(Maryville) Marcus Klein was in Birmingham, Alabama getting ready to compete in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships when he found out the news. The senior from Harlan was a long jump qualifier, but never got the opportunity to compete at the national meet.
Klein provides the details of how he found out the indoor championships and the entire outdoor season were called off. “Wednesday we went to practice and everything was normal. After we got done practicing they said that they were only going to allow limited family into the meet. The NBA seemed to change the whole thing once a Utah Jazz player got the virus. Then conferences started cancelling their basketball tournaments. Thursday morning they announced no spectators for the meet. Right after we practiced on Thursday they announced that they cancelled the whole thing.”
He describes the cancellation due to COVID-19 as unexpected and it was an especially tough blow when they realized the outdoor season was scrapped too. “You put in all the hard work to get into the national meet and you’re building up to peak at these meets. It’s just disappointing not to be able to perform at my best this year.”
Klein says his consistency was the biggest bright spot of his senior year. One of his goals was to get to the Olympics Trials, but that has taken a big hit. A combination of good coaching and improved strength have allowed Klein to inch closer to his goals. “Last year I jumped a 7.75 outdoor which is about 25-6″ and the standard is about 8 meters or 26-0″. I’d say I had some 26-0″ jumps this year that I scratched or right up in that area. Just the right training and lifting program. I got a lot stronger when I got into college. The programs the coaches have at Northwest have been really good.”
He’s unsure if he’ll return next year. He’s set to graduate this spring and doesn’t know about enrolling in grad school in order to keep his career going. Klein has many career highlights between his first two years at Iowa Western and his last two years at Northwest Missouri State. During the 2018-19 Indoor Season Klein was 13th in the long jump at the national meet and was on the 11th place 4X400. Last spring Klein was an outdoor All-American in the long jump with an 11th place finish at nationals.
Marcus Klein:
