Karsyn Leeling is moving up in the NCAA track and field rankings after jumping a career best at her first outdoor meet in 2026.
The Nebraska sophomore high jumper is currently No. 3 in the nation. She jumped 1.89 meters (6-foot-2 ¼) at the Spec Towns Invitational in Athens, Ga., on April 11.
“Coming into Nebraska, I obviously had goals,” Leeling told Hail Varsity. “I wanted to break the school record, which now is 6-3 ¼ I believe. It might be a little bit higher than that, but in order to accomplish that, that would put me at the top of the nation. I never looked at it that way, but now thinking about it, it’s kind of surreal to me. I’ve had my coach tell me multiple times that he thinks he can get me higher.”
Leeling is tied for the third-best jump in Nebraska high jump history. Her performance put her in first place in the NCAA rankings, but she dropped to third shortly after. She said she wasn’t thinking about anything during the jump.
“There honestly wasn’t a whole lot going through my head,” Leeling said. “If I could relate it to something it would be my first open for my senior year when I jumped 6-foot, and it was the leading mark in the nation. It kind of just reminded me of that. It was very similar. Obviously, it was a lot higher, but that is because I’m at such a higher level now, so it kind of has to be higher.”
Leeling has had a breakout sophomore season. In the indoor competitions, the Sidney, Neb., native finished No. 7 at the NCAA Championships with a 1.85-meter jump (6-0 ¾). At the Big Ten championships, she earned second place at 1.84 meters (6-0 ½).
She also took second at the Husker Holiday Open, Graduate Classic and Mark Colligan Memorial meets.
Before joining Nebraska, Leeling attended Sidney High School where she was a multi-sport athlete.
Named the 2023-2024 Nebraska Gatorade Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, Leeling was a five-time state champion. She won titles in the high jump, long jump and triple jump. Leeling also won a national title at the Nike outdoor competition in 2024 and earned All-America honors.
The Lady Raider standout started gaining interest from colleges her junior season. She originally committed to Doane before Nebraska extended an offer.
“After committing to Nebraska, it kind of started to hit me of how much it was going to be, all the stuff I would have to do,” Leeling said. “Weight training, eating, stuff like that. My mom was one of the ones that was like, ‘You’re going to have to start now. Once you get to college it’s going to hit you hard; you’ve got to start now.’ So I really hit the weight room. I kind of focused on my eating a little bit better.”
Although she prepared, Leeling didn’t have the freshman year she hoped for. In the Indoor Big Ten championships, she took 13th with a jump of 1.72 meters (5-7). She also earned third place finishes at the Graduate Classic, Husker Holiday Open and Nebraska Tune-Up.
At the Outdoor Big Ten championships, Leeling took fifth with a mark of 1.81 meters (5-11 ¼). She also finished 14th at the NCAA West Prelims with a jump of 1.81 meters (5-11 ¼).
“Last year we broke down my approach, my jump, everything,” Leeling said. “We broke it down, and it took a toll on me. I was only jumping 5-5, from being a 6-foot jumper to going to 5-5. It was tough, but it was worth it, and eventually I got it down. I’m starting to figure it out.”
Leeling said her training was steady, but she faced a lot of mental challenges.
“I think the biggest thing was people from the outside looking in,” Leeling said. “They were like ‘Oh, she’s not good, she’s washed,’ stuff like that. For me, it was a whole trust the process. Even me at the time, I was like, ‘What is going on? This shouldn’t be happening. I can’t even jump.’ It was really hard for me, and mentally I had meets where I would break down crying afterwards. My coach was like, ‘You’re better than this,’ and I’m like, ‘I know.’”
Leeling is coached by assistant coach Dusty Jonas. Jonas competed for Nebraska in the high jump from 2005 to 2008. He won the indoor national title in 2008 and Big 12 Outdoor Championship that same year. He concluded his Husker career as the program’s indoor and outdoor record holder, and is the conference’s highest jumper.
Jonas then competed for Team USA at the Olympic games in 2008. He also participated in the indoor world championships and outdoor world championships in 2011.
“We have one of the top high jump programs in the nation, and that is because of Dusty,” Leeling said. “He’s been in the high jump industry for a long time. He was an Olympian, a bronze medalist at worlds one year. He knows what he’s talking about. So for me to be able to take what he’s teaching me and knowing what to do, I can just put all my trust in him. He knows exactly what I need to do.”
Although Leeling is from a small town, she said she’s received a lot of support from her coaches and teammates. She said the moment hasn’t felt too big.
“I think once I got to college, I realized that I use to be a big fish in a little pond, and now I’m a little fish in a big pond,” Leeling said. “So I always had that in the back of my mind, that I wasn’t the best one. I think that really helped going to college, because I could just go out and compete rather than having so much pressure on me.”
Compete is what the Husker women have done. They are No. 8 in the nation ahead of their next meet. Leeling said the team’s camaraderie has helped them succeed.
“We’re all there to support each other and push each other,” Leeling said. “We all have goals, and we want to be good. Obviously, we have Big Ten championships at home this year, and we obviously want to win on our home turf, so we push each other, we’re happy for each other. Even at Georgia, after jumping 6-2, I had so many of my teammates run up and give me a hug. It was just almost the support that I never really had back home, so I really love the team aspect that we have here.”
Although Leeling is proud of what she’s done, she said she’s always striving for more.
“Obviously I’m really happy about it,” Leeling said. “I think it’s just the beginning mark though. Even Dusty said, ‘You’re going to go much higher this season.’ I knew when I was ranked No. 1, I was like this isn’t going to stay very long. We have a lot of really good jumpers in the NCAA, but for him to tell me that he thinks I’m going to go a lot higher, it makes me happy obviously. I’m really excited to see how the season’s going to go.”
The Huskers host the Nebraska Spring Tune-Up on Friday. The meet begins at 1 p.m. CT.