Growing up, it's safe to say that Lork Selkirk alum Nevaeh Marynowski was a little bit bouncy. 

"I liked jumping a lot as a kid," she beamed.

"My parents would put me in the jolly jumper and I would throw tantrums if they took me out of there. When I grew older, they got me a mini trampoline for the house, and then I'd just be bouncing on that constantly to music and everything. It was funny, because we were watching old home videos, and my dad made a comment in the video. He said I think she's going to be a high jumper."

Marynowski's dad was correct. In a short span of time, Marynowski developed into one of the province's top talents as a jumper, not just in the high jump, but long jump and hurdles as well. 

She took home gold at the MHSAA level in grade ten in all three events, and she was already jumping in the 5.30 range in long jump by grade 11. In her senior year, she earned provincial gold again in long jump, and was the only competitor to jump over five metres. 

Marynowski's talent was identified early by the Bisons, specifically assistant coach Mingpu Wu, a jumps guru. Just a few years later, she was repping it out with the Herd, making her debut in 2024-25. 

Being a student-athlete has made a huge difference in Marynowski's life. It's taught her how to be resilient and stick to a goal, and she's also formed countless friendships.

"I applied to the U of M, but I didn't have any actual interest in doing track outside of high school. I didn't think I was good enough and I didn't try to get recruited anywhere," she said humbly.

"Sports was very helpful in adjusting to my first year of university. It let me build a community, and have people that I can rely on and talk to. I love doing stuff that's track-related and being around other people that do track. Even thinking about it now, if I did university without sports, I don't know what I'd be doing. I'd come here, study and go home. There would be no social interactions."

One of the people Marynowski met through track was her boyfriend Jordan Beinert. A multi-event specialist and former Canada West bronze medalist in the 60m hurdles, he's been a constant throughout her training and daily life. 

That included a rocky period over Christmas, where Marynowski missed three weeks due to a concussion. Nervous that she wouldn't be in peak condition for her first travel meet the following month, she leaned on his support and her coaches, for reassurance. 

"It definitely impacted me. The only reason I got through it, was my coaching, my parents and my boyfriend. [Beinert] was the biggest supporter through everything. He listened to everything when I was ranting during my concussion and he would remind me to take time off and get better," she said. 

"He was a huge support in helping me overcome this setback. I'm super grateful for him. I couldn't have done it without him."

The injury ended up being a blessing in disguise for Marynowski. She had just one practice prior to travelling to Saskatchewan for the Sanderson Classic, and had to "literally rely in muscle memory." 

Regardless, she was able to perform, which was an enormous confidence boost. 

"At Sanderson, I tied my indoor PB for long jump which was 5.71 at that time. And I jumped a PB in high jump which was 1.69, and I tied my PB for hurdles, which was 8.92 at that moment. That was a huge part of this season. I learned that setbacks happen, but they're only temporary, and you can come back and be stronger."

Athletically, Marynowski has literally improved by leaps and bounds. Already a gifted athlete with natural jumping ability, she and Wu have prioritized speed in year two, and the results have showed. 

Her leap of 5.96m at the NDSU Bison Open in February was just off the long jump program record of 5.98, and she's also close to the school record in the 60m hurdles. The all-time best of 8.45 seconds was set in 1994, and Marynowski hit a PB at 8.55 seconds at CanWest, an enormous improvement from her time of 8.92 seconds entering the season. 

Along the way, she qualified for nationals in the long and high jump, while also securing her first two individual medals at the Canada West Championships, bronze in the long and high.

"[Wu] is big on the idea that speed is what's necessary to make you jump further, and do your events better," said the sophomore. 

"Doing hurdles, you build a lot of speed. The speed I built up doing hurdles translated into the long jump approach. The more speed I have there, obviously it helps me propel further. I always thought of hurdles as a jumping event. It's not. It's a sprinting event. I just had to get over the fear of hitting the hurdle, and actually getting into the idea of attacking it, rather than just jumping over it."

Marynowski makes her nationals debut this weekend with tons of confidence. She has high hopes of breaking the school record in the long jump, on a track she's extremely familiar with. 

"It's a stellar feeling to compete on your home track, the track you train on five times a week. I feel like our Bisons have a little bit of an advantage. This track is engrained in our blood from constantly training and beating down on it. It's kind of a surreal feeling. It hasn't kicked in yet that this is such a big meet. I'm really excited. I want to break that Bisons record on our home track. I think that would be sick."