High jumper Nathan Leeper thought a brief break late Saturday afternoon might bring him luck as he tried to break a Kansas Relays record.

Plus, the former Kansas State standout and 2000 Olympian — like the rest of the crowd at Memorial Stadium — wanted to watch Kansas University speedster Leo Bookman, who already had blazed his way to a Relays record in the 100 meters, compete in the men’s invitational 400.

While that break didn’t help Leeper tie Hollis Conway’s 1987 Relays mark of 7-feet, 7-inches, a two-year break from jumping has recharged the Protection native’s push for a spot on this summer’s United States Olympic team.

“I knew I was going to jump pretty good because practice had been going pretty well,” said the 26-year-old Leeper, who already had claimed his fourth Relays title with a leap of 7-53/4 before narrowly missing his final record-breaking attempt.

That was a far cry from when he loosened up his legs in an early winter practice after taking off the last two seasons to rest.

“I took some jumps at the first of the year, and it wasn’t time yet,” said Leeper, who won four consecutive USA indoor and outdoor titles in 2001 and 2002.

“I hadn’t taken any time off since 2000. I took ’99 off, jumped in 2000, 2001, 2002 — and then 2003 indoor I just started breaking down. Time to shut it down for a little while and get ready.”

Leeper, who Saturday jumped for the first time competitively this season, said he was ready to go to Greece and win.

“I’m not going to Athens for 11th again. I want some jewelry,” said Leeper, who finished 11th at the Sydney Games with a jump of 7-41/2.

Nike high jumper Nathan Leeper clears the bar at 7-feet, 53/4-inches. Leeper won the event Saturday and was named a co-most outstanding performer of the Kansas Relays.

Leeper said he was confident he would secure a spot on the American team during the U.S. Olympic trials July 9-18 in Sacramento, Calif.

“Not three people are going to beat me. I just don’t think they can,” he said. “Going in there with that mentality and actually believing that, you’re way ahead of everybody else.”

That’s the message Leeper wanted to relay to potential Olympian Bookman this weekend.

“It’s the meanest situation you could ever imagine,” Leeper said of the Trials. “It is do or die. You could have a cold, you could be sick, you could have a pulled muscle — it doesn’t matter.

“You show up to the Trials, and you have to be in the top three, or you go home. And you don’t just go home for the Olympics, you go home for every meet you want to get in Europe or anywhere else in the world.”

Leeper said that while Bookman was a sprinter and not a field competitor, the same principles of preparation applied.

Kansas University throws coach Doug Reynolds unleashes a discus during the Kansas Relays. Reynolds, an Olympic hopeful, won the event Saturday outside Memorial Stadium.

“He’s in an event where there’s a lot of talking going on,” Leeper said. “I would say he just has to do his thing. He’s a super athlete. He’s got ungodly potential.

“There will be guys in his ear the whole time. In the blocks, the hotel … they’re going to be talking to him. He just needs to do his own thing and go out there and show them what’s up.”

That’s exactly what Leeper tried to do on his last tries.

After both the second- and third-place competitors bowed out after clearing 7-feet, 1/2-inch, Leeper used the crowd as motivation to try to clear 7-71/4 — a quarter-inch over the old Relays record.

He got the front part of his body over the bar, but couldn’t clear it completely.

“I had it,” Leeper said to himself when he landed on the mat.