LUCKEY — Elise Wolff’s ultimate goal this season is to compete in the state high school track and field
championships.
For now, though, the Eastwood senior is concentrating on smaller goals.
She’s hoping the small-picture approach will enable her to qualify for the Division II state meet in her
specialties — the 100 hurdles and the pole vault.
Wolff was a regional qualifier in both last season.
She just missed advancing to the hurdles finals by five one-hundreths of a second and she was sixth in
the pole vault.
The top four finishers in each event at the regional advance to state.
“I just want to keep improving and PRing (personal record) in each event,” said Wolff, the defending
Northern Buckeye Conference champion in both events. “You can never be satisfied. I want to win the
league in both of my events again. I was so close last year to state and that makes me work that much
harder and I always want to be able to say I’m getting better and better.”
She also won the NBC pole vault as a sophomore and finished third in the hurdles.
“I think about state, but you have to make it to other places first, so I try not to think about it,”
Wolff said. “I’m not far off from state and missing it was a letdown. It just comes down to how you do
that day.
“Going to the regional gives me a lot more confidence and reassures me that I can do it. I won’t be as
nervous because I’ll know what to expect. I know how it is there. I just have to keep working at it.
It’s one day at a time.”
Along the way, Wolff is looking to increase her school record in the pole vault and challenge the school
record in the 100 hurdles.
Wolff set the pole vault record of 10-3 last season and hopes to clear at least 11-0 this season. She has
a best of 16.14 in
the hurdles, the fifth-fastest in school history. The record of 15.94 was set by Angie Getz in 1997.
“She’s really driven,” said Eastwood assistant coach Ethan Downey, who works with the team’s hurdlers and
pole vaulters. “She comes to practice with a fun attitude, but she really is a competitor. Every time
she comes to practice, she’s always ready to work to improve something or work on a new skill.
“She’s definitely a gifted athlete, but when you’re always working to get better, that’s what separates
her,” Downey added.
Although the NBC meet is seven weeks away followed by the district meet, Wolff is running well.
“She looks stronger than she’s ever looked,” Downey said.
Wolff is changing some of her techniques in the pole vault.
“The results may be rough early, but they’re going to help her go higher,” Downey said.
Wolff, who has competed in both events since middle school, is one of the leaders for the Eagles, who are
seeking their 14th straight league title.
She’s already enjoying an excellent senior year.
The 5-foot-11 outside hitter was named the NBC’s volleyball player of the year last fall.
Wolff has committed to play college volleyball at Alderson-Broaddus (W.Va.) University, an NCAA Division
II school.
She has a 3.3 grade-point average and plans to major in physical therapy or biology.
“She brings positive energy to every practice,” Eagle head coach Nikki Sabo said of her team’s captain.
“She brings up everyone around her with her attitude and work ethic. She’s been one of our leaders for a
while. She brings out the best in her teammates and that makes the team better.”