The RoundHouse | 5/27/2021 8:32:00 AM

 

 
The top two high jumpers in the American Athletic Conference are from Beloit. In 2017, the same two went 1-2 in Class 1A at the Kansas State High School Track and Field Meet.
 
Both planned on playing basketball in college – until Wichita State and a former Shocker intervened. That is why director of track and field Steve Rainbolt exchanged triumphant text messages earlier this month with Lindsay Eck, who won Missouri Valley Conference championships in the long jump, 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles from 2003-2005.
 
"I felt sort of a sense of connection with this little 1A high school, because we'd had Lindsay on our team and she was such a wonderful athlete," Rainbolt said. "One thing leads to another."
 
Or, in this case, one Bluejay from St. John's Catholic High School leads to more Bluejays.
 
Davis Dubbert is a junior. He won the AAC meet with a jump of 7 feet, ¼ inch. In 2017, he won the Class 1A title with a height of 6-6.
 
Brady Palen is a freshman. He finished second in the AAC meet (6-11). In 2017, he jumped 6-4 to finish second (before winning it in 2019 at 6-10 ½). (Thrower Kourtni Huber from Beloit is a sophomore on the women's team).
 
Dubbert and Palen will compete on Friday in the NCAA Preliminary West Round in College Station, Texas. From a field of 48, the top 12 from each event advances to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June in Eugene, Ore. 
Dubbert enters the meet ranked No. 22 in the field with Palen at No. 35. On Wednesday, Dubbert finished No. 23 in the javelin with a throw of 203-9.
 
"We're from a high school of about 50 students and I think the town of Beloit is pretty proud," Dubbert said. "We've been able to push each other this year."

Dubbert led the way, helped by a recommendation from Eck. She lives in Beloit, a town of around 3,800 in north-central Kansas.

"In high school, I was always planning on playing basketball," he said. "But I really wasn't getting offers that I wanted – it was kind of hard getting recruited out of a small school for basketball."
 
Rainbolt initially saw Dubbert as a decathlete. Dubbert competes in that event well enough to finish fourth in the conference meet. His lack of speed holds him back. When he focused more on the high jump, his performances improved. 
 
At the AAC meet, he won men's Most Valuable Performer by adding a second-place throw in the javelin (218-6) to his finishes in the high jump and decathlon.
 
In his last meet of 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic, Dubbert jumped 6-2 ¼. In January, his first meet back after the pandemic, he jumped 6-6. This spring, he is setting personal records on a regular basis.
 
"When you were doing the multis, you were so busy that you were pretty beat up during the week," he said. "It's hard to really be fresh when you're working on events. I can spend more time in the weight room getting stronger and I think that's been one of the biggest things for me."
 
Palen owns the Bluejays basketball highlight videos to prove his hops. While he isn't allowed to play during track and field season, he regularly throws down a dunk at the Heskett Center and occasionally at Koch Arena.
 
"I miss dunking," he said. "My favorite dunk is between the legs and I've only done that in practice. My favorite dunk in a game was a reverse windmill."
 
Dubbert helped bring Palen to Wichita State and he enjoys guiding the freshman. 
 
"Brady has a lot of potential, so I want to help him along," Dubbert said. "Having a good training partner has been great the whole season. Every week in practice and meets we compete against each other."
 
The pandemic cost Palen his senior season in track and it took him time to return to peak form in 2021. 
 
"I struggled a little bit indoors, but I started eating healthier and just training a lot harder and it all kind of worked together," Palen said. "I spent too much time in the (cafeteria) eating cheeseburgers and chicken strips."
 
The success of the Beloit jumpers follows a familiar pattern for Rainbolt. He and his coaches recruit athletes from small towns who show versatility and acceptable performance marks while playing multiple sports. 
 
Once in college, the focus on track and field helps them turn into substantial contributors. Former Shockers such as Chris Dickman (All-American decathlete from Grinnell), Aaron True (All-American javelin thrower from LeRoy) and Hunter Veith (All-American decathlete and heptathlete from Cheney) are some of the predecessors to the Beloit jumpers.
 
"You just can't imagine the small-town guys we've had on our team that have been, to me, really, really awesome," Rainbolt. "These two guys are a couple of really special guys that way."
 
Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Story suggestion? Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.