SWR high jumper Blake Wehr eager to perform for Monmouth

Blake Wehr is on his way to Monmouth University and he can’t wait to give his new coach, Mike Nelson, a hearty handshake. Forgotten in all the big things that were lost in a year of recruiting during the age of COVID-19 — visits, meals with potential future teammates, Saturdays in the student section of a big time football or basketball game — were the little personal connections that sometime make the biggest difference.

So, even as the Shoreham-Wading River high jumper was committing to the New Jersey school — a decision he announced May 14 on his high school’s track — there was still one thing Wehr felt he missed out on.

"I wasn’t allowed to shake his hand, which was pretty upsetting to me," he said.

Safe to say Wehr will have plenty of chances to shake Nelson’s hand over the next four years. The top high jumper on Long Island, Wehr would have been the second-best returner from the 2020 indoor state championships, where he cleared six feet, four inches on the Saturday before the sports world shut down due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead of having another spring to shine and an indoor season to compete for a state championship, Wehr had to sit and wait like everyone else, wondering if a global health crisis had doomed his college opportunities, or at least significantly limited them.

"There were a lot of moments where I was scared about recruitment and everything being canceled," he said.

In limited action, Wehr was able to compete this winter, albeit mostly outside in frigid January and February temperatures with no spectators, which often play a big part in cheering high jumpers to new heights. Wehr cleared 6-4 outdoors this winter, the top mark in Suffolk. He cleared 6-6 indoors twice in March, once while winning at the Kentucky Track Cross Country Coaches Association Age Group Meet in Louisville and another while winning at the Ocean Breeze Elite Invitational on Staten Island.

Through it all, Monmouth was there. Wehr was already well-acquainted with the program. Friend and former high school teammate Rickie Casazza jumps there and Shoreham-Wading River jumping coach Paul Anderson’s son, Erik, jumped there from 2011-2015.

Both Casazza and Paul Anderson had extremely positive things to say about the program, Wehr said.

"Paul Anderson knows Monmouth like the back of his hand, and he would never do me wrong," Wehr said. "I really trust him, I believe in him. That was a huge thing for me."

Wehr’s relationship with Nelson was also huge. In a year where it was hard to get a feel for anything about a program beyond what a coach’s office looked like on a Zoom call, Monmouth never let Wehr forget that he was wanted.

"Coach Nelson and Monmouth, they stood true to me, they believed it me," Wehr said. "I couldn’t appreciate that more. I don’t know if that would have been the same if it was a normal year. I don’t know If I would change it, if I’m being completely honest."

Wehr continued: "You kind of have to sift through and really understand the coaches, really like the coaches, figure out their personalities, and figure out what type of team environment they have going on. I think that was a little challenging, only because of this year. I think if I was able to do the official visits and meet the team, sleep at the campus for the night like the prior years had, then that would have been a little bit easier for me. But, I appreciate the experience that I had, and am ready to be a Hawk."