ALTAMONT — Ben Roedl is what you would call a Swiss army knife.
The 2024 Effingham Daily News Field Athlete of the Year can do many things and was everything for the Altamont track and field team this year en route to a National Trail Conference championship and sectional crown.
“Ben is just an outstanding athlete,” head coach Trent Deadmond said. “He’s gifted physically and that’s always a plus, but not everyone takes advantage of those gifts and those talents that they’re born with and he does. He works hard at his craft. He’s chosen technical events. There are a few events in track and field that are pretty hard to wrap your head around, and events like the high jump and triple jump, which Ben does, are pretty difficult and counterintuitive.
“You have to be athletic to do those events.”
Roedl believes staying active has helped that.
“Getting out and doing all the sports I can,” Roedl said. “Keeping active. I played soccer this year. I couldn’t do baseball because track got in the way of it.”
Roedl accrued points in the long jump, high jump and triple jump, as well as running a leg in a relay race or competing in the hurdles.
“We typically kept him pretty busy,” Deadmond said. “As a track coach, winning meets isn’t always my goal. I’m just not trying to stack points together, but with an athlete like that, you know it will happen.”
The junior finished second in his only 200-meter dash appearance, with a time of 24.64 seconds. He also ran the 110-meter hurdles three times, winning at the NTC Meet with a time of 16.52 seconds. Roedl ran a leg in the 4×200-meter relay and even finished fourth in the pole vault at the Robinson Coach Cork Invitational with a height of 10 feet.
Roedl finds the most success in the triple, long and high jump events. He placed third at the state meet in the high jump, fourth in the long jump and fifth in the triple.
Overall, Roedl racked up 27 victories in his junior year — across all his events — highlighted by a 40-point showing at NTCs.
“Everything went well,” Roedl said.
Roedl was also a record-breaker this past year.
He set the school record in the triple and long jump and a personal best in the high jump.
“Those are some milestones you hope to hit throughout a season, especially for a talented athlete,” Deadmond said. “Once they get close to those things, it’s hard for them not to be on everybody’s mind. It was great for him to get those.
“They were records that had stood for a little while, into the 80s and 90s. They weren’t easy records by any means, and one of them, he basically broke the outdoor record during the indoor season, so he was already there early.”
Roedl is close to breaking the school record in the high jump, as well. Gary Ellis set that at 22 feet, 8 inches.
“It was set during his senior season and Ben is a foot off it,” Deadmond said. “That would be our oldest record and that would be cool.”
Roedl is able to accomplish all of this while boasting a long frame.
Deadmond mentioned Roedl’s ability to understand his body.
“He’s been complimented by some college coaches who have told me that he understands his body well, especially in space,” Deadmond said. “In triple jump, you got to move in the air; in high jump, you got to get up and get over. There are so many components and moving parts in the events.”
Heading into his senior year, Roedl noted that the one thing he would like to work on would be the mental side of things.
He knows that Deadmond can get that squared away, though.
“He focuses a lot on the mental side of things. That’s what I like about him,” Roedl said. “He keeps us in the game.”
Roedl, though, does the same and not just with points.
He’s also a team leader.
“He is our totem pole,” Deadmond said. “He brings more than just the points. To be able to depend on him is huge, but we rely on him because he is a motivator. When he’s not competing, he’s checking on his teammates. He’s helping out younger athletes in his events, helping them learn them and get better at them. Be able to fill these spots whenever people like him are gone.
“He thinks a little bit like a coach.”