Meet the Griz: Erin Wilde’s Record Story

Meet the Griz is a series that tells the stories of Montana Grizzlies athletes, coaches, and contributors. Here are some past "Meet the Griz" features:

Griz High Jumper Erin Wilde Sets Records & Wins Championships

You may not know the story of Griz high jumper Erin Wilde, but it captures your attention. First off, she's one of the most decorated Grizzly athletes in recent history. The Whitefish native is a 5x Big Sky Conference Champion, a 3x NCAA Regionals qualifier, and now holds the Dornblaser record in the high jump event.

Secondly, she does all of this despite scoliosis.

"My spine's pretty crooked," said Wilde on The Daily Drive with Ace Sauerwein. "I have the S-curve, so the top curve, I got surgery on, but it's still pretty curved."

"They told me afterward that I wasn't supposed to do anything really. No sports, activities, like kind of more on the minimal side, but that's not who I was at all. I loved sports."

Credit: Coral Scoles-Coburn (Montana Athletics)

It's a good thing she pursued a track career at UM, but it hasn't been all sunshine and roses.

"High jumping with it can be painful sometimes, but I honestly learned to just, like, figure out what kind of works best for me."

Wilde credits her drive to compete to her stubbornness, but that same stubbornness nearly kept her from competing in the high jump.

"I refused to high jump because I was a stubborn kid and wanted to prove my dad wrong," Wilde laughed. She wanted to be a long jumper and then "got to my eighth grade year and I high jumped one time and broke our middle school record, and I was like, yep, this is what I'm going to do."

Credit: Coral Scoles-Coburn (Montana Athletics)

Listen to our full conversation above.