TicketsJan. 5, 2006
by Becky Hart, Sports Communications Student Assistant
"It's really important to keep your head up and keep going."
That is the key to success in multi-event competition, according to senior track athlete Ashley Wilhelm. It has also been the key to her athletic career and life.
Wilhelm began competing in track and field in the sixth grade, splitting her time with fast pitch softball. Her first venture into track was short-lived, however, due to Osgood-Schlatter disease, which forced her to focus solely on softball.
Not until her sophomore year at East Central High School in St. Leon, Ind. did she "keep going" with track. Again, Wilhelm divided her time between the track and the softball field, this time with more success, but still with a hectic schedule. "I would go to softball first for hitting practice, then go to track and do my work there. Then I'd go back to softball for fielding practice," said Wilhelm.
Impressively, she qualified for the Indiana state championship in the long jump. During her final two years of high school, she devoted herself to track and field, and qualified for state competition again, this time in the 100 meters, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump, and high jump.
After high school, Wilhelm thought that she could keep her track career going at the collegiate level, but the university in her home state of Indiana she originally planned to attend was not interested in having her as a member of their track program. She ultimately decided on UC because, "I thought I had a lot more in me," and "it felt good to be wanted for track."
And the Bearcats are glad Wilhelm wanted Cincinnati. As she enters her senior indoor track season, Wilhelm is looking for a BIG EAST championship in the indoor pentathlon. She placed fourth in the five-event competition at the Conference USA Indoor Championships last season. Her name can be found throughout the UC record book. Wilhelm already holds the school record with 3,611 points.
Wilhelm has also made her mark on the outdoor track where she holds the Bearcat record in the heptathlon with 5,223 points and has posted nine of the top 10 marks in school history. She set the record at the 2005 C-USA Outdoor Championships, earning her a second-place finish in the eight-event competition for the second consecutive year.
"I feel honored to hold all those records," said Wilhelm, although the mark isn't as high as she would like it to be. She uses the record book as motivation to keep going. Wilhelm used her high school's records, set by her older sister, to keep her improving. Now she's trying to reclaim the pole vault record she held for a single meet last season, and chasing her own collegiate records.
With her finish at the conference championships last season, Wilhelm also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. However, she narrowly missed the opportunity to compete at the national meet. Despite the disappointment, Wilhelm says the letdown will provide her with a lot of drive this spring and that it has helped build confidence. "I know what it takes," she said. "It was good that I was that close because I'm just going to try harder now."
Wilhelm is also trying to ensure that the Bearcats' success in the multi-events continues after she graduates. As the team's top female in the pentathlon and heptathlon, Wilhelm has been thrust into the role of the leader. Wilhelm recognizes that she can help her younger teammates learn the events that she knows so well. She also understands that the instruction she provides her teammates will allow her to refine her own skills on the track and the experience will prove to be an advantage as a high school math teacher following her graduation from UC.
Ashley Wilhelm's approach to the heptathlon translates well to all aspects of her life now and for the future. With all her school records, meet titles, and soon a diploma, Wilhelm definitely has a reason to keep her head up. And with her personal drive for success, there's no doubt that she will keep going.