Meet a Bison: Halley Odegaard
Upon first meeting freshman high jumper Halley Odegaard, she seemed like every other college freshman.
But she’s not.
She can jump … really high. So high in fact that soon she may jump higher than any Bison has before.
The Kindred, N.D., native cleared a height of 5-10 in the Jack Johnson classic last week in Minneapolis, Minn.
In only her second meet as a Bison, she was 1/4 behind the indoor school record of 5-10 set in 1993 by Penny Ensrud.
She is humbly surprised by the success that she has experienced early in her career.
“ I didn’t really expect this much success early on, but I’m very happy with it,” Odegaard said. “I cleared 5-10 a couple of times in high school, but I didn’t expect it this soon.”
Away from the track, she is an ordinary freshman girl who likes to watch movies, especially comedies. However, she doesn’t have much time away from the track.
“ I wish I had more free time,” Odegaard said. “I would love to get into snowboarding or snowmobiling. I just don’t have time.”
She does, however, find time after the school year to hit the lakes.
At NDSU she is currently an undecided major, but plans to go into zoology.
“ I like biology a lot. I just like science in general,” she said.
Her main goal in life is to just find something she loves to do and that she is good at.
Looking at her family, it’s easy to see why she loves to be in the air.
“ My family is really into airplanes,” Odegaard said. “We just love flying. My brothers both have their pilot’s license, and (they) work for my dad restoring old airplanes in Kindred.”
One of her brothers, Brady, was also a high jumper at NDSU.
She seemed pretty certain when asked if a pilot’s license is in her future,
“ No!” she said. “I just like riding (in airplanes). I’ll leave the piloting to my brothers.”
As for now, her main goal is to stay involved in track as long as possible. Perhaps she may train for the Olympics someday.
“ Obviously (the Olympics) would be amazing, but really, I just want to be able to do this as long as my body will let me,” she said.
Her main goal right now is just too clear 6-0.
“ Six feet is the ultimate goal in high jumping, and it’s all about personal goals,” Odegaard said. “The school record would be great, but I try not to think about stuff like that. I just try to keep bettering myself.”
Halley’s assault on NDSU’s record books has been rapid, and it should last for a few more years.
Be sure to catch Odegaard soon at a track meet near you. She’ll be the one flying six feet in the air.