By: Matt Florjancic, ‘07
BEREA, Ohio – Nearly two years ago, junior All-Ohio Athletic Conference high jumper Christian Pfeiffer was finishing up his first season for the Baldwin Wallace University track and field team when he and his family experienced an unimaginable loss.
Pfeiffer’s younger stepbrother, Ethan Liming, was killed in the parking lot of the I Promise School in Akron in June of 2022, and admittedly, he and his family were reeling from the loss. While dealing with his grief, Pfeiffer sought refuge competing in the high jump.
“I’m a Christian, and I firmly believe that God kind of led me to the sport for a reason,” Pfeiffer said. “High jump was almost an outlet for me. I believe that I wrote about this in a post on Instagram. God led me to this sport that I never would’ve thought I’d been doing as a life raft for myself and my family. It has been a source of positivity for us at a really hard time in our lives.
“I thank God all the time for the opportunity to be a part of this sport because in a lot of ways, it’s saved me. It was God’s timing.”
Processing His Grief
As Pfeiffer struggled to process the loss of his stepbrother, he found a level of solace through competition.
Pfeiffer took out his grief in the best way he knew how. The lifelong basketball player loved his new sport so much that he could be found training multiple days a week during the offseason in the summer of 2022. It was during that time when Pfeiffer learned the importance of regimenting his workouts instead of overtraining.
“Basically, after my first outdoor season, I loved the sport, and I wanted to be really good at it,” Pfeiffer said. “I wanted to be at national meets. I wanted to be an All-American, National Champion, but I knew I had a long way to go.
“I spent four days a week high jumping over the summer. Wherever there was a track, I was at it just trying to work on stuff, really kind of put in the time over that first summer I was there probably more than I should have.
“Physically, all those jumps can catch up with me pretty fast. In terms of the offseason, the track is just kind of what I did for fun. It was what I wanted to do. It’s not like I kind of felt obligated to. It was just where I wanted to be.”
Different Type of Feeling
When Pfeiffer first committed to being an athlete at Baldwin Wallace University, he did so as a basketball player after a standout career at Amherst Steele High School.
Pfeiffer was a three-year letter winner, as well as First-Team All-Southwestern Conference, All-Lorain County and All-Academic Ohio selection with the Comets. Then, as a sophomore at BW, the 6-foot-9 Pfeiffer finished second in the Ohio Athletic Conference with 49 blocks.
However, Pfeiffer wanted a new challenge and embraced the opportunity to spend more time with his girlfriend, All-American distance runner Hope Murphy, while competing in his new-found sport.
“I wasn’t really loving basketball anymore,” Pfeiffer said. “I lived with a bunch of people on the track team. I knew a bunch of people on the track team through friendships. My girlfriend’s on the track team, so I was around the track team a lot, and I just liked the people.
“Once basketball finished and indoor had finished, I went to Coach (Joe) Eby and Coach (Jordan) Hill, who was the head coach at the time, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’ve never done this before, but I’ll work hard. I’ll try my best, I’ll help out how I can. Can I walk on the team?’ I jumped in my first meet, the indoor last-chance meet, after one practice.”
Confidence in Himself
Prior to walking onto the track and field team, Pfeiffer had little experience in the sport because he was all basketball, all the time.
Although Pfeiffer lacked experience, he felt like the track team created a welcoming atmosphere and believes that has led to his success.
“I just kind of fell in love with track, and here I am now just doing track,” Pfeiffer said.
“Literally, basketball was all I did my whole life, but it was just time for a change, and I just felt right at home on the track team. They just made me feel like I had been there already for years. I really loved the sport purely. I left basketball just because I loved track so much.
“The first meet did not go well. I didn’t have spikes either, so it did not go well, but I remember first meet outdoor after spring break. We went to Washington and Lee in Virginia to compete, and I cleared opening height. I instantly knew, ‘Alright, this is the sport for me. I’m sticking with this. This is what I want to do.’ It was cool. Starting off, I was kind of just hurling myself over the bar, but I just loved learning about the sport. I loved competing, and it was a lot to pick up really fast.”
Quick Study
Because of his commitment to learning and motivation to give his family something positive to look forward to after Liming’s untimely passing, Pfeiffer made huge strides in the sport in a short period of time.
After starting in track in 2022, Pfeiffer went out during the 2023 season and won the OAC Indoor and Outdoor high jump championships, which earned him First-Team All-OAC accolades. Then, Pfeiffer placed 15th at the 2023 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Already this season, Pfeiffer has won an OAC Championship, and by qualifying height, is one of the best high jumpers in the country.
“I like to approach every competition with an attitude of gratitude, just thankful to God for the opportunity to be there, thankful for just being enough to compete, to be at a university that supports me,” Pfeiffer said. “It’s like a gift that I get to be here and I get to do what I do. I’ve had some success so far, but I still want to bring home the National Championship in the high jump.
“I was looking back through old texts with my coach last night, actually. I was just scrolling through, and I texted him immediately after the National Meet Outdoors. I was like, ‘Coach, this is what I want to do. I want to bring it home.’ Winning a National Championship is a huge goal of mine, which it feels so real this year that it’s possible. That’s been a big motivator for me.”
School Record Holder
Pfeiffer is well on his way to making that dream a reality.
Last season, the winner of the high jump National Championship cleared a height of 6 feet, 9 inches. Pfeiffer will enter the National Championships tied for the best jump of the season in the country, 6 feet, 10.75 inches.
Pfeiffer set that mark, which is a school record, at the Ashland Jud Logan Light Giver Invitational on February 2.
“It’s really cool,” Pfeiffer said. “If you look up at our record board, there’s National Champions. There’s Olympic Gold Medalist Harrison Dillard up there, so to have my name up there with parts of BW history is really awesome.
“I’ve looked up on our record board every day since my sophomore year, looking at Brandon Eddy’s school record. I looked at it every day, and so, now it’s just kind of like a ‘Wow, that’s kind of crazy when I look up there and see my own name.’
“Honestly, right before I took off for the jump, I wasn’t thinking that it was a school record. I wasn’t thinking about any sort of anything else really. All I was thinking about was last time I tried to clear it, what went wrong? I was just kind of focused on what do I need to do to get over this bar.”
Shot at a Championship
After taking first place at the OAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, Pfeiffer’s focus solely is on Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Rather than taking a spring break vacation, Pfeiffer and several of his Yellow Jackets teammates are making a business trip for the 2024 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with the goal of bringing back some hardware to Berea. More than that though, Pfeiffer wants to continue giving his family something to cheer as they continue grieving his stepbrother’s death.
“I’m always just thankful to be at another meet like that,” Pfeiffer said. “I’m thankful. I’d be thankful for an All-American, but I’d be lying if I said I’d be mildly frustrated if I didn’t bring it home. I’m just thankful to be there, but I really, really want to bring it home.”