The 6-foot-2, 170-pound senior won the high jump at the Class 6A state meet this past season with a clearance of 7 feet, 4 inches. The state's returning Gatorade Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Turner cleared a personal-best 7-6 at the Yukon Classic, which ranked as the nation's No. 1 performance among prep competitors in 2017 at the time of his selection and represents the second-highest clearance in U.S. prep history. He also won the high jump at the Great Southwest Classic and finished unbeaten on the season, reaching at least 7-0 in every meet.
Turner has maintained a 3.50 GPA in the classroom. He has signed a National Letter of Intent to on an athletic scholarship at the University of Oklahoma this fall.
Also a basketball standout, Turner has volunteered locally on behalf of youth sports camps. "Vernon is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete," said Yukon jumps coach Kevin Ritter. "He has done things that no one in Oklahoma has ever done before. He has jumped seven feet or higher in 12 meets in a row. I don't think there has ever been a prep jumper as consistent as he is."
