Allison Koch

GRUNDY CENTER — Allison Koch is ready to go to new heights.

The Grundy Center freshman on the Spartan girls track and field team will be one of 28 competitors in the high jump scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Friday morning as part of the high school portion of the Drake Relays at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

“Not a lot of people get the opportunity to go down there, especially not in their freshman year,” Koch said.

At last year’s Mike Henderson Middle School State Meet at Waukee Northwest, Koch was third in the eighth-grade, small-school division after clearing the bar at 5 feet, 1 inch.

The start of this year’s track season carried the usual poor weather that kept the Spartans from being able to train much at all outside ahead of their first meet of the year at the IATC Indoor Championships on the Iowa State campus in Ames on March 9.

Spartan head coach Todd Rohler said he still expected Koch to top out around the 5-foot mark.

She matched her season best on her second attempt at 5-1, and two attempts later was over the bar at 5-3.

“She just seemed to jump better and better the higher the mark,” Rohler said.

Koch added, “I was worried going into it, but I really surprised myself.”

Rohler said he wondered if maybe that first meet was a fluke. But Koch has consistently been above at least the 5-foot mark and got over the bar at 5-2 at Tuesday’s meet at Dike-New Hartford. The bar will start at 5-0 in Des Moines.

She was one of the last girls to qualify for the event officially, one of five girls that reached the 5-3 mark, which ended up being the qualifying cutoff.

Waukee’s Josie Moreland, who Koch competed against at the meet in Ames as the eventual champion at that event, leads the way at 5-8.

Rohler credits healthy competition amongst the other high jumpers, including junior Carlie Willis and freshman Lydia Hook, making all the Spartans stronger. Willis was a state medalist in the high jump as a freshman.

“It’s good for them every night to have that competition,” Rohler said. “They push each other, learn from each other, watch each other jump and see what they’re doing.”

Koch said her routine provides the foundation for her ability at the high jump bar.

“You always have to work hard and make yourself better,” Koch said. “There’s always room for improvement.”

Rohler added that Koch, who also plays softball and volleyball, is the kind of competitor that wouldn’t back down from the moment.

She said her goal remains the same as every event – set a new personal best and see where that gets her.

“It’s really exciting,” Koch said. “But you also have to remember there’s a lot of other good competition. There’s going to be people better than you. So you just have to go there and do your best.”