ORONO, Maine -- For anyone who knew Jesse Labreck when she was in the fifth grade, predicting that she would become one of the most successful track and field athletes in University of Maine history and a television star as well would have been inconceivable.

She was too nervous to play team sports, says Labreck, and so was encouraged to go out for track by her science teacher, who was also the track coach and taught the pole vault to boot.

At first, Labreck tried the pole vault but didn't stick with it because, she says, "I wasn't big enough to bend the pole."

Nevertheless, by the time she was in high school at Messalonskee in Oakland, Maine, and then at UMaine, she was going up over bars and hurdles and jumping for distance and running in relays, taking on and succeeding in as many events as possible, including the events composed of multiple events, the pentathlon and heptathlon.

There were early clues that she wasn't someone easily daunted, and that post-college she would keep competing, becoming a star of "American Ninja Warrior," conquering the popular TV show's formidable obstacle courses.

"I was constantly in trouble up the trees around my house," she says. "My dad was not happy."

The height of her track career for UMaine came in the 2010 America East outdoor championships in which, as a sophomore, she won five events, of six she entered, and won the Coaches Award for the most points scored in the meet.

"It was a David versus Goliath sort of thing," says Dave Cusano, her coach then, and now the head track coach at Colby College. "Watching that was humbling — the beauty, the poetic excellence.

"What she accomplished is a testament to her overall athleticism," says Cusano. "She could be the greatest athlete ever at the University of Maine.

"I realize that's quite a statement," Cusano admits, "but she's certainly in the discussion."

As evidence Cusano could cite the four individual UMaine indoor records and four individual outdoor records that she set as well as the three outdoor relay records she shared in, all of which still stand. Indoors, the records are in the 55- (7.82 seconds) and 60-meter hurdles (8.39), high jump (5 feet, 10 inches) and pentathlon (3,979 points). Outdoors, the individual marks are in the 100-meter hurdles (13.45), high jump (5-11 1/2 inches), triple jump (41-1/4 inch) and heptathlon (5,551 points). The relay records are in the 4x100 meters (46.65 seconds), 4x200 (1 minute, 37.09 seconds) and 4x400 (3:41.22).

As further evidence, Labreck was twice named most outstanding field performer in the America East indoor meet, and likewise twice won the Coaches Award for most points scored in the conference outdoor meet. Those awards reflected her total dominance in winning 12 individual titles, ranging from three in the long jump, two each in the high jump and triple jump, two in the 100-meter hurdles, to single titles in the 60-meter hurdles, the pentathlon and heptathlon, plus finishing first in 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

And currently, harking back to those days high up in the trees, she's at home on the Ninja obstacle courses, having reached the finals of the individual competition for a third straight year and having captained the winning team in a spinoff, "Ninja vs. Ninja".

Back on the ground, in high school, she showed wide-ranging promise, starting out with the 400 and the long and high jumps, and by the end also competing in the 100 and 300 hurdles, the high jump, triple jump, relays and the pentathlon.

She was being watched by Syracuse, the University of Massachusetts and Boston University, as well as UMaine, but when Cusano came to see her, she liked him and "knew where I wanted to go," says Labreck.

As Cusano recalls, "The biggest thing recruiting her and watching her compete was how talented she was. She is a star, one of the finest athletes the state has ever produced."

The University of Maine Sports Hall of Fame will induct a 10-member class to the 195-member hall at a ceremony held on Friday, Oct. 5 at the Black Bear Inn and Conference Center. For a full list of this year's inductees, please click HERE.

-UMaine-