Athletically, Kevin McGrath always knew where he belonged.
High in the air, above everyone else, playing basketball in that stratosphere at Hopkinton High, and then reaching it again, this time in the high jump event while competing for the University of New Hampshire’s track and field team.
McGrath changed hats a few years ago, chose a new path, ventured into a sport that he knew nothing about. His college results were startling, to say the least. Record-breaking, even.
At Hopkinton High, he was a 6-foot-1 stringbean – 140 pounds, tops – who could jump through the gym roof. He was named to the All-State Team twice as one of the best Division III players in the state.
But playing Division I college basketball was out of reach, although McGrath might have had a shot at playing on the D-III level. But he wanted to attend a bigger school and continue competing. Logic took over.
“I didn’t start high jumping until my junior year of high school,” McGrath said. “With high jumping, it looked the same as going up for a dunk. I thought I could be decent at it.”
He was right. McGrath recently earned an MBA at UNH, ending a career cut short due to injury and the pandemic. Before he graduated, though, let the record show that McGrath now holds the all-time UNH record in the high jump, for both the indoor and outdoor teams.
“It’s exciting because my parents were there to see one of them,” said McGrath, who’s 23. “I was going for the win first, and then I was going for the record, and I knew both could happen.”
His nonchalance toward being No. 1 all-time in a major college sporting event stems from a simple fact:
McGrath, hands down, always jumped higher than anyone else, first in high school, where it was easy to be a trend setter and record breaker, since Hopkinton High had no track and field facility and little interest in promoting the sport.
Practices and training were virtually nonexistent at the time. In fact, at his first high school meet, McGrath was ready to take a few steps – and only a few steps – before starting his jump.
“You know you can take a running start, right?” an official reportedly said.
Still, he was the best the team had. Word spread and he learned technique from an ex-high school coach in Milford.
“Everyone saw my jumping ability at layup lines and dunks, so people knew,” McGrath said.
He eventually jumped his way into the UNH record book, and, in fact, his jump of 2.10 meters, equal to 6-foot-10¾, broke a school record that had stood for more than a decade. His school record outdoor jump was 2.07 meters, or 6-9½.
He started working out and refining his style and weighed a solid 180 pounds after qualifying for the NCAA Northeast Preliminary late last month in Florida. He advanced no further, but it was a nice way to round out a career.
A record breaking career.
“One of the most, if not the most, dedicated athletes I’ve seen,” said McGrath’s coach, Anna Magle-Haberek. “There were injuries and there was COVID and he never gave up.”
McGrath said he’ll take it easy this summer. He can look back on a great high school basketball career that everyone saw coming, and to a record-breaking track career that no one saw coming.
Beyond McGrath, of course. By the time he broke records over the past year, videos show a form right from the textbook. Neck curling over the bar, back arching, feet whipping upward at just the right moment.
“I had no clue when I started,” McGrath said. “I said I’ll try to jump when I get there, and it paid off. I got my degree and a few records.”