In 1984, Dave Turnbull set a state record by clearing 7 feet, ¼ inch in the high jump. He was just the second high schooler in Oregon to clear the 7-foot threshold.

It is a record that stood for seven years, and only four others have exceeded that jump nearly 40 years later, including Bend High’s Damian Olson (now coaching at Summit), who cleared 7-3½ in 1997.

The longtime Summit head track and field coach who also coaches high jump, Turnbull has a simple reason why, even with the advancements in athletics, only nine jumpers have cleared 7 feet since 1971 — there are not as many three-sport athletes anymore.

“I would go from football to basketball, then basketball to track,” Turnbull said of his time at Bend’s Mountain View High School. “Each one was different. (In track) I was opening up my stride and learning how to high jump. I wasn’t just dunking, which doesn’t develop anything other than dunking.”

Turnbull believes competing in multiple sports, which requires different types of movements and fundamentals, helps develop better, more well-rounded athletes.

“If you are truly an athlete,” he said, “you should be able to do multiple sports.”

Both the reigning Class 6A and 5A state-champion high jumpers not only reside in Central Oregon, but Redmond senior Nate Wachs and Summit junior Collin Moore are both three-sport athletes.

Wachs, an all-state wide receiver for the Redmond football team and a two-year starter for the Panthers’ basketball teams that reached the state semifinals the past two years, is set to play football at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande next fall.

“Being a three-sport athlete helps me in all my sports,” Wachs said. “I’m in shape for high jump all year. Obviously basketball helps with that.”

With still a year of high school remaining, Moore was a member of Summit’s 5A state title football team this past fall and has developed into one of the state’s top basketball players.

For Moore, who has played in 13 total playoff games and three state championship games between football and basketball, the experience of having competed in big moments helps just as much as his physical gifts.

“It makes it not as nerve-wracking when you are running up to the bar,” he said. “I’ve been able to play on big stages in different sports. It helps me stay locked in.”

At Hayward Field in Eugene last May, Wachs cleared 6-4 to claim the 5A state title, and Moore cleared 6-6 in a jump off over West Linn’s Adam Maxwell to win the 6A title.

Wachs and Moore currently both have a season high of 6-2, trailing only Summit’s Isaac Knapp, who has the best jump in 5A of 6-4. With only two automatic bids available per event in each conference, one of Class 5A’s best high jumpers might have to count on a wild-card berth.

Both Wachs and Moore, who squared off on the football field this past fall and four times this past winter on the basketball court, are excited to be competing in the same conference.

“It is good to have competition,” Moore said. “If I was the only good high jumper in our district I don’t think I would be able to get past 6-4. It is a benefit for us to have good high jumpers going into state.”

With less than a month until the Intermountain Conference championships, Moore and Wachs are working through perfecting their jump form and take off so that when those decisive jumps come, they will be ready.

Neither believe they can clear 7 feet, as it is a feat fewer than 10 people in the state’s history have ever accomplished. But both agree that playing multiple sports have helped them reach the top of the podium in high jump.

“I would recommend being a three-sport athlete to everyone that does sports,” Wachs said. “It helps you get better in every sport.”