wasn't just an angel on his shoulder, that he really can jump. Anderson said the athletes are only as good as their coaches, that the coaches are the real stars on the team, and McClendon is just a tiny shred of proof to back that take.

"My coach said before practice yesterday, 'We've all done some good stuff, like Bryan, you jumped 6-8 on your first meet. But how high can you go? Is that the limit?'" McClendon said. "I know that's not the limit for me."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Bryan McClendon on tying school high jump record, trying new things