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Record-setting leap inspires Penguins’ Morales to high hopes
Struthers grad broke YSU record set by Dave Ritter in 1989
By charles grove
YOUNGSTOWN
The name Arnaldo, the Italian version of Arnold, is derived from a German name meaning “eagle power.”
Like his name would suggest, Youngstown State’s Arnaldo Morales has been soaring like an eagle.
Morales, a junior, broke the school record in the high jump on April 16 with a leap clearing 2.15 meters, or just more than 7 feet, at the Northeast Ohio Quad meet in Akron.
That jump broke the record of 2.13 meters that Dave Ritter set in 1989. It’s quite a leap for an athlete who took up track during his freshman year at Struthers High School as a way to stay in shape for football.
Morales quickly discovered he had a hidden passion for track and ended up dropping football in hopes of earning a track scholarship.
“I figured, ‘I’m going to do really well in track, so I don’t want to risk hurting myself playing football,’” Morales said. “I would think, ‘Maybe I could go to school for free and not have to pay a dime for school.’”
Today at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Morales will be one of six Penguins competing at the Penn Relays.
He’s come a long way since his junior year at Struthers when his high jump coach left the Wildcats and was not replaced. Without instruction, Morales was “winging it” while taking inefficient routes to the bar.
Instead of taking a more curved approach, Morales would take an “L route” to the bar, making a 90-degree turn that hindered his ability to reach his true high-jump potential.
But Katrina Brumfield, YSU’s jumps coach, saw raw talent that she could mold and began giving Morales tips at practices and meets inside the WATTS.
“My approach was terrible,” Morales said. “[Brumfield] kept bugging me in high school, giving me hints because I didn’t have a coach and she would help me here and there.”
Brumfield said, “I definitely knew he was special out of high school just based on his jumping ability.
“He was doing crazy things,” Brumfield said. “It wasn’t by any textbook approach and it was pretty much the complete opposite of what you’re supposed to look like with an approach.”
Eventually Brumfield convinced Morales to join the Penguins team and the record of 2.13 meters was an immediate goal the moment he saw the record board at the WATTS.
“Since I came here and saw it, I thought, ‘I’m going to be on that board,’” Morales said. “Freshman year came and I did decent in my eyes.
“Sophomore year, I got to like 6 feet 11 inches and I was like, ‘I’m close.’”
And from the moment Morales slammed down on the landing pad, knowing he had broken the school record, the next goal was immediately on his mind.
“My first thought was, ‘All right. I have it. Let’s go. What’s my next step?’” Morales said.
That step is qualifying for the NCAA national competition by doing well at the regional level. Morales will compete for one of 12 spots that will move on to the national championships from May 26-28 in Jacksonville. Fla.
To qualify, Morales said he would need to jump at about 2.15 meters again or higher.
“If everything goes right, I’m confident I’ll make it,” Morales said.
A spot on the U.S. Olympic team also could be in the works if Morales could continue to improve.
“A jump of 2.25 meters would secure him a spot for the Olympics,” Brumfield said, adding that “2.20 would maybe get an alternate position.”
One of the top high jumpers in the nation is not something Brumfield said she expected from Morales when she saw him as a coach-less high-school athlete awkwardly clearing the bar at meets.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have said, ‘Yeah, this kid’s going to be a seven-footer in three years,’” Brumfield said. “I thought he would work hard and be a 6-foot-10 guy maybe but at the level he’s at now, opportunities have really opened up for him.”