With schools around the state being closed for the remainder of the school year, Camp Verde junior Noah Zimmerman won’t get a chance to return to the track and field state championship meet. That’s unfortunate for Zimmerman. But his prowess in sports extends beyond track and field.
Zimmerman has tried his hand in other sports for the Cowboys. He’s played soccer in the past and plans on playing football as a senior. Zimmerman is also a juggler. While he’s never done competitive gymnastics,
he’s taught himself parts of the sport, like acrobatics and doing flips.
The jack-of-all trades nature of Zimmerman comes from seeing other things done and not simply being content to sit by and watch.
“When I see something and I like it, I want to do it,” Zimmerman said. “It’s the drive of seeing something
great. I’m the kind of person who wants to do great things.”
One of the great things that Zimmerman hoped to do before the track and field season ended was break Camp Verde’s school record in the triple jump. He got off on the right foot this year. In his first jump of the Cowboys’ first practicemeet of the season, Zimmerman leapt 41 feet, six inches, topping his previous personal best by a foot-and-a-half.
The outbreak of COVID-19 and cancellation of the school year and spring sports season kept him from having a realistic chance at breaking the school record. Fortunately, he’ll have a chance to do so again as a senior.
Additionally, during the hiatus but before the season was canceled, Zimmerman was doing everything he could to stay in shape and to help the rest of his team do the same.
“We’ve been jump roping and doing short sprints — in small groups we’ve gone on three or four hikes to mix it up,” Zimmerman said. “We’re trying to do something to stay active to not let our muscles drop everything we’ve been working on.”
“When I look around, I have a lot of teammates,” he added. “The best of them are working hard. We haven’t dropped our work ethic even in this craziness. People are still involved and trying their best even in the crazy times to keep up and work hard. You see it a lot around here, not to lose hope.”
When Zimmerman completes high school, he plans to attend college. The hope is that he’ll be able to continue track and field beyond high school, but Zimmerman noted that he’s prepared to focus solely on academics if that opportunity doesn’t present itself. Following school, he hopes to pursue a career in graphic design or coding.
Zimmerman is also sure that he’ll be fully invested wherever he goes and whatever he does.
“I’m going to be a hard worker whether it’s working at Ace Hardware, wherever I work in the future or in the sport,” he said. “I’m just going for the long run. I’m always working hard on something.
A project. A skill, a sport — something.”
