Submitted photo – Former Eureka Logger Emily Pesch is enjoying life at San Diego Mesa College and  has qualified for next month’s JC state championships in the heptathlon.

By Ray Hamill — Emily Pesch is spreading her wings in more ways than one this year.

The former Eureka Logger track standout is adjusting to life in college while expanding her sports experience, and she’s enjoying a lot of success while doing so.

After graduating from high school last year, Pesch is now competing in track and field for San Diego Mesa College and last week she qualified for the state championships in the heptathlon.

This is the first time Pesch has lived away from home and the first time she’s tried her hand at multiple different events, and she seems to be loving every minute of it.

“It’s been really good,” she said of the experience. “I’m super happy I came to this area and went to the college I’m at.

“It was a little intimidating for sure moving 11 or 12 hours from home, but over time I became independent and it’s kind of a great new start for me.”

Pesch enjoyed plenty of success in high school, winning league championships in the 4×100 meter relay as a senior and in the high jump as a junior.

She also placed second in both the 200m and the high jump last spring.

This year. However, she’s enjoying success at a whole new level and thriving on the college track.

She has competed in just two heptathlons, including last week’s SoCal championships, which took place over two days at Cerritos Community College.

And the Humboldt County native placed an impressive third out of 11 competitors to qualify for next month’s state championships in San Mateo.

She scored 3,771 points, which was an improvement of 464 points from her previous heptathlon, placing first in the hurdles and high jump and second in the shot put and long jump.

Her points total is also the fourth best in program history.

Many of the events are new to Pesch, who starred mostly in the sprints and high jump in high school, but she appears to be relishing the challenge and not backing down from trying her hand at something new.

“The high jump is one of my favorite events,” she said, “But I’m sort of taking a liking to the hurdles.

“There are a lot of new events I started learning this year and the hurdles is getting more natural to me, and I’m having more fun with it.”

Her head coach Sean Ricketts is clearly impressed with what he’s seen from the talented and hard-working freshman.

“Emily’s progress is remarkable,” he said on the school website. “Her improvement comes from gaining experience during competition, a focused training plan, and consistent training across all events over the past five weeks. 

“Our multi-event athletes represent the whole team and it is a collaborative effort amongst coaches from each event area to help with her development and progression in training.”

Pesch admits the idea of competing in the heptathlon was not something she felt comfortable with at first.

But with the encouragement of her father and high school coach, Scott Pesch, Emily decided to take it on. 

“I was very unsure about it,” she said. “I mainly stuck with the high jump and sprints (in high school), but when I was growing up my dad told me I could be a heptathlete and I didn’t really believe it.

“But when I moved here I got more into it and started really working on it.”

Submitted photo – Emily Pecch placed third in the heptathlon at last week’s SoCal championships.

And now?

“I’m glad I stuck with it,” she said with a chuckle.

The move to San Diego was less intimidating.

Emily admits that she “needed to get out of Humboldt, but not in a bad way,” and she has a lot of family in the San Diego area, which made the decision to move there easier.

“It’s definitely a great area for me,” said Emily, who added that she likes the college, the campus and her new team. “I think it’s right where I needed to be.”

The former Logger standout, who is majoring in Education, says she would consider competing in the heptathlon at a four-year school but for now is focused on next month’s state championships and enjoying her time at San Diego Mesa.

“I’m still figuring it out,” she said. “It really depends on how next year goes. It’s definitely an option for me.”

She also appreciates all the support she has received along the way.

“What really got me to where I am now is definitely the support system I have,” she said. “My teammates, my friends and family.”

The state championships will take place on May 16 and 17.