OVER THE COURSE of a busy senior year of competition, Scottie Vines repeatedly demonstrated his ability to stay calm in high-pressure situations. But the high jumper was caught off guard when some mid-summer turbulence threw his college plans into chaos. Originally committed to attending Colorado in his home state, he found himself in the transfer portal before he ever set foot on campus when the Buffaloes’ new head coach, Sean Carlson, decided to focus the program on distance runners. Carlson called the incoming recruits and told them his plans, leaving Vines no choice but to find a new school.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Vines says. “When it very first happened, and I found out that I was going to have to go in the portal, I was freaking out a little bit. What got me back in the right mindset was that all these super-good jump schools were contacting me and very serious about wanting me.”
That makes sense, given Vines’ accomplishments for De Beque High, winning his third straight State title, sweeping the Nike Outdoor/USATF U20 double at Hayward Field in June, and following that up by advancing to the Olympic Trials final.
Among the schools courting Vines was Arkansas, the alma mater of many great high jumpers, including’04 Olympic silver medalist Matt Hemingway, a fellow Coloradan who has become a mentor to Vines over the last few years. Hemingway encouraged him to consider the program’s deep tradition in the sport.
“Everyone around you is so great in their events that it just motivates you to be the best version of yourself,” Vines says of his decision to join the Razorbacks. “It’s nice to feel wanted, too.”
Vines established himself as a top prospect with his win at the Texas Relays in late March, when he cleared 7-4¼ (2.24), a Trials qualifying mark. “That jump right there changed my whole year,” he says, admitting that he wasn’t even sure what the exact height was during the competition, since he wasn’t yet familiar with metric conversions. But right after he went over the bar he learned from Hemingway, who was on hand, that he’d just broken the Colorado state record, previously held by Hemingway himself.
At the OT Vines cleared 7-2¼ (2.19) in the qualifying round to advance to the final. Unfortunately, coming in at an opening height of 7-1 (2.16) was new territory, and he was unable to clear. “It was weird for me to take it all in because I was in awe that I was at the Olympic Trials. It almost didn’t feel real in a way,” he admits. “When I made it to the finals I was satisfied with what I accomplished that year. It’s not like I gave up or didn’t think it was possible that I could make it to the Olympics, it was just that my goal had been to make it to finals.”
Arkansas assistant Rob Jarvis had only just been hired onto the Razorbacks staff from Miami when Vines entered the portal in late July, but quickly helped close the deal. After a few weeks of working together, they were off to Lima, Peru, for the World U20 meet. Vines jumped well through most of the evening but had two misses at 7-3¾ (2.23). After a pep talk from Jarvis he sailed over on his final attempt, then won the competition at the next height, 7-4½ (2.25).
“I was really impressed by the maturity he had in the moment to collect himself and dig deep in that well and make that bar and then get 2.25 on the first look,” says Jarvis, who guided Miami triple jumper Russell Robinson to the NCAA title and an Olympic berth this year. “So as a positive moving forward, those big bars don’t scare him. He keeps telling me he’s going to jump 2.30 [7-6½] out of the gate.”
First, however, he has to start serious training. A freak scooter accident earlier in the fall resulted in a dislocated joint in his left thumb that required surgery. Vines expects to be jumping again in December and has eyes on keeping the NCAA crown in Fayetteville following Romaine Beckford’s indoor and outdoor titles this year.
“I’m excited to see how he does. He’s going to be a favorite from Day 1 and I don’t think I’m speaking out of school saying it,” Jarvis says. “He’s excited by the challenge of going out there and trying to win everything he can. With Romaine graduating obviously he’s got big shoes to fill, but it’s not a challenge that he’s shying away from. He wants to carry the mantle that Arkansas has done for decades.”