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Among a trio of individual national champions (not to mention two runners-up) at Baldwin Wallace University this spring, the story of Christian Pfeiffer '24 stands out.
Photo Courtesy of Hailey Owens '21, MBA '23
Christian Pfeiffer '24 came to Baldwin Wallace University, in part, to play Yellow Jacket basketball. But the national title he claimed in his senior year was in a sport he had never attempted until he came to college: the high jump.
His story is also layered with sport as a salve for deep personal grief as he sought to master a new athletics endeavor and bond with track and field teammates during a time of loss.
The 6-foot-9 Pfeiffer came to BW after a successful high school hoops career as an Amherst (Ohio) Comet.
After making good friends on the Yellow Jacket track team, he approached the coaching staff to ask, in his words, "Hey, I've never done this before, but I'll work hard. I'll try my best; I'll help out how I can. Can I walk on the team?"
The answer was "yes!" And after one practice, Pfeiffer performed the high jump at an indoor meet. "The first meet did not go well," he recalls.
But then, the high jump started to click.
𝐇𝐔𝐆𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐌𝐏 𝐁𝐘 𝐏𝐅𝐄𝐈𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 ‼️
— Baldwin Wallace Athletics (@bwathletics) March 9, 2024
He's the only jumper to clear 2.07m on his first attempt and is only one of a few athletes still standing!#BWGrit | #NCAAChampionships pic.twitter.com/WBVsQO4sTK
"I just kind of fell in love with track, and here I am now just doing track," Pfeiffer told writer Matt Florjancic '07 for a beautiful, in-depth March profile well worth a read.
"Literally, basketball was all I did my whole life, but it was just time for a change, and I just felt right at home on the track team," he said. "They just made me feel like I had been there already for years. I really loved the sport purely. I left basketball just because I loved track so much."
He set his sights high and began training hard, including summer workouts that became part of his routine.
"I wanted to be at national meets. I wanted to be an All-American, National Champion, but I knew I had a long way to go."
His motivation was further fueled by a desire to give his family something positive after his younger stepbrother, Ethan Liming, was killed in the parking lot of the I Promise School in Akron, Ohio, in June of 2022.
"God led me to this sport that I never would've thought I'd been doing as a life raft for myself and my family," he told Florjancic. "It has been a source of positivity for us at a really hard time in our lives."
🏆NATIONAL CHAMPION🏆@bwathletics Christian Pfeiffer wins the men's high jump with a height of 2.10m!#D3tf | #DIII50 | #WhyD3 pic.twitter.com/fUrEqRY8kQ
— NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) March 9, 2024
Following that first lackluster meet in 2022, Pfeiffer won the 2023 OAC Indoor and Outdoor high jump championships, First-Team All-OAC status and placed 15th at the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
This year, after taking first place at the OAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Pfieffer reached the mountaintop of his sport.
By claiming the NCAA DIII National Championship, he put an exclamation point on a story of change, resilience, determination and faith.
"I like to approach every competition with an attitude of gratitude, just thankful to God for the opportunity to be there, thankful for just being enough to compete, to be at a university that supports me," Pfeiffer said. "It's like a gift that I get to be here and I get to do what I do."
