A sophomore at the time, Ward decided he wanted to try it. He told Miners track coach Jeff Arbogast as much, and made his debut at the 2005 Davis Super Meet.

Ward went into the event with no prior coaching and no high jumping experience.

It did not look pretty.

He cleared five feet on his first jump.

But he couldn't get over 5 feet, 2 inches on his second jump.

"It's a lot of technique and a lot of form," Ward said. "Once you get that down, it comes down to the raw vertical. I had that, just no form. Did not look good going over the bar."

These days, Ward doesn't have to worry about embarrassing jumps.

The Bingham senior has emerged as one of the best in the state.

He is tied for 10th in the latest UHSTCA rankings, after clearing 6 feet, 2 inches at last month's Davis Super Meet. Ward's best jump came earlier, during indoor competition in January, when he cleared 6 feet, 4 inches.

Ward feels he is gaining momentum, for the most part, because there were no setbacks coming into his final season.

In previous years, he had nagging injuries, or was focused partly on preparing for football, where he played inside linebacker and fullback for the state champion Miners.

Originally, Ward used track as a training tool for his other sport.

Sprints served to increase his speed for football.

Meets were a more creative way of staying in shape.

This spring, however, is exclusively about track.

"I don't have other commitments," Ward said. "I'm done with football. I can focus on my high jump and on track and have fun doing it."

The high jump is his bread and butter, but Ward is not a one-event wonder.

He also competes in the long jump and runs both the 100- and 200-meter races.

Arbogast said Ward is the prototypical multi-sport athlete that forms the core of any good track program.

He has the type of athleticism that allows him to move from one event to another with relative ease.

"He's got an incredible vertical leap and good speed," Arbogast said. "When you're looking at a track athlete, those are good qualities to have for almost any event."

Ward has continued to make the kind of natural progression expected of most good jumpers. Arbogast never read much into his initial high jumps.

Like most track and field events, it's not something a person can do casually in their backyard or driveway - unlike soccer or basketball.

Developing a workable form and good technique for high jumping and long jumping was guaranteed to take some time.

"Ultimately, not that many people have done the high jump before," Arbogast said. "The average church doesn't have high jump mats. So I think his story would be about like everybody else."

Ward will turn his attention to football again, once he graduates, playing for Southern Utah on a scholarship.

Ward chose SUU over other options after the Thunderbirds agreed to honor his scholarship while he serves an LDS Church mission next year.

If given the opportunity, he may walk on with the track team in Cedar City.

Brock Ward

* The Bingham high jumper ranks No. 10 in the state.

* The senior also competes in the long jump, 100 and 200 meters for the Miners.