West De Pere’s Olson enjoying outstanding year
Kaylee Olson approaches each of her jumps the same way.
The West De Pere junior hops up in place to jar away her nerves then makes a step back to survey what’s ahead in her approach before finally taking a deep breath to focus her sights on her next big leap.
There have been plenty of them this season.
Olson swept all three jumps and won four individual events, overall, to power the Phantoms to a fifth straight Bay Conference title this season.
“She’s pretty focused on what she does each time to make sure it’s identical each time to make sure she’s maximizing every single jump,” West De Pere jumps coach Randy Hill said.
“She really puts in the work to make sure she’s getting better each time at every event. It’s really nice that she continues to progress. Obviously, we’re expecting big things from when she, hopefully, gets down to state.”
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Olson not only appears to be poised to make a third trip to the WIAA track and field meet, but she has her sights set on stepping up to the podium for the first time in her career.
Five of her marks in individual events this season rank in the top six in the Green Bay area, including the top spot in the long jump with a school-record leap of 18-6½ set April 26 at the Kimberly Invite.
“I was not expecting that at all,” she said. “I was all smiles.”
Olson’s success this season probably shouldn’t come as a surprise.
After all, she burst onto the scene as a freshman by breaking a 35-year-old school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.54 seconds, which led the Green Bay area in 2017.
“I remember in grade school we would do little runs and everyone would be like, ‘That girl is so fast,’” said Olson, who was the anchor leg the last two years for the 400 and 800 relays that broke school records.
Olson has been asked to expand her event load this year by adding the triple and high jump to her already impressive resume.
She didn’t disappoint at the Bay Conference meet, becoming a four-event champion in the 100 and the three jumps.
She broke a pair of long-standing conference records at the meet in the process.
Her long jump of 17 feet, 11½ inches broke the previous mark of 17-6¾ set by Marinette’s Missy Peterson in 1993.
For good measure, Olson also broke the oldest Bay Conference girls record with a personal-best mark of 37-2¾ in the triple mark to top the previous record of 36-0 set by Ashwaubenon’s Jenny DeGroot in 1987.
“Her work ethic is infectious,” Hill said. “You don’t have to tell her what to do. She has been through it all. She knows what she is doing right and what she is doing wrong. She’s the first one in the weight room, and she’ll be the last one to leave.”
With four school records already under her belt, Olson is closing in another. Her triple jump mark at the Bay Conference meet is less than 4 inches off the school record set by Hill’s sister, Crystal, in 2017.
Crystal Hill placed third at state with a mark of 37-6½ to set it when Olson was a freshman, who finished eighth in the long jump.
“She always took me under her wing and guided me through it,” Olson said of Hill. “I would always get in my head and she would always break me out of that”
Olson is tied for sixth on the state honor roll in the long jump and seventh in the triple jump this year.
After making it to state in the long jump and as a member of the 400 relay, Olson is aiming to qualify in multiple events again this year.
If she reaches her biggest goal for the season it could result into a top spot on the state podium.
“My goal is to jump 19 (feet),” Olson said about the long jump. “That’s my big goal for this year at state.”
KAYLEE OLSON’S PERSONAL-BEST MARKS
100-meter dash
12.54 seconds-2017 (school record)
200-meter dash
27.32 seconds-2019
Long jump
18 feet, 6½ inches-2019 (school record)
Triple jump
37 feet, 2¾ inches-2019
High jump
5 feet, 2 inches-2019
400-meter relay
49.42-2018 (school record)
800-meter relay
1:45.24-2017 (school record)