William John JANKUNIS

Bill Jankunis finished fifth at the 1974 NCAA high jump. It was an upset when he won the 1976 Olympic Trials, defeating the favorite for Olympic gold, Dwight Stones. Jankunis won that meet while working as a messenger on Wall Street, and commuting back-and-forth to train. Jankunis’s best finish at the AAU high jump was fourth in 1976. He started out as a straddler but switched to the flop between his junior and senior years of high school. He attended the University of Colorado briefly, leaving because of his father’s illness and because the coach he recruited him left coaching for real estate. Jankunis later became a union carpenter. He was inducted into the Staten Island Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal Best: HJ – 2.28 (7-5¾) (1976).