CLEMSON, S.C.—Senior high jumper Sanaä Barnes (Keller, Texas) opened her 2022 competition season by clearing a height of 1.77 meters at the Tiger Paw Invite on Saturday morning. Barnes instantly rose to second on this year's BIG EAST performance list in the high jump and tied for a third place finish out of 34 competitors at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex.
 
The competition was Barnes' first track event since the U.S. Olympic Team Trials last summer and her first event overall since the end of the Villanova volleyball season on November 20. There was no rust for Barnes in her season opener as she passed at the first three heights and came into the competition with the bar set at 1.72 meters.
 
In short order Barnes went 2-for-2 on her first two jumps of the day at 1.72 meters and 1.77 meters. There were seven athletes in the field who cleared 1.77 meters on the day, but Barnes was one of three who claimed that height without having a miss to that point. The other two were eventual champion Tyra Gittens of Texas and unattached competitor Jamari Drake, who Barnes tied for third place with after both were eliminated on three missed attempts at a height of 1.82 meters.
 
Barnes has been the Wildcats record holder in the high jump both indoors and outdoors since her freshman year and is one of four Villanova athletes – sophomore Roschell Clayton (Montego Bay, Jamaica) is one of the other three – to jump at least 1.77 meters during indoor competition. Saturday's meet was a successful season opener for Barnes, whose likely next outing will be at the BIG EAST Championships later this month.