Renee Finke’s track career is not over yet.

The former Montgomery County standout will have one more year of college track. This time, she has to compete at a school that is over 600 miles away from home.

Finke will continue her track career at Southern Methodist University – or SMU – in Dallas, Texas. She will compete for a school that participates in the NCAA Division I level and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Finke said SMU recruiting coordinator/assistant coach Austin Brobst contacted her over the winter to see if she wanted to compete with the Mustangs for the 2025-2026 season.

“He reached out to me in about January,” Finke said. “Then, I got to see SMU and go down and visit March time. It was gorgeous. I’m excited because I never thought I would get a fifth year like all of those COVID athletes. I’m fortunate enough to get the opportunity to run for another year.”

Finke wrapped up a four-year outstanding track career at Central Methodist University in Fayette that included a national title in the high jump in 2024.
The 2021 MCHS graduate said Brobst and the SMU coaching staff found out about her through CMU head coach Kenny Anderson.

“Once he (Brobst) reached out to me prior to him reaching out, I didn’t know much about SMU,” Finke said. “I have never been to Dallas. I wasn’t familiar with the school, but from there, he contacted me and he got a hold of me and I went down for a visit. Everything has been smooth sailing since.”

SMU has eight national champions, 15 All-American athletes and three team conference championships in its history.  The Mustangs completed their first season in the ACC this year after competing in the American Athletic Conference the last 10 years. They are coached by ‘A Havahla Haynes.

Finke, who is from Jonesburg, said she’s looking forward to heading to a city that has 1.3 million people and is part of the Metroplex metropolitan area that has 7.5 million people.

“I’m excited for the change, going from a small town to a big city,” Finke said.

Finke earned seven all-American awards during her career at CMU.
Three months ago, she received all-American notice in the high jump and pentathlon after finishing seventh and third, respectively, at the NAIA Indoor Nationals in Gainesville, Fla. When she won the national title in the high jump last spring, she became the school’s first national champion since 2004.

This season, Finke had to deal with an injury to her right patellar tendon she suffered during indoor season.

“As soon as I came back from Christmas break, that first meet back was at Mizzou and I tore it,” Finke said. “I competed on it for a good two months before I decided to take action and heal it. Since then, I’ve been doing physical therapy and getting back into training.”

Finke qualified for the NAIA Outdoor Nationals in the high jump after placing first in the event in 1.68 meters at the Miner Invitational at Missouri S&T in March. She jumped a school-record 1.77 meters in last year’s outdoor nationals. When she was a sophomore, she finished fifth in the high jump in nationals.

In her junior year, Finke finished second in the pentathlon and sixth in the high jump at indoor nationals.

Before joining the CMU program, Finke was coming off an outstanding high school track career at MCHS that included two state titles in the high jump, including one in her senior year.

Finke said she enjoyed her time at the Fayette school.

“Over the years of being at CMU, it wasn’t just the athletic side that has caught me and given me a lot, but it was also the academic side of things,” she said. “Quite frankly, I’ve never met such brilliant, enthusiastic, caring and loving faculty members. We had that in Montgomery as well, but going to CMU and being in the program that I was in, all of the faculty members were nothing short of phenomenal.”

Finke graduated from CMU in May. She will work on her Master’s degree in management at SMU.

“It’s a one-year intensive program,” Finke said. “It’s kind of crazy. Most programs are two or three years, but I’m lucky to get one.”