COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - Prior to this past January, Jackson McDowell had never competed in the high jump before. In fact, the Saint John's University junior had never even gone out for track and field.
 
The Centennial, Colo. native had been playing baseball since he was four years old – including through his first two seasons at SJU. But he was looking for a change, and after returning from a semester studying abroad in Greece last fall, he was convinced to give track and field a try at the start of this semester.
 
"I wasn't sure what to expect," McDowell recalls. "Or even where I fit in. Initially, I think everyone thought the javelin would be my event because I throw the ball pretty hard and I have long arms. But that didn't go as well. Then I tried the high jump and everything seemed to click."
 
Did it ever.
 
McDowell won the event in SJU's season-opening indoor meet, clearing a height of 1.90 meters on Jan. 27 in Collegeville.
 
And things have only gotten better from there.
 
He finished second at the MIAC indoor championships on Feb. 23 in Northfield. Both he and champion Peyton Johnsrud of Concordia cleared a height of 1.96 meters, but Johnsrud claimed first place on a tie-breaker.
 
McDowell then began the outdoor season with a pair of first-place finishes, winning the event at the Hamline Invitational on April 6 with a leap of 1.95 meters, then taking first at the Minnesota State-Mankato Open on April 13 with a personal-best mark of 2.05 meters.
 
That's the top outdoor performance in the MIAC so far this spring, placing him in front of Johnsrud in second at 1.95 meters.
 
"He's just a natural talent," said Johnnies assistant coach Joe Vardas, who works with the team's jumpers. "That's pretty rare at this level. He's come in and made a huge impact right away.
 
"I don't want to put a ceiling on him. He's already (tied for 11th in the nation in NCAA Division III) and he can go higher. I feel pretty confident that – even where he is right now – he'll make it into nationals. But another centimeter or two would probably solidify that."
 
McDowell's success mirrors that of classmate Zach Schaffer, who played basketball as a freshman at SJU before joining track and field as a sophomore and claiming conference indoor and outdoor titles in the long jump.
 
He too has continued to be successful, winning this year's MIAC indoor title in his event and already sitting first in the outdoor conference rankings.
 
And, just as with Schaffer, it is SJU junior jumper Alec Ungar who gets credit for recruiting McDowell.
 
"He was the one who convinced Zach to do it, and I saw the success (Schaffer) had," McDowell said. "That helped convince me to give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did.
 
"I'm really enjoying track and field. I look forward to the meets every weekend and I'm having a lot of fun in practice. The coaching staff has been awesome. They're super-knowledgeable and patient. There's no way I'd be doing what I'm doing now if it wasn't for them."
 
Jackson's cousin Wil McDowell '23 also attended SJU and was a standout tennis player. That connection is what helped convince Jackson to consider life in Collegeville as well.
 
"He raved about Saint John's and how much fun it was," Jackson said. "That got me to put this place on my list. It seemed like a place I'd really like and that turned out to be the case."
 
But while enjoying his time at SJU came as no surprise, succeeding as he has in the high jump certainly did.
 
"I played basketball in high school until my sophomore year and I've always been able to dunk," the 6-foot-4 McDowell said. "But this is totally different. When I was in Greece, one of our decathletes (junior Max Lelwica) was over there, too. He'd do these jumping workouts and I'd join him sometimes. I noticed I could jump pretty high, so when I came out for track, I thought I should give the high jump a shot.
 
"But it's gone way better than I could have ever expected. I started out strong the first meet and that was amazing to me. I'm still surprised every time I get a new personal best. It's all kind of crazy."
 
But it's a craziness the global business leadership major and exercise science minor hopes to continue.
 
"I want to keep improving," said McDowell, who will work as an events marketing assistant for the NHL's Minnesota Wild this summer. "Even in baseball, I'd always write my goals down before the start of each season. I did that for track too, but I've already reached every goal I thought I could get.
 
"Now, I'm just focused on continuing to get better."