MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) – Menominee’s Brady Schultz continued his undefeated season in the high jump event clearing 6’4″ to take home first place in Thursday’s Great Northern Conference Championships.
After making quite the name for himself on the hardwood, it wasn’t until recently that he found a way to showcase his athletic ability through track and field.
“The funny thing is, I started last year with 3 meets left in the year,” said Schultz. “I went to go pick up my brother from high jump practice and I tried high jump with a pair of beat-up sneaks on and got 6’4″ the first day. Brent Nerat was like, ‘Hey, you should go try high jump’ and the rest is kind of in the books.”
During a meet in early May, Schultz set a school record clearing 6 foot 9 inches. The mark was also a season-best in the state.
“I actually wasn’t planning on going that high that week because we had three meets that week,” said Schultz. “One of my friends was like you should just see how you feel and I ended up getting 6’9″ and there was a lot of emotion after I got over it. When you jump, you know when you get it so I knew pretty much right when I was flying over the bar I was getting that. Everyone just came flooding over to me, and just it was a good feeling. Everyone was just really supportive through the whole thing so it was very nice.”
Schultz looked to best his record performance during today’s G.N.C championships but was unable to clear the 6’10” mark.
He’ll have one more opportunity at the U.P. Finals on June 4th where he will look to defend his D1 high jump title.
“At the beginning of the year I wasn’t jumping too well, so I wasn’t expecting to get anything special,” said Schultz. “Then 6’9″ happened and ever since then I’ve been getting those heights right before 6’10”. I’m definitely getting more comfortable with my higher jumps and jumps leading up to my max.”
If and when Schultz hits the 6’10” mark, he doesn’t think his max will stop there.
“I don’t think so,” said Shultz. “I really don’t think so. I really want to push 7 feet. I really want to go for 7 feet. I don’t know if 7 feet is obtainable this year but definitely maybe in my college career.”