Volleyball remains the favorite sport for Troy High School senior Camryn Moeller, who recently signed her National Letter of Intent to play for Ohio State University.
And though she found success in track and field late in her high school career – she tried the sport for the first time last season – it’s no surprise Moeller is a hit in that, too.
Moeller, who led the Greater Western Ohio Conference and set a school record with 314 kills this past season, won the Miami County Championship long jump and needed just one leap to do it. After sailing to 16 feet, 11.5 inches on her first attempt Tuesday night, Troy jumps coach Brad Clendening told Moeller that was good enough, especially on another unseasonably cold evening of competition.
Moeller beat Milton-Union freshman Morgan Grudich’s best effort of 15-1.25 for the county championship at Tippecanoe Middle School’s athletic complex. Moeller, who started long jumping toward the middle of last season, finished third (15-11.5) at the county meet in 2017.
“It’s really awesome,” Moeller said of hitting the board, soaring into the air and knowing she hit a great jump. “You kind of know when you’re halfway through the air, you can feel how high off the ground you are and you know you’re going to keep going.”
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Her goal is 18 feet. If she hits that it could land her in Columbus for the Division I state track and field championships. Last season Moeller leaped 15-1.25 to finish fourth at the district meet and advance to the regional. There she went 17-2.5 for seventh. The top four qualify for state and 18-2.5 claimed the final qualifying spot.
“That’s definitely one of my goals,” said Moeller, whose personal best jump of 17-3.5 came in the Trojans’ first meet this season. That effort was good for sixth best overall in program history. “This feels pretty awesome. I didn’t do much to prepare for it over the winter. I was definitely expecting to improve … but I didn’t expect to do that well right off the bat.”
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Moeller spent the offseason working on her volleyball game. She had originally committed to Toledo but re-opened her recruitment when the Rockets had a coaching change. Ohio State – Moeller’s dream school – showed interest.
“Camryn is such a cool addition to our family,” OSU coach Geoff Carlston said in a release announcing Moeller’s signing. “She’s smart, athletic and motivated. She is a great asset that adds depth to our roster and ball-control position.”
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Prior to track, Moeller spend two seasons playing varsity softball. She was third on the team in hitting with a .391 average and led the team with 12 doubles as a sophomore. She decided to give track a try just looking for something different to do.
“I knew I wanted to do (long jump) but I didn’t know how good I would be at it. I thought it would be fun,” said Moeller, whose father Jay played football, basketball and baseball at St. Henry and whose mother Christina (Fortkamp) played volleyball and ran track at Minster. “I really didn’t know how good I’d do so I’m pleasantly surprised.”
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Moeller qualified for state on Troy’s 800-meter relay last season. She’s again a relay member and won the Miami County Championship title in 1:52.92 to beat runner-up Covington (1:55.89).
“She’s just a great athlete and she’s extremely coachable. She listens,” Clendening said. “I think her training in volleyball helps her to be a better jumper because she has a real good vertical. She’d be a good high jumper if we had more time to practice with her.”
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Troy won the Miami County girls team championship with 192 points to beat runner-up Tippecanoe’s 97 points. The Miami East boys scored to 141.33 points to win the county title over Milton-Union’s 120 points.
• The Edwin C. Moses/Dayton Relays is Friday at Welcome Stadium. Field events start at 4 p.m.
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