Hometown hero wins state high jump title
FIRST-PLACE SMILE — Above NRHEG’s Carlie Wagner smiles after clearing a height cleanly during the state track and field meet at Hamline University in St. Paul last Friday. Wagner won the Class A state championship in the high jump. Below, NRHEG coach Duey Ferber indicates she finished No. 1. (Star Eagle photos by Chris Schlaak)
By JIM LUTGENS
Editor/Publisher
There’s nothing like a little Carlie Wagner to add a bit of drama to your day.
Fortunately, it’s pure joy for fans of NRHEG athletics.
The sophomore has a flair for the dramatic in a good way, displayed on the basketball court in March as she set single-game and state tournament scoring records while leading the NRHEG girls’ basketball team to third place.
Last Friday, she out-dueled the defending state champion to win the Class A girls’ high jump championship during the state track and field meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.
“She’s unbelievable, the best athlete I’ve ever seen,” said NRHEG coach Duey Ferber. “She never ceases to amaze me.”
Wagner, who said Sunday night it “feels good” to be a state champion, said the competition itself was not so pleasant.“It was nerve-wracking,” said Wagner. “Every jump was such a big deal. Any miss was such a big mistake.”
Wagner won the title when she cleared 5 feet, 6 inches for the third time this season, again tying her school record, but it wasn’t over at that point. Remember, there was drama.
“We talked all week about jumping clean, making your first jump at every height,” said Ferber. “That’s what it came down to.”
Wagner’s first miss came early, at 5-2, where seven girls took a long time to be eliminated.
Wagner jumped cleanly at 5-4 and 5-6, leaving only her and defending state champion Emma Lange of Caledonia/Spring Grove in the field. But Lang missed her first try at 5-6, leaving the door open for Wagner to win by criteria.
“When she rolled 5-6 off, me and Carlie kind of glanced at each other,” said Ferber. “I put a big ‘X’ by it on my scorebook. That was it. That was the miss.”
But both jumpers still had a try at 5-7.
Both missed their first two tries, and Wagner missed her third.
It came down to one final jump for Lange, who cleared 5-8 in the 2011 state meet.
“I didn’t want to watch the last jump,” said Wagner.
Ferber convinced her.
“I told her, ‘This is school history and you’re going to want to see it,’” said Ferber. “She turned around and watched.”
“When I saw her miss, I looked over at Ferber and started crying,” said Wagner.
The 23-year coach was also moved.
“I grabbed her hand and kind of squeezed it as we watched that final jump,” he said. “Then I gave her a big hug. It was extremely emotional.”
It was also, according to Ferber, a perfect day to end an unbelievable sophomore season.
“She really needed this,” he said. “Everything leading up to this was basketball. This was Carlie. I told her, ‘How cool would it be to say, next to (the basketball accolades), state high jump champion?’ At that time, she was Carlie the high jumper, not Carlie the basketball player. It’s something we’ll never forget. It was poetic.”
It was almost an afterthought when Wagner did not make the state finals in the 200.
NRHEG’s other state entrant, sophomore T.J. Schiltz, did not have a good day, finishing 14th in the 3200 with a time of 10:23.65. He had the ninth-best seed time at 9:58.18.
“T.J. worked his tail off for the last couple years just getting ready for this,” said Ferber. “He made it to state in cross country, and he won the section 3200. He’s just an absolutely driven individual. He ran a fantastic race at section. All hopes were he could get in the top nine, get a medal. The thing about T.J. is he’ll bounce back, he’ll be ready to go next year.”
For Wagner, this year couldn’t have been much better.