BILLINGS — Richey-Lambert’s Jolee Klempel already owns a piece of Class C history in the long jump. She just doesn’t own the state title that usually comes with it.
At last spring’s state track meet, Klempel tied with Montannah Piar of Philipsburg at 17 feet, 9½ inches for the Class C girls record in the long jump. Piar, though, won gold on the tie-breaker, leaving Klempel in second place. For a moment, the disappointment was real.
“That day, I felt like I was pretty bummed that she got it over me,” Klempel said recently a couple days after a standout performance at the Norm Girard Top 10 Track Meet in Sidney. “But I kind of just was like, ‘OK, next year then. Next year it’s mine.’”
That string of resolve fits who Klempel is for the Fusion. She’s more than a record-chasing jumper. In a program that needs athletes to do a little bit of everything, she does a lot of everything at a high level.
Along with her runner-up long jump finish at state, Klempel won gold in the 100-meter hurdles, took third in the shot put, placed fourth in both the 100 meters and triple jump, and anchored the 4x100 relay team to a third-place finish.
Those two days of work helped the Fusion claim the team trophy last year in a hotly contested points race with Philipsburg and Scobey, which both finished a scant two points behind Richey-Lambert.
At a Class C school, versatility is a necessity. Klempel has turned it into an advantage.
“She is a natural athlete,” said Fusion coach Joe Day Rider, who is in his 16th year coaching track for Richey-Lambert and his fourth season as head coach. “But it’s also the drive to try different things and try to do better.”
Her blend is unusual, even at a small school. Sprinters don’t often find themselves in the throwing ring. Klempel admits the shot put was a pleasant surprise to her, something she discovered almost on a lark.
She was messing around during a junior-high practice, took one throw with the shot, and stunned herself by how far she threw. Klempel went to districts, took another one-and-done approach and won, she said.
Her favorite event, though, isn’t the one with the record or with a funny story. It’s simply the one she’s been doing the longest: the 100 hurdles.
“I’ve been doing it since fifth grade,” Klempel said. “I’ve kind of always been good at them.”
If versatility is her physical calling card, her mentality is what allows her to carry such a heavy load. After all, no one can be perfect at everything. By her freshman year, she said, she learned how to handle the bad days while juggling multiple events.
“I kind of realized that I can’t really hang on to things because I’m getting nothing from that,” Klempel said. “If I have a bad day, I just let it go and move on.”
For an athlete in constant motion, that attitude matters. There isn’t time to stew over a scratch or a bad race.
She’s been battling a lingering cold for three weeks — sudden sneezes often interrupted her answers for this story — which makes her hurdles and long jump wins, her second-place showings in the 100 and shot put and third-place relay finish at the Sidney Top 10 even more impressive.
“When you think about Jolee, you think competitor and all-around athlete,” Rider said. “You’ve got to be flexible as a coach with someone like her. One minute she’s in the shot ring, the next she’s anchoring a relay. But you know whatever you put her in, she’s going to give you her best.”
Rider even had to pull her back from adding more to her plate. At a meet in Baker, Klempel wandered over to the discus ring and started throwing it around with her teammates.
Rider could only metaphorically shake his head.
“It was like, ‘You don’t need another event,’” he said, laughing.
Managing that kind of versatility requires structure. Mondays and Wednesdays are speed training days for Klempel, while Tuesdays and Thursdays are what Rider calls “X-factor” days. Those include plyometric and core work.
The goal, he said, is to have Klempel work on jumps or shot put on speed days and blocks and hurdles on the X-factor days. Usually, though, it comes down to what she feels she needs to work on most.
One final attribute in Klempel’s favor: She’s a good teammate. When asked what a successful end to her junior season would be, she quickly replied: “Getting the state title again.”
She was referring to the Fusion team title, not any individual crown.
“That sounds like Jolee,” Rider said. “I think for her, the team excelling means more for her than her individual accomplishments.”
