Bad rap or not, Belle Plaine jumper gets up

Clair Stier graduated from Belle Plaine this past spring after tying for fourth place in the high jump competition at the Class 1A girls' track and field state meet at Hamline University in St. Paul.

Stier, who will be competing at South Dakota State, high jumped 5 feet, 3 inches at the state meet. She plans on majoring in pre-law with minors in criminal justice and Spanish.

Here is a closer look at Stier:

The best movie I've seen in the last year? "The Change-Up."

Three songs I never skip on my iPod are ... "Baggage Claim" by Miranda Lambert, "Heart Of A Champion" by Nelly, "Boyfriend" by Justin Bieber.

Three words or phrases my friends or teammates might use to describe me? Determined, leader, energetic.

What was your most memorable moment as a high school athlete? This track season when our team won the true team section meet for the first time ever and got to go to state as a team.

What is your favorite meal prior to a meet? PB&J (peanut butter and jelly), cheesy popcorn and Go-Gurt.

At my first varsity practice, I felt ... intimidated. I was one of the younger girls, so I was afraid the team wouldn't accept me, but they did.

To get focused for a meet, I ... give a pep talk to my team to help calm my own nerves, listen to my iPod, and picture myself doing my event to make sure I'm prepared.

I know I have an edge on an opponent when ... I tell the high jump official what height I would like to come in at. Usually the girls around just look at me like I'm going to eat them.

How did you balance school and sports during the year? I made sure that I used my given class time to get started on my homework, so I didn't have to stress out after meets.

Who is your favorite college or pro sports team and why? The Twins. I love going to games, especially when they are having a good season.

What are you looking forward to most in college? Being away from home and having new experiences and making new friends.

In 10 years, I hope I'm ... done with law school and working as a district attorney, and hopefully helping coach a track team.

Do you have a secret talent -- and if so, what is it? I like to think I can rap, but my teammates would beg to differ.

What is the best sports advice you ever received? "Be a sprinter" --Coach [Josh] Otto. Up until he drilled this into my head, I would just run and not sprint. Once I started actually sprinting, I became better at some of my events.