SIOUX FALLS — A budding college basketball prospect, Ashlyn Koupal added another state track and field championship to her résumé on Thursday.

The Wagner High School sophomore won her fourth straight Class A state high jump title on Thursday, clearing 5-feet and four-inches. Koupal, a 6-foot-3 multi-sport athlete, has won a state high jump championship every year since she was a seventh-grader, and with two years of high school left, can still win two more state championships. 

“Each year, each one means a little more just because I feel like there’s more pressure every year and pressure is good,” Koupal said. “Winning is good. So I am fine with it.”

Koupal was the last competitor after standing after clearing 5-4, and made three unsuccessful attempts at 5-7.  

“I guess toward the end you always get worn out and you try to fight through it,” Koupal said. “My coach helps me with that, too, just to get ready.”

Koupal, along with the other competitors, had to contend with the windy conditions at Howard Wood Field. But Koupal said the wind didn’t hinder her attempts. 

“I guess when you get up there you don’t really think about the wind,” she said. 

Koupal accomplished the state title while also balancing her college basketball recruiting. Koupal, an all-state basketball player, plays AAU basketball for Sanford Sports Academy and has competed in some high-level tournaments this spring.

“It’s a lot of back and forth,” Koupal said about her schedule. “I am on a really good basketball team. We have a lot of really good players and we get along really well, which helps us perform really well on the court. So it’s a fun summer.”

This spring, Koupal has turned heads on the recruiting trail. So far she has received college basketball scholarship offers from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Colorado, South Dakota, Arkansas, TCU, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Utah, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa State, Miami (Ohio), Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Colorado State, Creighton and South Dakota State.

All while balancing her time high jumping. 

“I usually don’t make it to track meets on the weekends,” Koupal said. “Because we are usually always somewhere with basketball, but I try and find the right balance making it to both. Track comes first just because it’s a school sport. So we prioritize that.”