Wrightstown’s Klister continues to set the bar high
Jacob Klister is the type of person you want on your team.
The Wrightstown senior isn’t going to blow anybody away with his mere physical presence.
However, the 5-foot-10, 150-pounder is tough as nails, will fill whatever role he’s asked to and makes everyone else around him better.
He’s extremely savvy and will graduate as the salutatorian for ranking second in his class.
Klister also won’t give up.
Monday’s WIAA Division 2 track and field regional at Brillion will likely be Klister’s final competition of his prep career.
Although he’s a former state qualifier, he knows it’s going to be an uphill battle just to advance to sectionals in his final season.
Klister is thankful to have the opportunity to compete in the 400-meter run, but that’s not the event he truly shines in.
“It’s tough sitting there watching people vault and not being able to, but at least I get something,” Klister said. “This year has been a learning experience because I’m trying to learn the whole sport all over again to figure out what event I’d be good at.”
Klister was told competing in the pole vault was no longer an option for him after he sustained two injuries to his right shoulder in as many years.
A separated collarbone as a junior coupled with a torn labrum as a senior kept Klister from going higher in the pole vault, which he qualified for state in as a sophomore in 2016.
Both injuries happened towards the end of football season.
The collarbone healed well last year, but was followed by a torn meniscus in his knee during basketball. Klister was able to pole vault in a handful of meets and won the North Eastern Conference title by clearing 12 feet, 9 inches last year before advancing to sectionals.
“I was able to pole vault, but not quite to the same level that I was hoping,” said Klister, who cleared 13-6 as a sophomore and finished eighth at state in Division 2.
NEC Track & Field Recap: Wrightstown’s Beining continues to hit high marks
Klister comes from a track and field family.
Both his parents, Paul and Mary Jane, coach the sport.
Jacob is the youngest of four boys. They all qualified for the WIAA state track and field meet at some point.
His oldest brother, Bryan, was a three-time state qualifier in the pole vault for Lena/Marinette St. Thomas and won a Division 3 state title in 2010 with a vault of 15-3, which at the time set a D3 state record.
Zach also competed for Lena/Marinette St. Thomas and was a leg on the state-qualifying 800 relay with Bryan in 2009.
Eric was a state medalist in the Division 2 pole vault in 2013 (sixth) and 2014 (fifth) for Wrightstown.
Jacob had always hoped he would be able to break Eric’s school record of 14-7.
“That was always the goal,” Jacob Klister said. “Eric is one of my biggest fans, so he was hoping I would get his name off that board. He’s very humble, so he doesn’t like being up there.
“We’d always hope that after track season we would all vault together some time at an open meet somewhere.”
Klister was seemingly always making plays somewhere on the football field in helping Wrightstown win the NEC title for football during the fall.
He earned first-team all-conference honors as a linebacker and was a second-team all-conference choice as a running back.
His tough-nosed attitude led him to play through the pain in his shoulder at the end of the season that ultimately turned out to be a torn labrum. It required surgery to repair and remove five bone chips as well.
Klister doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder now. He’s too nice to have one.
He came out for track and field to help the younger vaulters, like his cousin, Douglas.
Instead of being down, Klister decided to make the best of a tough situation.
“He’s a phenomenal role model,” Wrightstown track and field coach Patrick Boyd said. “It’s hard to get kids like that, that are so upbeat all the time.”
Klister achieved a personal-best time of 55.47 to finish ninth in the 400 at the NEC meet on May 12, just short of his goal to finish in the top eight.
He plans to study chemical engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with the goal of one day being able to help others going through a tough situation.
“My dream job would be to work with a pharmaceutical company,” Klister said. “I’d want to do drug trials for diseases. One in particular would be treatment for Alzheimer’s diseases. My grandma passed away last spring of Alzheimer’s. She battled with it for about 10 years, so to be able to give somebody a better quality of life with that disease would just be amazing. It’s something I really hope I can do some day.”
No matter the final results Monday, Klister deserves to take a victory lap.
Student-athletes like him have earned it.
“It’s just fun to be a part of the team,” Klister said. “I have so many friends that are on the team, so being able to run with them has been really fun this year.”