By James Hanlon
Leader Staff Writer
7 feet, 5 inches. That’s the unbeaten outdoor high jump record at Central Michigan University, held by Oxford High School’s principal, Steve Wolf. He was just inducted into the CMU Marcy Weston Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
“It’s great to be back and think about all my teammates, all my coaches,” Wolf said in an on-stage interview during the induction ceremony Oct. 15 inside the McGuirk Arena in Mt. Pleasant. Wolf attended the university from 2001-2005.
He said he was “honored” and “excited” about being nominated, and reflective of all those who supported him along the way.
Wolf wasn’t always a high-jumper though. “I like to think I was a basketball player who got a track scholarship and then figured out the sport and learned while I was here, figured out how to actually do it,” said Wolf, a 2000 graduate of Stevenson High School in Sterling Heights.
The key to his success was his coaching. He had some phenomenal coaches in high school and college who believed in him and cared about him. “That was pretty important for a young athlete,” he said.
In particular, his jumps coach, Greg Halberg, “is the exact reason” he was successful at CMU. “(Halberg) really made you want to know more and understand it better, scientifically, so you could improve, and that’s exactly what happened with me. I became near obsessive in trying to understand all parts of the sport.”
Wolf took third place in the high jump at the 2005 NCAA Championships, earning All-America honors. He became the first Chippewa male to earn MVP at the Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships that same year, scoring 24 points by winning the high jump (7 feet, 3 ¾ inches); placing second in the triple jump (48 feet, 6 inches); and third in the long jump (24 feet, 3 inches).
“I came in as a basketball athlete, but I most definitely left as a track and field athlete,” Wolf said. “I came to CMU as one of the best jumpers in the state, but I left as one of the best high jumpers in the United States, and Greg Halberg is 100 percent responsible for that. I can’t thank him enough.”