When Elmwood/Plum City senior Trevor Asher stepped on the triple jump runway moments before his sixth and final leap of the state championships, he knew he was in second place and had to do something he’d never done before to win the individual state title.

Before that final jump, Asher’s previous best was 43 feet, 11.25 inches, which he leaped on his first attempt of the preliminary round. It gave him the advantage of jumping last in the finals. His distance held until senior Emmitt Kietlinski of Gresham-Bowler jumped 44 feet, 9.25 inches to move into first place.

Kietlinski posted that distance in his last jump of the finals, which brought Asher to the runway with one chance to surpass the new benchmark and win an individual state title. He took a step back, sprinted down the runway and leaped 45 feet, 3.25 inches.

Asher’s final jump of his high school career not only won him the Division 3 triple jump state championship but also set a new Elmwood/Plum City school record. He is the first athlete in EPC history to win a state championship in a field event.

Elmwood and Plum City separately, before joining together to form a co-op athletic program, had individual state champions in running events in 1976 and 1977. After getting his championship medal, Asher spoke about the series of jumps that made him a state champion.

“When I jumped 43 (feet), 11 (inches) in prelims to get me first in the finals, I knew it wouldn’t be enough to win it,” Asher said. “With that many good jumpers, I knew it would take more. I didn’t think it would be my last jump when I did it. I just stepped back a little bit and went for it.”

After Asher emerged from the sand pit and dusted himself off, he anxiously awaited the official measurement to see if he’d done enough to claim the championship. When the officials read his distance aloud, he ran to Elmwood/Plum City head coach Amanda Webb and gave her a massive celebratory hug.

“It’s pretty amazing and he’s such a selfless kid,” Webb said. “When I hugged him, I told him congratulations and how proud I am of him. He said ‘I’m a state champion Ms. Webb, just like you.’ I kept telling him, ‘Trevor, this isn’t about me. This is about you.’”

Asher’s back was against the wall going into that last attempt of the championship finals. He trailed by 10 inches and had to produce the best leap of his career in the most pressure-packed situation. Webb spoke about the moment they realized that Asher had won the title.

“I was at a loss for words at first,” Webb said. “It came down to that last jump. I knew he was going to go for it, so I told him to back up a little bit and he just had a great jump. The look on his face, when he heard his mark and won it, was absolutely priceless.”

Asher’s state title is a culmination of years of hard work. Previously, he finished eighth in the long jump as a sophomore in 2021 and then took ninth in the same event as a junior, while also placing 13th in the triple jump last season.

In each of the last two campaigns, Asher narrowly missed finishing on the podium, which is awarded to the top six athletes in each state finals event. The senior broke through this season with two podium placements, as he won the triple jump and also finished third in the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 10.75 inches.

“It was a great feeling and I was super proud of him,” Webb said. “Trevor works really hard and is a very coachable athlete. He deserves all of the accolades because he put all of the time and work in. His (long and triple jump) records are going to be pretty long standing in my opinion.”

Asher made it to La Crosse alongside senior teammate Izzy Forster, who qualified in the girls’ triple jump. Forster was one of just 10 competitors who made the championship finals. She leaped 34 feet, 10.75 inches, which secured a ninth-place finish among Division 3 competitors.

For Forster, getting to La Crosse and competing in the state championships was a victory in and of itself. She entered ranked ninth of 16 competitors and had one major goal – to make the championship finals.

Forster leaped 34 feet, 3.25 inches in the preliminaries, which made her the 10th and final athlete who made it to the Division 3 triple jump finals. Once there, she improved her mark to 34 feet, 10.75 inches, which secured ninth place.

Although the goal is always to finish the state championships on the podium, coach Webb reminded Forster that she has nothing to hang her head about and that she should be proud of her success this year.

“She jumped upper 34 (feet) and that’s where she has been consistently all year,” Webb said. “I told her that she is the ninth girl in Division 3 in the state and that this is a great place to end her high school track career. She should be proud of her accomplishments and what she did down here because not many kids make it here.”

Forster and Asher leave Elmwood/Plum City as the owners of half a dozen school records and as two of the most accomplished in program history. Asher spoke about how he shares a camaraderie with Forster because they’ve both competed on such a high level in the field events.

“It was awesome winning the conference with Izzy (Forster) and then going to regionals and sectionals together,” Asher said. “It’s easy to relate and we can talk about it because she knows exactly what it’s like. It’s just fun to have someone else that does the same thing.”

While Asher’s career could have ended many ways, there was no better possibility than standing atop the podium as a state champion in front of thousands of cheering fans.

“I couldn’t have picked a better ending,” Asher said. “It’s crazy and there’s no better way to end it. This really is just a storybook ending.”