Until they squeezed into a booth at the Cheesecake Factory last fall, the only place Nick Ross and James Frazier had ever met was on page 51 of the UA’s track and field media guide.
Separated by a few inches in a restaurant and by 31 years in the record book, Ross and Frazier share the school’s indoor high jump record at 7 feet 4 3/4 inches.
The purpose of their introduction wasn’t to talk about high-jumping records — Frazier’s 1980 outdoor leap of 7-6 remains one of the UA’s most elusive records in any sport — but to help Noel Frazier, James’ 17-year-old son, a senior at California High School, decide if he wants to become an Arizona Wildcat and join pursuit of his father’s record.
“I feel honored that my record has held up for over 30 years,” James Frazier told me in an email. “There are not very many record holders that can make that claim. It’s just a matter of time until it is broken.
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“On another note, I have a son who is a high jumper interested in attending Arizona. He is much better than I was. If the record should fall, maybe we can get it back in the family someday.”
It’s likely that if/when Noel Frazier becomes a Wildcat, he’ll not be chasing his father’s records, but those of Arizona junior Nick Ross. Or those of UA junior All-American Edgar Rivera-Morales, a favorite to win the Mexican national championship and be part of the London Olympics.
Read more about Ross and Frazier in Friday's Arizona Daily Star.
