2010 Inductee Amber Bollinger, 2000
To this day, Bellevue’s Amber Bollinger still holds many high school and college track and field records, after a stellar career that saw her graduate from Bellevue Senior High School in 2000 and from the University of Cincinnati four years later.
Amber earned a total of seven varsity letters, four in track and field and three in volleyball.
In the sport of volleyball, Bollinger was Division II District 6 honorable mention and second team All-Northern Ohio League as a junior. In 1999 as a senior, Amber was once again second team All-NOL, was team captain, and earned Division II District 6 second team honors.
Amber was nearly unstoppable as a track and field athlete. As a freshman, she placed first at the NOL Meet in the high jump, was a member of the first place 1600-meter relay team, and finished third in the 200-meter dash. She was also a member Division II Northwest District 1600-meter relay championship team and qualified to the State Meet in the high jump.
As a sophomore, Amber again took first place in the high jump at the NOL Meet, was second in the 400-meter dash, third in the 800-meter run, and third in the 800-meter relay. She won the high jump at both the district and regional meets, and was runner-up as a sophomore at the State Meet.
During her junior year, Amber again took first at the NOL Meet in the high jump, second in the 400, and was honorable mention All-NOL as part of the 1600-meter relay team. She also won the district high jump event.
Then, as a senior, Amber completed the cycle by winning the NOL high jump for the fourth consecutive year. She also placed first at the NOL Meet in the 300-meter hurdles, and was district and regional champ in both the high jump and 300 hurdles. She then went on to claim a state championship for the Lady Redmen in the high jump, and finished fourth at state in the hurdles. She was also team MVP and captain that same season.
Her state championship in 2000 was at 5-feet, 9-inches, a school record that still stands today. That mark of 5-9 was also an NOL record (still stands today) and her time of 45.44 in the 300-meter hurdles is a school record that still stands today. She became the first-ever Bellevue female athlete to win a state individual title, and that mark of 5-9 was listed as the fifth-best jump in the nation in 2000 by a female athlete.
She currently holds seven track and field meet records in Bellevue, Huron, the NOL Meet, and Lexington (regional meet). She was second in scoring for the team her freshmen year, and first the other three years. She scored 900 career points in her four seasons, was an 8-time Edison Invite champ, 7-time Bellevue Invite champ, won the NOL high jump four straight years, and was All-NOL a total of 12 times.
At UC, she won the Bearcat Classic Invite high jump title as a freshman and was fourth at the Conference USA Meet, finished 10th at the conference meet in the heptathlon, and was voted Top Freshman for the Lady Bearcats.
Her sophomore year, she placed eighth at the conference meet in the high jump and 14th overall in the javelin throw. Her junior season, she was third in the high jump and eighth in the javelin. Her throw of 128-feet, 3-inches was a school record, a mark that held up until 2007.
She graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2004 with a degree in Electronic Media. She is currently an actress living in Los Angeles and has acted in several television commercials and print advertising campaigns. She is currently filming a pilot for a television series.