CALN TWP. — Noah Wampole smiled while telling his story, and for good reason. It took a windmill dunk for him to rise from varsity basketball cut to a stunning second-place medal in the District 1 Class 3A high jump championship Friday at Coatesville High.
Two years ago, Wampole unsuccessfully tried out for the 2022-23 Radnor basketball team that set a school record, winning 26 consecutive games and a district championship. That didn’t deter him from cheering the squad on each time it played and spending the season on the JV team. Truth be told, he was in the right place at the right time.
“One day at practice my coach saw me dunk,” Wampole recalled. “He was working with our track coach at the time and told him about someone who could dunk and maybe could be a long jumper. So, my first day I came in, I tried long jump and high jump. Wasn’t that great at it, but I stuck with it and now we are where we are.”
Where is Wampole? After only two years of jumping he’s become a district silver medal winner and state qualifier in the high jump. The senior’s effort of 6-5 Friday placed him below only Maximus Stukes of Coatesville, who cleared 6-7 to win the event, but was oh-for-3 at a height of 6-8. Declan Gallagher of Owen J. Roberts and Albert Morton of Coatesville also high jumped 6-5 but had more misses than Wampole, who made the height on his second attempt.
“Overall, I’m happy because this year was my first year at districts,” Wampole said. “So, I was really happy to come out here and clear what I cleared after a pretty good spring season. This is just reassuring me for states.”
Wampole has stretched over the bar at 6-7, although unofficially during a clinic about a month ago. He figures it will take an effort right around there or perhaps what he did in districts to bring home a medal. The good news is he probably won’t feel the churning that may have impacted him before his first district championship appearance.
“I was up until 2 in the morning,” Wampole said. “Didn’t get a lot of sleep. I was seeded second, but it was more of I just didn’t want to let myself or my coaches down. I know what I’m capable of and I know that if given the opportunity I can perform.”
Speaking of district championship competition, Wampole enjoys reminiscing about that stellar 2022-23 Raptors season, when the objective was to get a front-row seat for every game. The game he always will remember was the first time the Raptors took on archrival Lower Merion that season.
“It was at LM, it was sold out and it was just a crazy environment,” Wampole said. “Even though I wasn’t playing it was just so cool to be there. And my favorite memory was when one of our guards, Henry Pierce, threw a lob to Jackson Gaffney, and he just dunked it for kind of like the game-ender.”
Yes, a classmate’s dunk. It will live in glory for Wampole, just as that windmill jam of his will too.
“My philosophy is just that when God closes one door, another one opens,” Wampole said. “Just trusting in Him, just trusting His plan for me, that was a big part of it. Because in my life I was always pretty average at sports and finally like when the track opened up, it was a great opportunity and I’m glad that I found it.”
