Doble crushes mentor, DeWaal’s longstanding record

GREEN BAY – For more than three decades, Danielle DeWaal’s name sat atop the Parkview Middle School record book.

The longtime teacher and coach held the school’s girls long jump records dating back to 1990, marks that survived generations of student athletes, coaching changes and even DeWaal’s own move away from the community.

That finally changed.

During Parkview’s final track and field meet of the season, seventh-grader Bella Doble soared 16 feet, 1 inch in the long jump, shattering DeWaal’s long-standing mark of 14 feet, 9 inches, a record that had stood since 1990.

For DeWaal, however, the moment was never about losing a record. Instead, it was about witnessing something bigger.

“I was more excited for her in that moment than I ever was in any of my own personal sports endeavors,” DeWaal said. “I was kind of shaking and super excited for her.”

The accomplishment capped off a remarkable season for Doble, who broke three school records and emerged as one of Parkview’s top athletes.

But it was the long jump record that carried special significance.

“The long jump one was significant because it was so old,” DeWaal said. “She was only jumping around 14 feet or lower earlier in the season, and then she busted out this 16-foot jump at the meet. That one’s going to stand for a very long time.”

Doble’s success was years in the making as track and field runs deep in her family.

Both of her parents competed collegiately, and her father now serves as the head track and field coach at Ashwaubenon High School.

Her mother coaches long jump at the high school level and spent extra time helping Bella refine her technique throughout the season.

Adding another layer to the story, Doble competed in her mother’s old collegiate spikes during the meet.

“She would tell me she was wearing her mom’s college spikes,” DeWaal said. “It was kind of a fun thing to watch and be a part of that family tradition.”

While Doble’s running events showcased her natural athletic ability, DeWaal believes the long jump breakthrough came from patience, confidence and technical growth.

“A lot of what I saw was mental with the long jump,” she said. “The running is all Bella — that’s her talent. The jumping is more technique, and it can become a mental block if your steps are off.”

When the moment finally arrived, everything clicked.

“There were a couple pieces of the puzzle that lined up for her that day,” DeWaal said. “It was the perfect storm, and it happened.”

Perhaps what makes the story most meaningful is the connection between athlete and coach.

DeWaal spent years teaching and coaching in California and Colorado before returning to the Ashwaubenon area.

A former UW-Milwaukee swimmer and longtime physical education teacher, athletics have been a central part of her life for more than two decades.

When she returned to coach at Parkview, the fact that her records still stood became a lighthearted source of “street cred” with her athletes.

“It was kind of humorous that they still held,” DeWaal said. “It was a quick bridge between my coaching and my background.”

Now, that chapter has come full circle.

Rather than feeling sentimental about the record falling, DeWaal sees it as a passing of the torch.

“I feel like it’s closure (for me) and a beginning for her,” she said. “I’d rather celebrate other people’s victories than my own. I think that’s why it was so meaningful. She really wanted to get that record, and it was really a goal of hers.”

The experience also reminded DeWaal of the mentors who helped shape her own career.

She specifically thought of former teacher and coach Al Vandenberg, who inspired her to become both a physical education teacher and coach.

“He was the reason why I became a PE teacher and a coach,” DeWaal said. “That’s what I felt out of this as well — gearing up for the younger generation to take it on and take it over.”

For DeWaal, the record itself was never the point.

Instead, it was witnessing a hardworking seventh grader achieve a goal she had worked toward all season, while carrying on a family tradition and creating a memory that will last far longer than any mark in a record book.

“It felt like one of those rare full-circle sports moments that speaks to mentorship, tradition, family and the excitement of middle school athletics,” DeWaal said.

And after 35 years, DeWaal couldn’t have been happier to see her name replaced.