Waukesha West senior fights through injury to become a champion

WAUKESHA, Wis. - It's easy to lose sight of the fun when you're chasing a state championship, but that was not the case for one Waukesha West senior. That's why he's this week's FOX6 High School Hot Shot.

"I started high jumping back in seventh grade and I really enjoyed it for the fun of it," said high jumper Nathan Andringa.

That feeling of fun never left Andringa even when things started to get serious.

"Coming into high school, I saw Joe Schobert's record and I thought that would be something that I would want to break," Andringa said.

After losing his junior season to the pandemic, Andringa wanted to do as much as he could in his final year.

In the first meet of his senior season, he broke the school record by two inches.

"It was pretty crazy," said Andringa. "I didn't think I'd do it in the first meet. I wasn't expecting to do it in the first meet so I was pretty excited."

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Unfortunately after that, Andringa suffered patellar tendinitis and was forced to closely manage his work load.

That limited him in practice and his ability to go even higher.

"I can say I was pretty upset a little bit because I really wanted to try and go for the state record at the state meet of seven feet," Andringa said. "But at the same time, I accomplished my goal. I wanted to win that meet and I did. So I'm happy. But I'm also a little bit sad, but I get to do it again in college."

Andringa will continue high-jumping at UW-La Crosse where he believes he will one day hit seven feet.

"I think I can improve in every part of my jumping ability," said Andringa. "I think that I haven't come close to my peak in my ability, so I'm hoping that being there is going to really bring out the best of my jumping ability."