Class of 2024 Senior Sets New School Record in High Jump
T’Vario Willis spent much of his childhood on the move as part of a military family. Both his mother and father are members of the Navy, with one retired and one still active. His mother, Tierra Williams, says T’Vario was raised “all over the world.” Willis and his family have settled down, making the Jacksonville area their home since 2015, but the rising Ridgeview High senior is still very much on the move as one of the top track athletes in Florida.
Willis is a three-sport athlete at the Clay County school. In addition to track, he’s a member of the Ridgeview golf and basketball teams, and he serves on the school’s Athlete Leadership Council. But it’s track that’s his dominant sport, and the results certainly speak for themselves:
- T’Vario broke the Ridgeview school record in the high jump with a jump of 6 feet, 6.25 inches on March 31 at the Pepsi Relays; as of July 17, 2023, it remained a school record.
- He became the second boys track athlete in school history to win a state medal, and the first since 2004.
- In the 2023 season, T’Vario finished first in the high jump in six area track events, and he was the District Champion.
- He’s ranked as the No. 1 high jumper in Florida Class 3A.
- He was named Second Team All-County last year, and this year he earned First Team All-County honors for his accomplishments.
- He was just named to the All-News 4 JAX boys track and field team as the top high jump athlete.
- In addition to the high jump, he’s also a member of the 4x400M relay team
Ridgeview track coach Carl Jackson says he knew as soon as he met Willis that he would be one of the team’s top performers.
“I began coaching T’Vario two years ago, and I knew with his work ethic and him being a three-sport athlete that success was only a matter of time,” Jackson says.
Jackson also spoke of the impact that T’Vario has on the younger members of Ridgeview’s track program.
“When the younger athletes on the team see how hard he works, then sees his success, it makes them work harder, and they too will become successful,” the coach says.
When the school track season ends, T’Vario picks right up with local club track team Jacksonville Athletic Club (JAC), with whom he has been a member since 2018. The club’s founder and coach, Eli Sundquist, says T’Vario has steadily improved as an all-around track athlete, especially in the high jump.
“His best event is the high jump,” Sundquist says. “He has improved his high jump distance by a foot over the last two years, which is a lot. He has also improved his technique quite a bit.”
The JAC head coach says he thinks the best is still to come for the Ridgeview track standout.
“T’Vario has a lot of natural ability, and I expect him to get even better in his upcoming senior season,” Sundquist says.
Sundquist adds that T’Vario is “not just a great athlete, but he’s a great student, too.”
Willis serves as a team captain on both the JAC and Ridgeview track teams.
Naturally, his next step will be taking his natural talent to the college level. Sundquist says he thinks T’Vario has what it takes to succeed as a collegiate track athlete.
“He has the talent and the work ethic to compete and succeed in college track,” he says.
Williams says several college programs have expressed an interest in her son, including Kentucky and Baylor.
“He has about nine schools that are interested in him,” she says. “Five of those are Division-1 schools.”
Of course, any time you’re talking about rising aspirations in the area of track and field, becoming an Olympic hopeful is part of the conversation. It’s something T’Vario thinks about often.
“One of the things at the top of my bucket list is to go to the Olympics,” he says.
T’Vario says he has talked with his coaches about his dream.
“They think I can get there, that I have the potential to get there,” he says. “I just have to pursue my dream.”
