Beal City’s Addie Schumacher won a state high jump title in Division 4 last season but is ready to do even more as a junior.
“Looking at the rankings throughout the year, I knew I was in the top 10,” she said. “If you have a bad day you go back further, but if you have a good day you go up. I knew it was possible, but I didn’t think it would actually happen.”
Schumacher was happy with her performance at the state meet and her jump of 5’5″.
Dave King, Beal City’s coach, is happy to have Schumacher for her junior season.
“She started her freshman year at 4’10” in her first meet of the year,” King said. “By the end of her sophomore year, she’s at 5’5″. It was good improvement. Addie works hard, especially in-season. She’s a three-sport athlete and is busy with volleyball and basketball.”
Because of her involvement in other sports, Schumacher admits that she’s not able to spend too much time at the track during the off-season.
“Track starts when basketball gets over and ends at the state meet,” she said, adding that with the poor weather during the preseason, “we got behind. We got new mats. They weren’t inside all season. Normally, I can go in a couple of of times a week and jump, but I haven’t been able to do that. The first time I got to jump was in an actual meet.”
As the season progresses, Schumacher has a key goal she’d like to meet.
“Every year, I’ve broken our school record by two inches,” she said. “I’d like to continue that. My goal is 5’7″. You have to work on repetition. But you also have to work on your jumping skills,” she said.
Schumacher also runs the 400-meter dash, but the high jump will be her ticket to the state finals.
“She’s also contributed to the 4 by 4 relay,” King said. “She was our second best quarter-miler last year at 1:07.”
Beal City finished third in the state meet last year, and Schumacher hopes to help the Aggies make a strong run again this season.
“We’re looking really good,” she said. “We lost some important people. Hopefully, we’ll figure out who needs to be where.”
“This year she’s going to concentrate a little more on throwing,” King said. “She was also our second best discus thrower last year, and she’s really long and strong and we think will be a good discus thrower. It’s something she hasn’t focused on much in the past. We’ll see if we can get her distances up this year. She’ll try the shot put as well. I think she can improve there. We’ll work on improving her performances in the throws.”
In the high jump, “I think she’ll be right at the top of state again this year,” King said. “I think she’ll at least match her performance [from last season] and add another inch or two.”