John's Journal: Small-School Athletes Raising The Bar To Big Heights

DODGE CENTER -- With the Section 1A high jump championship already tucked into his back pocket after clearing 6 feet, 8 inches on Thursday, Sam Snitker gazed at the bar, now set at 6-10, before beginning his run at Triton High School. Pierce Petersohn stood a few feet away and said simply, “Let’s go, Sam.”

Sam, a 6-foot-2 senior from Grand Meadow/LeRoy-Ostrander/Kingsland/Southland, knocked the bar down on all three attempts at 6-10, but that was immaterial. The big picture is that Snitker and Petersohn, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from Triton, qualified for the upcoming state track and field championships as the top two high jumpers in Minnesota this season, regardless of class.

There are three classes in high school track, and Triton and GMLOKS reside in Class A. Petersohn owns the state’s best high jump in 2024, clearing 6 feet, 10 inches at the Section 1A True Team Meet on May 9. Snitker is one of two athletes with the second-best height, going 6-foot-8 on April 26 to win the Hamline Elite Meet.

The rest of the high jumpers among the top five this season are Carter Anderson of Class 2A Stewartville at 6-8, and Adam Myren of Class 3A Rochester Mayo, Gabe Hein of Class A Blooming Prairie and Brayson Boike of Class A Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson Boyd, all at 6-foot-6.

When Snitker and Petersohn advanced to this week’s state meet, they were joined by fellow Section 1A jumpers Hein and Ethan Stendel of Caledonia/Spring Grove.

Last year at state, Snitker placed fourth by clearing 6-foot-4 and Petersohn finished 19^th at 6-feet even. This year’s state meet will be held Thursday through Saturday at St. Michael-Albertville. The Class A boys high jump competition will be held Friday at 3:30 p.m.

The state record in the boys high jump is 7 feet, 1 inch, accomplished twice; first by Rochester John Marshall’s Rod Raver in 1973 and then by Chaska’s Jon Markuson in 1993.

Petersohn and Snitker are friends and competitors, and they have raised the bar in many ways as they represent small schools in southeast Minnesota.

“That’s what’s neat about the high jump,” Sam said. “We get along. And we take a lot of pride in the fact that the two best high jumpers in the state are from small schools.”

Petersohn is a four-year veteran, competing in the high jump since seventh grade. Snitker joined the track team during the 2023 season and immediately began turning heads. He cleared 6 feet in his first try, and away he went.

“I started during the season last year, about halfway through,” Snitker said. “I knew after that first jump that I had potential so I was excited.”

Paul Stevens, who coaches the GMLOKS high jumpers, said, “We talked him into giving track a try in the gym, and he just popped over the bar. I looked at another assistant coach and I just said, ‘Wow.’ ”

This spring, Sam opened the season by clearing 6-6 at an indoor meet in Mankato. Stevens, a volunteer coach who is a retired educator, spends winters in Florida and returned to Minnesota after that indoor competition.

“He said he went 6-6 in his first meet over in Mankato. I was quite surprised because it took him all year to get to 6-2 last year,” Stevens said.

After the Section 1A competition on his home jumping area had wrapped up, Petersohn was asked if he knew what the state record was. He didn’t, but with more than two years of high school track ahead of him, adding three inches to his personal best seems like a strong possibility.

“The ceiling is very high for him,” said Triton high jump coach Shelly Bungum, who has been watching Pierce since he was a youngster trying to keep up with older kids. Now everybody’s trying to keep up with Pierce, who also qualified for state in the 400 meters.

Bungum said Pierce grew about five inches taller in his ninth-grade year.

“He was just a baby, in ninth grade,” she said. “Now he’s 16 years old and there's so much that he's still learning every day. He just soaks it in. When you're athletic like that and you're fast and you have body awareness ... He’s almost a totally different person.”

An amazing fact about Petersohn’s great season is that he’s been dealing with a hip flexor injury. He was unable to run or practice and missed nearly a month before jumping 6-10 in his first time back.

Missing all those weeks provided plenty of time to rest and be ready for the remainder of the season. Pierce continues to receive treatment on his hip, but now, “It's like a new season all over again,” Bungum said. “He was fresh, fresh, fresh (when he cleared 6-10).”

Snitker’s high school career will end at the state championships, where it would surprise no one if he and Petersohn stand high on the podium. Both jumpers are ready to compete on the biggest stage.

“It just kind of depends how we show up, if we're feeling good,” said Sam.

“I’m excited,” said Pierce.

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected] or [email protected]