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Beneke Signs with Tennessee Tech
Beneke
A DCHS senior Ally Beneke committed to Tennessee Tech official during a signing ceremony. She is pictured with her parents Jerry and Kim Beneke (seated), and her Track and Field Coaches Kristen VanVranken (Assistant) and Head Coach Jeremy Wilhelm.



A DeKalb County High School senior is making leaps and bounds to the collegiate level, literally. Champion high jumper, 19-year-old Ally Beneke, daughter of Jerry and Kim Beneke, signed a commitment to Tennessee Tech last week, to continue her high-jump career.

The signing ceremony was held on Tuesday, April 25, where she was joined by her family, coaches, and classmates. Beneke became a State Champion on May 26, 2022, at the TSSAA-DI AAA track meet. There, Beneke jumped a height of 5 feet 6 inches to claim the title. She had the number one seed going into the competition, with a personal record of 5 feet 7 inches, something she repeated last week according to Warren County Coach Jeremy Wilhelm.

DeKalb County High School cooperates with Warren County High School with their track program, allowing DeKalb athletes to participate. This season, DCHS has eight players competing in the Warren County Track and Field program. Wilhelm is the Track and Field Head Coach while DeKalb’s Kristen VanVranken serves as the assistant Coach.

“Ally does high jump and she is magnificent at it,” said Coach Wilhelm. “Yesterday (Monday) she jumped 5’ 7” and that tied her school record, which she set last year. That pole-vaulted her up to top 25 in the country with that distance. She is going to continue to get better as the season goes along. I’m looking forward to great things out of her.”

When asked how she felt about moving on to Tennessee Tech, Ally said she is excited. “I’m really looking forward to joining the track team. They’ve already showed so much support to me. I can’t wait to get started.”

“I have been jumping since elementary school. They offered it for a field day and that’s when I first jumped four feet and got the school record. So, ever since then I have been doing it and I have loved it and succeeded at it,” Beneke continued.

Beneke moved to DeKalb County with her family just two years ago from Michigan and said that a goal may be to compete in the Olympics. While at Tech, Ally said she plans to study something in the medical field or maybe computer science.

Last Thursday, Beneke competed at the 23rd Annual Great 8 Invitational at Harpeth against eight of the best high jumpers in the Middle Tennessee area.

Ally won with a jump of 5’7″ and tied her school record for the 2nd time this week. She is ranked 1st in the state and also ranked in the top 25 in the country.