For the first time in many years, the girls high jump group has their own dedicated coach. Karissa Pepin, has taken the position and is helping the girls to succeed.

Pepin has been involved in the track world for years. She did track in both high school and college. She attended the division II school Augustana University, where she competed in high jump and triple jump. Pepin has been coaching on and off for many years.

“After college I actually coached on the team [at Augustana] in 2013 when the current high jump coach was wanting to step aside. I was living in the area, then I moved away and I came back and I really missed track and coaching, so I reached out,” Pepin said.

It is extremely important for the girls to have a coach dedicated to their event, and it benefits the girls greatly. She is able to use her specific expertise to grow the team especially in the high jump area, as well as overall.

“It’s definitely been better having her as a specific high jump coach, so our other coaches don’t have to run back and forth and stuff. So that’s been good. And then she’s helped a lot with the freshmen and the younger girls to help them get into high jump,” junior Olivia Madison explained.

She has formed strong relationships with the girls, which helps them to perform better. They can count on her to assist them with improving their skills and being the best athlete they can be.

“She’s really motivating and if you mess up at all, she won’t yell at you and stuff she’ll give you tips on how to do better next time,” junior Kayla Kajer said. “Or sometimes, a lot of people run right past the guard, instead of going over it and instead of getting mad she just comforts us and tells us it’s okay.”

This year the high jumpers had a successful season. They sent multiple jumpers to True Team state and now the girls are winning their way towards the individual state tournament.

Kajer explained that Pepin has helped them achieve new personal records a lot this season. She added that because of this, they are able to accomplish goals and win both individually and as a team.

In the future, she wants to help the entire team continue to thrive. She plans to support the team as much as possible, in any way that they need.

“I really try to make sure that they know to separate their self worth from how they did at a particular move to a particular practice. High jump is so hard mentally because every single meet, you end on a fail, because that’s just the nature of the event. It doesn’t matter how successful you are that day, since you end on that fail, it’s very hard to let that go,” Pepin continued. “I try to do my best to let them know that when they did have a good day despite that fail. And just to focus on what they did well, instead of the overall outcome.”

As the season comes to a close, the positive effect she has on these girls will last. Her expertise and attitude will benefit both the team and the program for years to come.