BOZEMAN — Over the last seven years, Bozeman High School has been a hot bed for female high jumpers. A handful of former Hawks are currently jumping on NCAA Division I rosters right now: Camille Landon (Dartmouth), Lucy Corbett (Montana State), Aislinn Overby (Washington State) and Delaney Bahn (Oregon State).
The legacy is continuing this season in the hands of junior Hannah Schonhoff, who’s ranked No. 1 in the state.
“At first I couldn’t really believe it because I know that there are a lot of other good jumpers in the state," Schonhoff said.
After not being able to compete last season due to COVID-19, Schonhoff has already set the bar high across Montana, clearing a height of 5 feet, 6 inches, for a new personal record and state best. However, this comes as no surprise considering she began turning heads as a freshman.
“She came really, really close to winning the state championship as a freshman," Hawks high jump coach Mike Cole explained. "She ended up fourth just because of the way that the number of misses and all that stuff works out, but she could have been a state champion as a freshman.”
Back in 2019, Cole could tell early on there was something special about Schonhoff.
“When she came here as a freshman we had a bunch of kids come out for the high jump, and then we had this young, little girl," Cole laughed. "The first time I saw her jump, I went, 'Wait a minute here. This is something special.' It was kind of exciting to see because she came out of the woodwork. She came from New York and we didn’t know anything about her, and we were like, 'Wow, this is going to be a good one.'”
New York is where Schonhoff was first introduced to high jump.
“In my sixth-grade gym class they made everyone do all the different track and field events, so they made us do high jump," Schonhoff explained. "That year my gym teacher said, 'You should really get into high jump. I think you’d be good at it.' Then the next year I was actually able to do track, and now here I am.”
While Schonhoff has aspirations of eventually joining the other Bozeman alums at the college ranks, her sole focus is improving every day.
“I’m hoping that I can go higher this year and reach maybe 5-7 or 5-8 and can continue the legacy," Schonhoff said.
