Setting the bar high: WKU student-athlete Katie Isenbarger competing, thriving in dual-sport role

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Ask any Division I NCAA student-athlete how challenging and demanding it is to balance school and athletics, and their answer will probably be about the same: it’s really, really tough.

One student-athlete at Western Kentucky University, though, has doubled-down on those challenges, competing on two different athletic teams on the Hill.

“The higher off the ground, the better you’re going to be,” said WKU Volleyball Head Coach Travis Hudson.

It’s a thought that can be applied to two sports at WKU – volleyball and high jump.

“It’s a natural fit between the two sports,” added WKU Track and Field Head Coach Erik Jenkins.

Natural is the best way to describe the talent of WKU freshman Katie Isenbarger, who’s been playing on the WKU volleyball team and participating in high jump events for the WKU track and field team.

“I think they go hand in hand,” Isenbarger said of the two sports. “Just the jumping aspect obviously. It can’t hurt doing both of them.”

It clearly hasn’t, and Isenbarger hasn’t looked back in trying out both at the same time.

Not only is she participating in volleyball and track at the Division I level, she’s exceeding expectations, too.

“She’s extremely talented and she really wants to high jump well,” said Jenkins. “She’s a good person to be around. Her teammates love her.”

The same can be said of her volleyball teammates, too, who were unable to watch Isenbarger compete in the Hilltopper Relays at WKU because she, along with her teammates, were getting ready for the volleyball team’s spring tournament.

But she’s already left a lasting impression on her volleyball head coach.

“She’s a kid that’s willing to do whatever you need, because she never blinked an eye no matter what we threw at her,” Hudson said.

Katie said she’s been competing in volleyball and high jump since she was in middle school, and she liked each sport for different reasons.

So, she decided to stick with both through high school, never thinking that she’d be able to excel at both while at WKU.

As a middle hitter on the volleyball team, Isenbarger was fifth on the team in kills this season.

She hasn’t done too bad in high jump, either.

Isenbarger recently set the school record at the Conference USA Indoor Championships with a jump of 1.80 meters.

“The fact that it worked out here is fantastic because it’s like the best of both worlds,” said the freshman. “A lot of colleges wouldn’t be accepting of that, so I’m really lucky.”

While Katie might feel lucky, it’s her coaches that feel even luckier to have an athlete that is gifted and works as hard as she does, day in and day out.

“There’s work ethic and then there’s coachability,” said Hudson. “She’s such a coachable kid, meaning she has a great work ethic, but she comes in the gym to learn every day.”

The bar literally keeps getting set higher for Isenbarger every day.

“I think she could be one of the elite athletes in the NCAA,” Jenkins said of her potential.

There’s no questioning, though, that Isenbarger has a bright future ahead of her at WKU, whether that’s on a volleyball court or on a track.