The next generation is taking the Cunningham family name to new heights in athletic competition.
Randall Cunningham Jr., the son of the former NFL quarterback, cleared 6 feet, 11.5 inches in the high jump to take fourth place while representing USC in the New Mexico Classic and Multis indoor track meet in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Friday.
It was his little sister, though, who made headlines at the meet. Vashti Cunningham, 18, won the women's high jump with a mark of 6-4.75 that crushed two long-standing American records.
Vashti Cunningham, a senior at Las Vegas' Bishop Gorman High, broke the U.S. marks for high school and junior-ranks jumpers. Destinee Hooker of Texas had held the indoor junior record of 6-3.5 since February 2006. Lisa Bernhagen of Idaho had owned the indoor high school mark of 6-3 since 1984.
Chaunte Howard Lowe, a three-time U.S. Olympian and the reigning American record-holder, also cleared 6-4.75 at the meet, but Cunningham -- who set the U.S. high school record of 6-5 last summer -- won on fewer misses in the first indoor meet of her career.
"I like indoors," Cunningham told the Albuquerque Journal. "The track feels faster and a little bouncier."
Both the Cunninghams are coached by their father. Before his at-times spectacular college and pro football career, Randall Cunningham was a high school track star in California, hitting a PR of 6-10.
