Merckle perfect fit at Wake Forest
Former Fort Cherry standout Jessie Merckle is in her comfort zone as part of the track and field program at Wake Forest.
Former Fort Cherry track and field standout Jessie Merckle found her comfort zone at Wake Forest.
For Jessie Merckle, the thought of attending college meant more than gaining an education, competing in the javelin and expanding her reach in the world.
She wanted a place that made her feel at home and that place was Wake Forest, a smallish Atlantic Coast Conference school snuggled in the cozy confines of Winston-Salem, N.C. And she wanted a throwing coach who was not only intelligent and driven but compassionate. She found one in the Demon Deacons’ Zeb Sion.
Those attributes would be vitally important when that wave of home-sickness washed over her early on and she longed to return to Hickory and Fort Cherry High School, where friends and family offered security and familiarity.
“I am such a homebody,” Merckle said. “I don’t want to be away from my family and friends for such a long period of time. The first three months I left here till Thanksgiving were the hardest of my life. I’m so close to my family and love going up to the school so it was really hard being away.”
Merckle found a piece of that hominess in the Sion family.
“There is such a family-oriented culture here,” said Merckle. “I go to his house and I’ve baby-sat his child and I’m very close to his wife. It turned into a second home for me down here. Once I felt more comfortable there, I started making friends and it got a lot easier after that.”
Sion said there is more to coaching than dissecting technique and offering changes. Often, it goes deeper.
“It depends on the kid. A lot of kids might need a lot on the outside of the regular coach’s role and others might not,” he said. “We were there for her from the start. When I got here, she was part of my first recruiting class, we didn’t have much talent and she was my only female thrower. We developed a bond really quick and she is a part of my family. It’s a pretty unique relationship, above and beyond just competing. I can say two words and she knows exactly what I’m thinking. One of the things that make her special is her ability for me to say something and her ability to execute it right away. She does that better than anyone I’ve been around in my life as an athlete.”
When Merckle settled in, her javelin throws took off. In early April, she set a personal record of 186-8 on the first day of the VertKlasse Meeting at Vert Stadium at High Point (N.C.) University. It was another benchmark to a distinguished career that has seen Merckle steadily rise through the ranks of javelin throwers. She has won two ACC championships, made first team All-ACC and is a two-time All-America.
“I guess the biggest change is that I have a technique now,” Merckle said. “In high school, I just ran to the line and threw it. I wasn’t really sure about much other than having an arm. When I practiced in high school, I would just see how far I could throw it. Actually knowing more about the javelin has made my (efforts) much better.”
At Fort Cherry, Merckle won a state title in 2012, and held the fourth-longest throw in the nation at 156-8. She left the school holding the record for javelin (156-8), shot put (38-10), long jump (17-2.25) and triple jump (34-10.5).
She chose Wake Forest because of the similarities of the area to her hometown.
“Fort Cherry is a super small school and that’s what attracted me to (Wake Forest),” she said. “What really sold me was Coach Sion. He was the best coach I could have asked for. I would make that same decision right now.
“I was excited to travel and see new things and work with different people. I wasn’t sure what to expect in the track and field world. At Fort Cherry, we didn’t even have a track so now I had javelin runways to use and a weight room. It was sort of like a whole new world.”
Sion first saw Merckle in her senior season at Fort Cherry, at the beginning of the school year when her family came down for an unofficial visit.
“Just looking at her, I saw she was a very athletic kid,” Sion said. “She had done very well in track and field, not just throwing, but in the jumps and other things like that. She played basketball, too. She’s like a little sparkplug. She is not a very big girl. At the competitions we go to, she is always one of the smallest girls throwing. That never deterred me. I thought it was cool she was a little undersized but could come out and be as good as anyone.”
Sion watched Merckle at the PIAA Championships after she committed to Wake Forest and realized he had a talented athlete for his program.
“There were some things she did very naturally,” he said. “There were certain things with the finish of her throw. She had a super right arm that’s hard to teach and some have trouble doing. At the same time, she just had a simple approach, running and gunning. She even said she would come running down the runway and do her crossover then she just threw it. You could tell there was natural talent and things you could refine.”
Two years ago, Merckle reached a PR of 177-0 that earned her the ACC title. The following year, she reached 174-10 at the outdoor championships, which earned her seventh place and All-America status. She will try to reach that status again at the nationals June 8-11 in Eugene, Ore.
“The last couple months, we’ve been changing things up a little bit, doing a lot of training, doing the lift ball stuff and working the weights,” said Merckle. “Last year, I ended on a pretty good note, getting All-America after finishing seventh but I didn’t get a PR. That was getting under my skin a little bit. So, we wanted to open up big.”