Grant Campbell takes part in the Volunteer Track Classic on Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY MIKE BLACKERBY
One can only imagine what the promising future holds for Heritage high jumper Grant Campbell – the 5Star Preps Male Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
His stock has skyrocketed over the last few months.
Campbell began the 2023 outdoor track and field season rated as one of the top high jumpers in the state.
He finished his senior season as the No. 2 prep high jumper in the country and the No. 21 high jumper all time.
Grant Campbell takes part in the Volunteer Track Classic on Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
His ascension in the event last spring was nothing short of breathtaking.
Campbell entered his senior season with a career-best jump of 6 feet, 8 inches.
He cleared 7 feet for the first time in the Blount County Championships and never dipped below the height again.
“I can’t imagine anyone in the country having jumped seven feet or higher as many times as Grant did this season,” said Heritage coach Shane Rewis.
Campbell cleared the bar at 7-02.25 in a meet at Maryville, breaking the longstanding state record of 7-02 set in 1996 by Eric Draper of White Station.
Then came the real attention grabber as Campbell topped 7-03.25 at the Volunteer Track Classic. At the time it was the nation’s leading high jump.
The performance vaulted Campbell into the national spotlight and earned him a scholarship offer from Tennessee, which he gladly accepted.
Campbell capped the season by winning the high jump (7-0) at the state Class 3A meet in May.
It all happened so fast.
“My whole world was flipped upside down,” said Campbell who is already eagerly looking forward to his college career at UT.
“I really can’t describe how excited I am.”
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The journey to state record, national prominence and UT was unlikely at best for the 6-foot-8, 175-pound Campbell.
Growing up he was a basketball-first guy and he only took up track at the urging of friends.
“My sophomore year a bunch of friends told me I ought to go out for track,” said Campbell.
“I was really scared to jump over the bar at first. I didn’t want to break my neck.”
Campbell progressed quickly and went on to win the state high jump with a mark of 6-8 his sophomore year.
A series of injuries during his junior year left him pondering his future in track and field.
Maybe he’d just stick to basketball, where he was a standout player for the Mountaineers.
“I really wasn’t going to do track this year,” he said.
“I was just going to concentrate on basketball.”
Campbell eventually landed a scholarship offer in basketball from Freed-Hardeman in Henderson, Tennessee.
He was supposed to sign with the Lions in late April, but postponed the ceremony after Tennessee track offered.
Campbell signed with the Vols in early May.
Rewis said there’s no limit to Campbell’s potential once he taps into the elite training he will receive at Tennessee.
“With the coaching he’s going to get over there I fully expect to see him in the Olympics one day,” said Rewis.
“I’m very excited to see what he can do.”
Campbell already has immediate goals as a Vol.
“I’d like to go a couple of inches more and hopefully do 7-6. I’d like to hit it by the end of my freshman or the start of my sophomore year,” said Campbell.
Rewis said Campbell has the right mindset to accomplish anything he wants.
And by the way, the UT school record in the high jump is 7-7.75.
“Grant is an athlete and he’s determined,” said Rewis.
“If he sees a goal he’s going to do anything he can to attain that goal.”
Stay tuned.
Grant Campbell takes part in the Volunteer Track Classic on Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on Saturday, April 29, 2023, in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)