Refined technique has seen Freeman High’s Trenton Sandborn make incredible leap in high jump

There’s no telling how high Freeman junior Trenton Sandborn would have high jumped by now if he had some specialized coaching.

That’s the difference many times between small rural schools and larger city schools. To put in perspective, Freeman has a paid head coach for boys and girls combined, two paid assistants and a couple of volunteer coaches who can’t commit to being at practices every day. Bigger schools have paid head coaches for boys and girls and more paid event-specific assistants.

It’s nothing short of remarkable that Sandborn has gone from jumping 6-foot as a freshman to 6-10¾, largely because of athletic ability.

Eclipsing 7 feet by season’s end is realistic, not just a dream. Consider what he did at the Oregon Relays at Hayward Field in Eugene in early April. On a third attempt at 6-11¾, he was over the bar but just nudged it with his calf. He marveled at how close he was to a clean jump when looking at the video of the attempt Monday.

“It’s there,” Sandborn said.

Sandborn is glad he listened to the wisdom of a teammate his freshman year. Stephanie Chadduck went on to capture a state championship in the high jump that spring.

“She encouraged me to keep jumping,” Sandborn said. “I didn’t even know how to high jump. I didn’t want to do it because I didn’t think I’d be any good at it. Stephanie kept telling me she thought I could be good at it.”

Last year Sandborn was hovering around 6-2 when he made a startling discovery: He could be good at the high jump.

Sandborn went from 5-11 in a final league meet to 6-6 the following week. He capped the season by winning a State 1A championship, jumping 6-7, his personal best at the time. He won a duel with Caleb Silva of King’s Way Christian.

Both jumpers cleared 6-6 and Sandborn made 6-7 on his first attempt. Silva cleared on his second try, meaning Sandborn was state champ based on fewer misses.

“Last year he was so raw,” Freeman head coach Isaac Swille said. “You could tell he was just going off athletic ability. He kind of knew what he was doing, but not really.”

“It was really crazy,” Sandborn said. “I didn’t have really any training or any coaching. I kind of taught myself. Then things just started clicking and I started becoming really consistent. I started blooming and the mechanics started making sense to me.”

He jumped last summer with Spokane Speed Academy and did indoor meets in the winter. Sandborn’s club coach worked with him on his technique and it paid off with a career jump. He did 6-10¾ at a meet at the Podium.

Swille was playing basketball and when he checked his phone he saw that he missed a call from Sandborn.

“So I called him back,” Swille said. “I’m thinking he’s going to tell me that he blew his knee out playing (club) volleyball or basketball or something just by the tone of how he started talking to me. That’s when he told me he had jumped 6-10¾. Even when he was telling me, you could tell he was in shock.”

His best outdoor jump is 6-8¼. He did that at the Mooberry Relays last month. He was the last competitor in the event and had tied the school record (6-8) three weeks earlier. He chose to try 6-8¼. He cleared it, wiping away the school record set in 2005.

Sandborn is learning to be patient with his jumping. He wants to reach 7 feet in the worst way, but his coaches are reminding him he can’t have a personal best every time he jumps.

Swille sees the potential, though.

“I knew 7 foot was going to be a possibility, but I didn’t know that it would be a possibility this soon,” Swille said. “He’s got a big jump loading.”

Sandborn is tied for second overall in the state, three-fourths of an inch behind the leader. He leads 2B, the new classification Freeman moved to this year, by 2¼ inches.

He isn’t a one-event wonder. He got his introduction to track in the hurdles in eighth grade and immediately ran a time that had him ranked nationally for his age.

Sandborn does the 110-meter high hurdles and 300 intermediates. He’s much more consistent in the shorter race.

He became just the second Freeman athlete to run below 15 seconds in the 110 when he did 14.94 in mid-March. He cut nearly four-tenths of a second off that time when he did 14.57 at Mooberry, breaking a 50-year-old school record set by Bob Lashaw (14.84) in 1975.

Sandborn frequently watches video of his race at Mooberry to remind himself of his potential.

In the 300, teammate Tyce Gilbert, also a junior, ranks first in 2B at 39.67 and Sandborn is ranked second (39.91). Both are threatening the school record (39.29) set by Andrew McGill in 2018.

“It’s funny watching them in the 300 because Trenton is 6-foot-4 and Tyce is 5-10, a little dude,” Swille said. “Tyce runs so smooth. They’re very competitive.”

Sandborn will challenge for three individual state titles at the end of the month in Yakima. He earned medals in both hurdles last year – fifth in the 300 and seventh in the 110. Gilbert was sixth in the 300 a year ago.

“I want to say I could win three if I really apply myself,” Sandborn said. “The 300s are more challenging to me than the 110s. I’m just not consistent in the 300s. That’s what I have to work on.

“I would love to go for state titles in all my events. That would be a crazy achievement. But regardless of the outcome in the 300s, if we go 1-2 it’s still going to be a victory for both of us. Getting to race against someone who is as good as you or better is cool.”

Swille doesn’t care who wins between his athletes – he just wants them to finish 1-2. Sandborn and Gilbert will give Freeman an opportunity to challenge defending 2B champ St. George’s.

High jump will be the event that opens the door to a college education for Sandborn. His plan for his final summer and indoor seasons is to focus on technique. He hopes that sets him up to soar higher next spring.

After all, a little bit of specialized instruction could be the trick for Sandborn to unlock his potential.