Ethan Ruffin was a bit lost.
After an unsatisfying sophomore season on the Calvert Hall boys basketball team, the Abingdon native decided he would not return. Contemplating giving up athletics entirely, Ruffin discovered track and field.
“It came at the perfect time, actually,” he recalled. “I feel like I’d be missing out if I didn’t have track and field.”
The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Ruffin’s choice has proven prescient. On Friday, the Fairleigh Dickinson sophomore became an All-American first-team high jumper by placing seventh in the event at the NCAA Division I Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Ruffin’s height of 7 feet, 2 1/4 inches (2.19 meters) on his second attempt set a personal record, eclipsing his previous mark of 7-1 (2.16 meters). Although he missed on all three tries at 7-3 1/4 (2.22 meters), Ruffin became the second All-American for the Knights under coach Wesley Stephens, joining Salif Mane (national champion in the triple jump in 2024) in that select category.
Cardinals coach Scott Baker said Ruffin has a knack for rising to the occasion.
“He’s always been a performer,” Baker said. “When the lights are on, that’s when he is at his best.”
Ruffin’s preferred sport was basketball, which he had enjoyed since he was 5 years old. Intending to follow a path forged by his father, uncles and brothers, Ruffin changed his mind after he “lost my love for the game” after a poor experience as a sophomore.
During a school-wide open house in the fall of 2022, Ruffin was approached by a sprints coach to give track and field a try. Further encouraged by friends who were members of the team, he took up the high jump and cleared 6 feet in his first spring with the team.
“Before I jumped six feet, it was definitely something that I had to work at,” he said. “After I jumped six feet, it just felt so natural to me, and I just kept doing it over and over again, and then it just kept getting higher and higher.”
In a little more than a calendar year, Ruffin claimed the high jump title at the 2024 Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association championships by clearing 6-8 (2.03 meters), which was a personal record. He was one inch shy of tying the school record set by future NFL tight end Lawrence Cager in December 2014.
“I was working all year to get that, and then even though I came up short, I was just so surprised,” he said. “It felt so fluid, and it just felt really good. I was definitely surprised after I cleared it.”
Selecting Fairleigh Dickinson over Morgan State and Delaware State, Ruffin incurred an injury and acknowledged struggling as a freshman. But at the Northeast Conference Indoor Championships in February 2025, he was the only competitor to exceed 2 meters (2.02, or 6-7) to capture the gold.
“I didn’t do well,” he said. “I was jumping only like 6 feet, 6-2. And it was just something that clicked, and I just was trusting the process with how my coach was coaching me in college. The sky has been the limit from there.”
At the West Point Invitational at Army West Point on Jan. 10, Ruffin cleared 7 feet (2.15 meters) for the first time. That fed into his All-American performance on Friday.
“It’s just been so unreal, and it means so much to me,” he said. “I’ve had so much support throughout from my family, friends, teammates. And I’m just trying to put on the show for all the small D-I schools out there to show that it doesn’t matter what school you really go to. Everybody’s there for a reason, and you can be just as good as all those Power 5 schools.”
Baker said he wasn’t surprised to learn of Ruffin’s emergence at the NCAA Championships.
“He’s always had the potential,” he said. “I can envision him becoming a top-3 high jumper in the next two years. When it’s crunch time, he steps up.”
Ruffin isn’t shy about publicizing his objectives, saying he wants to clear 7-4 (2.25 meters) over the next two years. And he wants a gold medal hanging around his neck.
“I can confidently say the main goal is to become an NCAA champion,” he said. “I want that No. 1 spot. And I feel like me being so young as a sophomore and getting top 7, I just feel like I can.”
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