Title IX Milestones: Oregon Olympian Joni Huntley Elevated HS Track & Field with National High Jump Record
By NFHS on November 08, 2021 Title IX Print
Olympic track and field star Joni Huntley reached new heights at Sheridan (Oregon) High School, winning six Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) titles from 1972-74 and setting a U.S. record by clearing 6 feet as a senior. She also won titles in the 100-yard dash and 100-meter high hurdles in 1974.
Throughout 1974 and 1975, Huntley bettered the American record four times and served as U.S. champion from 1974-77. Her 6-foot jump that also established the state meet record in 1974 held up until the 2013 track and field season. At that time, it was the oldest meet record in any classification recognized by the OSAA.
Huntley later attended Oregon State University. As a member of the OSU program, she won four consecutive national titles in the high jump as well as conference titles in 1975 in the high hurdles, long jump and high jump. Huntley’s 1976 jump of 6-feet-2 ¾ inches set an Oregon State record that remained through 2012.
The Sheridan native’s impact globally was first felt in 1975 when she captured gold at the Pan American Games. That accomplishment helped earn her the No. 3 ranking in the world that year. In 1976, she participated in her first Olympic Games. Her efforts resulted in a fifth-place finish that year in Montreal. Following the 1980 Olympic boycott, she returned to action and earned a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Huntley was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 2016. She previously was inducted into the Oregon State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. #TitleIXat50
