Jack Tilton clears the bar for Rochelle.
Jack Tilton's first year at Carthage College took the former Rochelle Township High School high jumper from a conference championship in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to a gold medal for the United States in Peru.
Tilton, a 2025 Rochelle graduate, won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin outdoor high jump title on May 2 at Carthage's Art Keller Stadium, clearing a personal-best 6-9 (2.06 meters). That jump earned him All-CCIW honors and later USTFCCCA Outdoor All-Region recognition after it ranked third in the North Region.
Later in May, Tilton made his NCAA Division III Championships debut in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and placed 20th after clearing 6-6 (1.98m). Earlier in the season, he had taken third at the CCIW Indoor Championships with a clearance of 6-7.75 (2.03m).
The outdoor conference title helped send him to Lima in July to represent the United States at the 2026 FISU America Games, a continental university competition sanctioned by the International University Sports Federation. On July 31, Tilton, the only American in the men's high jump field, won gold at 6-6 (1.97m). The CCIW and UniUSA both listed him first in the event.
At Rochelle, Tilton built steadily toward those marks. He first cleared 5 feet as a freshman in April 2022 and, as a senior, set a high school personal record of 6-6 at the Rocket Invitational in Rock Falls on April 25, 2025. That spring he cleared 1.93 meters to win the Interstate 8 Conference high jump at Doug Creason Athletic Complex, then earned a seventh-place medal at the IHSA Class 2A state meet with the same height (6-3.75). It was his first trip to the state meet after coming up just short as a sophomore and junior. He had already medaled indoors, placing eighth in Class 2A at the Illinois Top Times Indoor State Meet.
Tilton followed former Hub jumper Mason DeLille to Carthage and is listed as a sophomore on the Firebirds' 2026-27 roster as another indoor season approaches.
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