Throughout her career, Haidyn Wamsley has been a gamer that simply rises when the moments are at their most pressure filled.
Carrying a joyful and outwardly relaxed demeanor throughout the 2024 NAIA Women's Outdoor Track and Field National Championships, the terrific high jumper and multi-sport athlete put together a performance that she, and many others, will remember for a lifetime.
Sitting 22nd on the performance list heading into Friday afternoon's high jump finals, Wamsley put together a big statement by placing 11 spots better than her placement during the regular season and nabbing an 11th-place showing in the high jump by jumping a personal best five feet, six inches in the event Friday at the national championship site, Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Ind.
Wamsley's performance Friday afternoon was simply the latest in a series of great performances -- as one of Shawnee State's best-ever multi-sport athletes proved her talents in spades.
Wamsley, who cleared five feet, three inches on her second of three attempts to clear the initial mark, was one of 26 individuals to clear five feet, three inches. Then, on the first go in attempting to clear the bar at five feet, five inches, Wamsley cleared that mark on her first attempt, becoming one of just 19 individuals in the 32-person field to clear the 5-5 mark successfully.
Things only got better from there for the volleyball and track standout, as on her second attempt, Wamsley cleared five feet, six inches to become one of just 14 talents to clear the bar at that juncture.
In clearing what ended up being her personal best at 5-6, Wamsley actually matched the 10th place performance of Point Park's Emma Pavelik, but Pavelik cleared 5-6 on her first attempt while Wamsley cleared the bar on her second try, so Wamsley will get credit for finishing in 11th.
Friday's performance by Wamsley also far exceeded her performance at the 2022 NAIA National Championships, when Wamsley finished 28th after posting a five-foot, two-and-a-half inch jump.
The performance concludes a fantastic individual season for Wamsley, who earned Shawnee State's Female Athlete of the Year honors this past spring after a First-Team All-River States Conference season in volleyball in 2023 that saw her post 239 kills, 45 solo blocks and 100 total blocks while hitting a career-best .289.
On the track side, Wamsley resumed competing in track and field after performing in the winter and spring this past year. The Northwest High School graduate captured four individual victories, including sweeps of the River States Conference's High Jump Championship in both indoor and outdoor track.
In the last four track meets of the year, Wamsley set personal bests in three of those four meets, posting PRs in the following events:
High jump: five feet, six inches
Long jump: 17 feet, one-half inch
Triple jump: 36 feet, one-and-a-half inches
Javelin throw: 102 feet, five inches
Wamsley has a season of eligibility left in volleyball and two seasons of eligibility left in both indoor and outdoor track.
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