Isenbarger ties for fifth in high jump at NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships
WKU Hilltoppers’ senior Katie Isenbarger clears the crossbar at the high-jump at the Lenny Lyles Invitational track and field meet Saturday, Jan. 28 of 2022 at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center in Louisville, Kentucky. Isenbarger placed first in the event out of 27 competitors, though she had not high-jumped since her sophomore year.
March 14, 2022
WKU senior high jumper Katie Isenbarger tied her own program record at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships after clearing 6-foot and tying for fifth Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, Alabama.
“What an outstanding day for Katie and our program,” WKU Director of Cross Country/Track & Field Brent Chumbley said. “We couldn’t have planned it better. We wanted to stay loose through 1.83 meters (6-foot) and after that everything was just for fun. She did that perfectly. This is a testament to who Katie is as a person and how she approaches everything she does. Today is proof that great things happen to great people.”
The fifth-place finish also makes her a First Team Track & Field All-American. The achievement makes her the first female Hilltopper to earn First Team All-American since now-Olympian Jessica Ramsey in outdoor shot put in 2014. She is the first Hilltopper to earn the honor since Emmanuel Dasor did in 2016 for the 400.
Isenbarger cleared 5-8, 5-10, and 6-0 on each of her first passes. She tied her collegiate personal best and WKU’s indoor program record she set earlier in the season. She was the only non-Power Five representative to finish inside the top-seven individuals. Her finish is Chumbley’s best individual NCAA finish in his over 20 years of coaching.
Sports Reporter Izzy Lanuza can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @izzylanuza.
