Making the Jump
Aurielle Brunner is not tired! - though she has every right to be. The rising senior from Chatham finished her breakout season with nothing but energy and excitement for a new stage of field events.
Brunner has been a staple of the high-level jumps happening in the women’s field. She sprung out of the gate last year at outdoor nationals, entering in all three jumps and taking 4th in the triple and 5th in the long. She followed this up with a personal best of 19 '2.5 as an opener this indoor season, landing herself another All-American nod at indoor nationals.
However, this spring, she drew our attention in a different event. Though she completed her first ever collegiate heptathlon in March, Brunner landed herself on the podium in May. She finished seventh in the event at the 2024 outdoor national meet with a score of 4,791.
“Every time I did the heptathlon since that first one, I got a personal best,” she recalled in a D3DG interview. “I was so proud of myself for that.”
Brunner scored a whopping 530 more points from her first to her last heptathlon of the season. This was in part due to a massive string of personal bests. She improved in six of the seven designated events throughout the spring. Since her opener, Brunner set PR’s in the 200 (24.75), high jump (5”5.75), javelin (92 '6) and the hurdles (16.46). She followed this by capturing some nationals magic in the shot put, tossing a new best of 33 '6.5.
Brunner’s rise toward the top is the type of grit that we continue to see in the D3 field events. Though the heptathlon was something she has always wanted to do at Chatham, winter sports and the training schedule kept her out of the event until her junior season. For field athletes across the division, smaller meets and less competition throughout the season can sometimes be a barrier to getting the qualifying marks needed for nationals. In fact, during a tune-up meet at Mt. Union, Brunner completed an entire heptathlon on her own. She still achieved a personal best in the hurdles and javelin, building momentum that helped her climb in the rankings in her new event.
The 2024 heptathlon field was not an easy one to enter into, either. Alongside the national pentathlon record holder Grace Alley and other former champions, Brunner knew she had to rise to the occasion in Myrtle Beach. She went into the competition seeded in 18th place and came out an All-American.
“At one point in my career I was just so happy to even make it to nationals for the jumps,” she reflected. “Then to be right on the edge in qualifying and finishing in seventh in the heptathlon was the biggest thing ever for me. I used to always look at the other athletes doing big things at nationals and think that I could never do that. Now here I am.”
Looking ahead, Brunner says that she is looking forward to a full indoor season and a chance to compete more at a higher level next year. With four of this year's All-Americans in the heptathlon graduating, there are a lot of empty spaces on next year’s podium.
“It was sad to see some of these girls go, I looked up to so much in these events. But I do know they will all be rooting for us.“ Brunner remarked. “I am kind of thinking - I would love to take it all next year.”
Jumping Ahead
I recently wrote about the class of female field athletes we were saying goodbye to after outdoor nationals, but that does not mean we are lacking in athletes to watch next year.
Brunner is not the only jumper who was multitasking this season. Rainah Dunham of Ursinus made herself known in Myrtle Beach with her national title in the long jump and runner-up in the triple. With a personal best in both jumps - she now sits fifth all-time in the triple jump with the leap of 41’10. Already upsetting the leaders in the long jump this year, she is likely to have a straight path to dominance next season.
Freshmen Kira Hawaaboo and Chloe Hein of Centre debuted as All-American in their first outdoor long jump competition, setting the stage for big marks to come.
In the high jump, Loras’ Sara Hoskins will be coming off her first national title into her senior season. With continuous PRs and Grace under pressure at big meets, she is likely to keep the streak of Duhawk jumping titles intact.
Hailey Carolan of and Serenity Sands of Bridgewater also stayed in the mix, looking toward the top next year.