Karol Damon (2023) - CU Athletic Hall of Fame - University of Colorado Athletics

Karol Damon

Induction:
2023
Class:
1992

A four-time All-American at CU in the high jump (twice indoors, twice outdoors), earning four letters from 1989 through 1992 … Still holds the CU records for the high jump: Indoors (6 feet, 2 inches) that she set at the 1991 NCAA Championships (good for a third place finish) and Outdoors (6-3, at the University of New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque) … Still owns the top seven and 10 of the top 11 outdoor bests and the top five and eight of the top 10 indoor jumps in CU history … The 1990 Big Eight Conference outdoor champion (second indoors) and finished third in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, earning the No. 9 amateur ranking in the United States as a collegian … Had seven top three finishes in the Big 8 indoor and outdoor meets (and one fourth) … Member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team that competed in Sydney, Australia; she did not advance to the finals but cleared 1.89 meters (6 feet, 2¼ inches) in the preliminaries (the top effort by an American) as she was the top ranked female high jumper in the United States that year (Track & Field News) … Qualified for the Olympic team by jumping her personal best at the time (1.93m/6-4) in the Olympic Trials, the top jump of all the competitors … Her eventual PR of 1.97 (6-5½) came in 2003 in Palo Alto … She finished eighth in the high jump in the 1994 IAAF World Cup in London (1.80 meters) … She also was on the U.S. teams that competed in the 1999 World Championships … Finished second in the 2001 U.S. Indoors with a jump of 1.92 (6-3½) and placed third in the Millrose Games (1.89m/6-2¼) … Just missed qualifying for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, as she finished fourth in the Olympic Trials with her personal best at the time of 6-3½ (was seventh in the trials after graduating from CU in ’92) … Overall, she posted numerous top five finishes in both the USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships and was ranked in the top 10 in the U.S. for a decade … Born Dec. 20, 1969 on Bergstrom AFB in Texas (near Austin), she graduated from CU with her degree in Kinesiology in 1992 … She received her Master’s degree in Exercise Science from UT-Chattanooga in 1998, where she was an assistant coach for three years … Married Cliff Rovelto, the head track and field coach at Kansas State, in 2002 … She recently completed her 20th year on the K-State track and field staff as its director of operations and currently is also one of their assistant coaches … As a coach, she has assisted with four separate athletes who competed in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.