MEDINA — A year ago, the nation found out what people in Northeast Ohio had already known for a long time — Medina’s Taylor Burke is pretty good at the high jump.

Last March, Burke nailed her second attempt at 5-feet, 10¾-inches to walk away with her first national crown. She then followed that up with Ohio titles in the high jump indoors and outdoors.

Chester

Tonight at 6, the leaper will look to do it again, but knows the field is nothing to sneeze at.

“The field of jumpers is strong like usual,” Burke admitted. “There are multiple 5-10 jumpers, including myself, so the competition will really be something to watch.”

Medina high jump coach Phil Brewer has had an opportunity to “watch” Burke first-hand.

Although Burke just put the wraps on a successful basketball season, she has competed in two indoor meets during the last month and has already cleared 5-10.

“I think she’s fitter than ever,” Brewer said. “I’ve already heard that from other coaches this season. Her improvement is not as measurable, but having said that, she looks better (than she did last season).”

Burke won’t be alone in the Big Apple as fellow Medina High athletes Sam Chester and Alex Wasik will also take part in the meet, participating in the pentathlon and pole vault, respectively.

In 2010, Chester competed in his first pentathlon — which includes high jump, long jump, shot put, 60-meter hurdles and 1,000-meter run — on the national stage and placed 10th overall.

While Chester is a specialist when it comes to the hurdles and anything on the track, the senior said his high jump and shot put performances have gotten better over the last year.

The senior, who has already committed to Miami of Ohio, doesn’t want to come home with anything less than a top-5 finish and All-American status.

Last year’s experience has done nothing but help him learn how to manage his time better.

“I realized that I have to take every second to rest I can, because all of those events take a lot out of my body and you need to gather every bit of strength you can get,” Chester said. “This year, I just want to go out and do this for me and test myself.”

Wasik was the busiest Bee at last year’s nationals, taking part in the pentathlon and withdrawing from the pole vault.

Although she finished a respectable 17th in the event, the 12th-grader this time is going to put all her attention into the pole vault at the storied Armory track facility.

“Being able to focus on the pole vault gives me much more confidence, because I’m able to focus all of my energy into one event instead of running from event to event like last year,” said Wasik, who was runner-up in the pole vault at the state outdoor meet by just 2 inches last summer.

“Going into this meet, I feel that my goal is mainly just to have fun. I have not been training much this winter due to my focus on gymnastics, so I’m just going to go out there and hope for the best.”

Contact Dan Brown at sports@medina-gazette.com.

New Balance Indoor Nationals

WHEN: Today through Sunday.
WHERE: The Armory Track and Field Center, New York, N.Y.
LOCAL PARTICIPANTS: Taylor Burke (Medina, high jump); Sam Chester (Medina, pentathlon); Alex Wasik (Medina, pole vault).

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