Don't joke with him. Don't ask him if he needs water. Don't even approach him.,”

Don't bother junior Ray Bratchett as he warms up for the high jump during a meet.

Don't joke with him. Don't ask him if he needs water. Don't even approach him.

"I really don't like when people talk to me when I'm getting warmed up," Bratchett said.

His adrenaline presses as hip-hop blares from his iPod through his headphones. His heart thumps, and his feet feel light. He gets anxious.

"He's one of the types of people who do well at bigger meets because he has a ton of nervous energy," head coach Dave Uhrich said.

"He finds a way to channel that nervous energy into something positive."

Bratchett's sophomore campaign was loaded with positives. He finished second at the Big East Indoor Championships and third at the outdoor meet. He jumped 7 feet, a barrier few college high jumpers crack. But as summer approached, he knew he was not quite right.

His knee started bothering him late in the season. With a summer of rest and treatment, Bratchett hoped he would return to top form at the beginning of this season.

But patellar tendonitis in his knee persisted, and his explosiveness is not yet where it was.

"I think that took away from my ability," Bratchett said. "But I'm starting to ease my way back into it now."

Injuries have hampered Bratchett at different points in his career.

For that reason, the coaching staff decided he would stop hurdling – the competition for which he was recruited.

No matter to Bratchett. He believes he possesses more ability in the high jump, and his success supports the thought.

This weekend, he'll try to extend that success at the Indoor Big East Championships in Akron, Ohio, where he jumped a career-best 7-feet-0.5 inches last year.

Bratchett has yet to break the 7-foot plateau this season, but that doesn't mean he won't in Akron.

He never jumps higher than 6- feet-8 inches in practice because he lacks adrenaline, he said. In Akron, there will be no lack of adrenaline, and if it pumps just right, Bratchett could finish in the top two.

"He's one of the few guys I never have to worry about," said assistant Bert Rogers, who works exclusively with jumpers and throwers.

"He can cut himself off in practice if he's not feeling right, and I trust him. He just gets it done."

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