The Impressive Journey of Cal High Jumper and Law School Student, Grace Reinhardt
As a writer, sometimes you come across stories that just have to be written. In this case, it’s a story of worlds colliding combined with amazing accomplishment.
A branch of my father’s family arrived in America just a decade after the Mayflower in the 1630s and eventually made their way to the little town of Ottawa, Illinois sometime in the 1800s and many family members still remain there today. I’ve visited the bucolic midwestern town many times over the years and spent many days there.
My father was an accomplished running back and track athlete at Ottawa Township High School, earning a track scholarship at the University of Illinois in 1953. And now, more than 70 years later, a rising star in the world named Grace Reinhardt made her way from the track at Ottawa, Illinois to the University of California Berkeley - my alma mater - with some important stops in between.
“When I was in grade school at Wallace in 7th grade, they had a track team,” Reinhardt said.
“I remember they lined us up behind the high jump pit and let us all go and I had my little attempt and they said, ‘Okay, you do high jump.’
“I was very short, actually. I grew in high school eight inches my freshman year (to her current 5’8"). And ever since, 10,15 years later, I’m still here jumping.
“My sophomore year, I downloaded a recruiting app and within a couple weeks, West Point had viewed my profile and I sent them a completed survey and the very first day of junior year eligibility when a recruiter can contact you, they called me and called me every week after that. My family was very excited for me but with no military connections in the family, it was definitely kind of foreign for us all.”
After competing in the Illinois state track meet and considering competing for the University of North Carolina and the University of Miami, the high school valedictorian’s official visit with her mother to West Point sealed the deal for her, where she not only jumped but added to her track and field resume after arriving.
“Initially, I thought I was just going to jump for West Point but the day before boot camp, they told me they had plans for me in the heptathalon because I was a high jumper and 800 runner and I did that my whole freshman year, but after that, I decided to focus on the high jump."
The environment at West Point was ar from your typical college experience.
“West Point is like 24/7 military,” Grace said. “You just happen to go to class (and her in case, compete in track and field). It’s very regimented, but I loved it. My best friends in the world I met there. I felt like I was doing a lot more there than I would’ve at another school and the opportunities were crazy. Now I’m here because of West Point.”
After graduating from the prestigious military academy with a major in Law, the Cal student athlete served in Okinawa, Japan, where the seeds of her legal career were further sewn.
"It was hard," she said of her time serving in Japan. "I was there as part of a Patriot battery. The only army really present in Okinawa is our four Patriot batteries. They're like the same size as a company, which is supposed to be 60 personnel but we were usually very short of that.
“A Patriot missile system is like an anti-aircraft missile system to surveil the airspace. It's really busy out there. It was a hard experience because we were so short of personnel and resources and it was very long hours, because I was the platoon leader. I had to be there because if our equipment breaks, we don't go home. So it was very long hours. But I'm thankful now for that experience, because law school almost feels like vacation relative to what I was doing and it gave me good perspective."
While in Okinawa, Grace applied for the JAG program at the earliest possible moment she was eligible.
“You graduate as a second lieutenant, but currently I’m a first lieutenant, and I'm still active duty, so I'm still in the army,” Grace noted. “When I was in Okinawa, I applied for what's called the Funded Legal Education program, and it was actually part of the reason I decided to go to West Point when I was in high school, because I knew I wanted to go to law school.
“There was a man from Ottawa, Colonel Robert Doherty, and when I was in high school, he wrote an article in the Ottawa Times newspaper about me getting recruited at West Point. He had been an instructor at West Point for like 12 years at that point. He taught a bunch of different languages there and he had his family get my number. He called me and after I committed to West Point, he basically served as my mentor up until he passed away while I was at school. And he told me about potentially becoming a JAG and going to law school. He was also a JAG. So I was aware that I could do that upon completion of West Point. So when I was in Okinawa, I applied at the earliest possible date that was opened up to officers because you have to have had by the time you get in law school, two years of service."
Grace was eventually accepted into the prestigious JAG program, which paved the way for her acceptance into the equally prestigious Berkeley Law program.
"I didn't think I would get in," she said. "Basically, I thought, 'I'll apply now, because they don't typically select younger officers.’ Second lieutenant is the lowest rank (junior officer), and I was one of four officers in the last like 10 years that was a second lieutenant who got selected because they usually like more senior officers.”
After getting accepted to law school at Cal, Grace was invited to compete in the high jump there as well. She's not eligible to compete this season as an official member of the program but will be in subsequent seasons.
“I’ve been competing here unattached so I could get back into it,” Grace said. “I work with the Cal coaches and compete in their matches.”
In her very first meet at Cal in front of family and friends, Grace finished 2nd with a jump of 5’7", which would be good for the 11th best height in the last quarter century if she were competing for the school officially.
“My mom, my dad, my fiancé Isaac and his parents all came to see me so that was fun,” she said. “I was very pleasantly surprised with how I jumped after all the time away from competing.”
What’s next after her track and field and law school career are over at Cal in coming years?
"After I graduate, I’ll go to training at the University of Virginia at JAG school there," Grace said, "And then after JAG school, they'll post me as a JAG officer somewhere else. So I'll basically re-enter active duty as a JAG officer. My hope would be to be overseas again, but honestly, I'm getting married this summer so we'll have to see how that all works out. He's in Tokyo right now but he's moving back to the States this summer.
"I'm really excited to serve as a JAG. What I do at the end of the day is based on the needs of the army, though I can state my preferences. And then beyond the army, I'm super interested in plaintiff side civil litigation.
"I'm just really excited to have the opportunity to practice law. I've always wanted to go to law school since like eighth grade so the fact that I'm actually here now, I feel very blessed.”
The future is bright indeed for the new Golden Bear and future Berkeley Law grad and very accomplished Ottawan student athlete.