Editor’s note: The Star’s Zack Rosenblatt is counting down the 50 best athletes on the University of Arizona campus right now, with help from athletes, coaches and those close to the program.
No. 3: Justice Summerset
The details: Summerset is a 6-foot-3-inch high jumper entering his sophomore season in Arizona’s track program. Summerset set the Arizona state high-jumping record at Mountain View, clearing 7 feet 2 ½ inches as a senior. Summerset was also a standout quarterback for the Mountain Lions, throwing for more than 5,000 yards with 46 touchdowns over two seasons. Summerset competed for Tucson Elites, a local club track team coached by UA coach Fred Harvey’s wife. His connection with the Harveys was one of the reasons Summerset chose Arizona over other schools, including Arizona State.
“I already had a great relationship with Fred and it was just more about getting a relationship with the jumps coach (Matthew McGee) and that came very easily,” Summerset said. “I took my official visit and we just talked all day. The conversation just flowed and it seemed normal to me, so I was ready to make that leap. I was looking at other schools like ASU, and just being able to have options was important … but I felt like I didn’t need options when Arizona came in.”
The numbers: Summerset thrived both in indoor and outdoor competition as a freshman. He won four competitions, including both the first indoor (NAU Friday Night Duals) and outdoor (Stanford Invitational) events of his UA career. He finished in second place on two other occasions, third twice and never outside of the top 10. His best marks were a 7-3 jump in that indoor NAU event, and 7-2¼ at the Jim Click Shootout outdoors.
The value: Summerset finished third at the NCAA outdoor championships, and second place indoors. How impressive is that? In the history of Arizona, no high jumper has ever won the NCAA outdoor title. Summerset is likely Arizona’s biggest track and field star, and its best shot at an individual title, as soon as this upcoming season.
“If I had jumped my personal best” at the outdoor championships, Summerset said, “I probably would have won. That’s how I’m looking at it right now going into next year. If I had done my best, I could’ve won. So just knowing what it takes going into this second year is important.”
Why Summerset? Arizona’s high-jump program is as talented as its been since Brigetta Barrett and Nick Ross were competing at the UA. The Wildcats have Lisanne Hagens and Karla Teran on the women’s side, and Summerset has already proven what he’s capable of as a true freshman, with three more years to develop under Harvey and McGee’s coaching.
“It excites the heck out of me as a coach, to have him be a part of this program for the next three years,” Harvey said. “He’s a young man that’s unflappable.”
Proof he’s good: Summerset came in second (indoor) and third (outdoor) place at the NCAA championships as a true freshman, making him, in turn, a first-team All-American in both areas. The best part about the outdoor NCAA championship accomplishment is that he struggled — a 10th- place finish — at the Pac-12 championships just before at the same venue (in Eugene, Oregon) and bounced back in style. Recently, Summerset won a bronze medal at the Pan American Junior Championships in Peru and has his sights set on the 2020 Olympics and beyond.
The 2020 games are “the main goal, that’s the main focus,” he said. “I have ‘2020’ stapled up on my wall. Then, 2024, then 2028, and keep going. I want to be able to represent my country. Doing that this summer opened my eyes and that’s just what I really want to do.”
What Summerset can accomplish: Summerset has his sights set on a 7-4 jump, and then from there a 7-6, which is “the Olympic standard,” he said. If Summerset can make that leap as a sophomore, he has a decent shot at winning both the Pac-12 and NCAA titles and can continue to march toward Ross’ school record jump of 7-7.
Coachspeak: “A lot of people think that’s an easy task to come in just because you’re talented, to be an indoor and outdoor All-American. In an event such as high jump, it’s one of the most difficult things to do. … We were at Eugene for the conference championship and he didn’t score … to come back three weeks later to the same facilities and to accomplish what he did just tells you a lot about him as a young man and a competitor.” — Harvey
He said it: “I just want to take it day by day. I have a big goal in mind but you got to take little steps to get to that big goal, and overall I want to win. I’ve been close and getting on the podium is nice and all, but I’ve experienced that already. I’m ready to shoot for the big goals.” — Summerset
