Louisiana female jumpers just keep raising the bar, literally and figuratively.
St. Thomas More's Olivia Woods and Delcambre's Emma Smith had much in common. For starters, both are juniors who have won state championships in their specialty. Smith has won the last three state titles in the high jump dating back to the 2024 LHSAA State Indoor Meet.
While Woods was not competing at her best during the 2026 indoor season, she did have a runner-up finish to go along with her two state championships during her sophomore campaign.
Another thing the jumpers have in common is that they have soared to new heights during the first month of the Louisiana high school outdoor season. Smith cleared 6-0 at last week's Panther Relays. That's No. 1 all-time in Louisiana and is currently No. 2 in the nation.
Woods cleared 13-2 at last weekend's Beaver Club Relays in Carencro. That mark is a personal record and it's only the second time in her career that she has cleared 13-0. The last time she was that high was when she won her first LHSAA State Indoor title with a jump of 13-0.25 at the 2025 state indoor meet.
Only four other junior vaulters in Louisiana history have jumped higher.
The girls are not the only ones in Louisiana who are getting high. Have you seen what Catholic New Iberia's Elijah Parich has done this season? He jumped 17-2 a couple of weeks ago at the Snooks Relays. That puts him at No. 5 on Louisiana's all-time list.
Like Smith and Woods, Parich is only a junior.
While Smith is in a class all by herself in the high jump, it certainly doesn't take long to call the roll on the pole vault lists to get to Woods and Parich.
It begs the question...how high can they go? How high will they go? I feel certain that if you talked to all three that they would tell you they are ahead of schedule and have had to go back to the drawing board to come up with a new goal.
Usually, you see these types of outstanding, prolific performances during the championship season. Certainly not before April. If this doesn't get you excited to see what they will do at Bernie Moore Stadium at the LHSAA State Outdoor Championships, I don't know what will.
I'm ready for it.