Turner’s future with OU is up in the air
NORMAN —Vernon Turner’s next destination is up in the air.
This much is certain, though — one of the top high jumpers in the country will not return to Oklahoma for his sophomore season.
“It has been a good ride at OU but unfortunately some things didn’t work out with that being said I am transferring, please respect my decision,” the former Yukon High star and holder of the national high school record for the event posted on Twitter on Wednesday.
Kevin Ritter, the jumps coach at Yukon, said Turner was unsure about his next move.
“This year was a little frustrating for him and he didn’t feel like he jumped as well as he would like,” Ritter said.
Turner entered the NCAA Outdoor Championships tied for first among collegiate jumpers with Texas Tech’s Trey Culver but finished sixth in the event.
Though it was a disappointing end to the season, Turner’s freshman season was successful overall. He set an OU indoor record with a jump of 7 feet, 7 ¾ inches and an outdoor record of 7 feet, 5¾ inches. He won the Big 12 outdoors title with that schoolrecord jump and also won the prestigious Penn Relays high jump title.
During the indoor season, he finished fourth in the NCAA Indoor Championships. He also won the long jump competition at the J.D. Martin Invitational with a jump of 23 feet, 6 ¼ inches.
He earned NCAA FirstTeam All-American honors in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.
In high school, Turner was a two-time Gatorade Oklahoma Boys Track and Field Player of the Year and a three-time state champion in high jump.
Turner has said one of his goals was to break the NCAA Indoor record of 7-9¾ set in 1989.
“If I’m just sitting here talking about 7-9, if you put it up and I look at it, I’m like, ‘No,’” Turner told The Oklahoman earlier this year. “But in competition, it’s not ever that high to me when I’m actually jumping.”
Turner is also working to qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.