{"id":23182,"date":"2016-03-21T08:01:38","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T15:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/nfl-qb-randall-cunninghams-daughter-takes-off-in-high-jump\/"},"modified":"2016-03-21T08:01:38","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T15:01:38","slug":"nfl-qb-randall-cunninghams-daughter-takes-off-in-high-jump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/sports\/nfl-qb-randall-cunninghams-daughter-takes-off-in-high-jump\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL QB Randall Cunningham’s daughter takes off in high jump"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 <\/strong>As a 9-year-old, Vashti Cunningham was an impressive player on her flag football team and once scrambled for four touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Of course, dad was mighty impressed with those elusive moves. Her father is longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, who now doubles as her coach in the high jump.<\/p>\n

Randall was a game-changer on the football field with his strong arm and quick feet. Vashti could be a game-changer, too. The 18-year-old has a wealth of potential and is vying for a title at the world indoor track and field championships this weekend.<\/p>\n

Later this summer, she will try to earn a spot on the American team for the Rio Olympics. Her brother, Randall Cunningham II, is a promising high jumper at Southern California.<\/p>\n

And to think, the father \u2014 a pretty much self-taught high jumper in high school \u2014 used to wonder how he would\u2019ve fared in that sport had he not chosen football.<\/p>\n

His two kids provide a pretty good picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cA couple of weeks ago, I had a little flashback and tried to go over 5-foot-4. I looked crazy and they laughed,\u201d recounted Randall, whose daughter competes in the high jump final Sunday. \u201cThey put it on Twitter. I won\u2019t do that anymore. I made up my mind \u2014 it\u2019s all about her and what she does.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Vashti is still learning the high jump, she feels as if she has plenty of experience after listening to football tales from her father, who was once dubbed the \u201cUltimate Weapon.\u201d Randall played for four teams over a 16-year career and was inducted into the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis experience on his platform has helped me a lot,\u201d Vashti said. \u201cHe basically shows me the ropes, tells me where he\u2019s been, what he\u2019s done, what he\u2019s done right. I can\u2019t go in there and mess up with the knowledge he\u2019s transferred to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve been taking things slow with her high jump development. For instance, she could\u2019ve competed at the U.S. championships last summer \u2014 and attempt to make the world team \u2014 but elected to compete in the junior championships. A fruitful choice as she later won gold at the Pan-American Junior Championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe you should peak in high school,\u201d said Randall, who coaches a track team in Las Vegas called the Nevada Gazelles and is in the process of building a $1 million facility. \u201cWe want them to have more room when they go to the next level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of the next level, Vashti has Georgia, Oregon and Southern California on her radar for college.<\/p>\n

Then again, there\u2019s a strong possibility she may just turn pro. The family is weighing all the options ahead of the Rio Games.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s the one that has to make that decision,\u201d Randall said.<\/p>\n

Vashti\u2019s biggest concerns at the moment center on prom, a class trip to Disneyland and her senior year. She was so wary about missing time at school that after winning at U.S. indoor last weekend in Portland, she went home for two days of school before returning for worlds.<\/p>\n

Her favorite subjects? English and math, even though \u201cI\u2019m not real good at math,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The number her dad wants her to focus on is 6-7 \u2014 the height they\u2019ve set as her goal for the season. She cleared 6-6 1\/4 at indoor nationals, which was a junior indoor world record.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really amazing (her routine),\u201d Randall said. \u201cShe will look at the bar, ducks down to get a better look at it.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe jumps, makes it and I go crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vashti appreciates all the support from her athletic family \u2014 her mom was a ballet dancer \u2014 and the encouragement of her dad.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good relationship, because he knows my limits, as far as being my father and my coach,\u201d said Vashti, who\u2019s also a talented volleyball player. \u201cHe can distinguish between when I\u2019m doing too much and how much I need to sleep. We talk a lot about track and high jump all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When not training, Vashti is much the teenager. She likes to hang with friends, hit the mall, catch the latest movie. She\u2019s also a passionate photographer, snapping photos of anything that captures her eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like photography because it\u2019s a different way to look at stuff. You see something and (present) it to other people so they see how you see it,\u201d Vashti said.<\/p>\n

Vashti does have one vice \u2014 cheesecake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one last week,\u201d she said, before pausing and adding through a smile, \u201cwell, twice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Ore. \u2014 As a 9-year-old, Vashti Cunningham was an impressive player on her flag football team and once scrambled for four touchdowns. Of course, dad was mighty impressed with those elusive moves. Her father is longtime NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham, who now doubles as her coach in the high jump. Randall was a game-changer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":23183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-23182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23182"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=23182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}