Paige Rittelmann clears the high-jump bar during her stellar Butler career. She will attend Duquesne University next year.

BUTLER TWP — To Paige Rittelmann, there are worse ways to wrap up a track and field career.

Rittelmann, a senior at Butler, finished in a sixth-place tie at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University last week in the high jump by clearing the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches.

It was a bittersweet end to what was a more-than-fulfilling four years with the Golden Tornado.

“(It was) a little (disappointing) because I did better last year, and I know I can jump higher,” said Rittelmann, who finished fourth at the state meet as a junior. “But placing at states isn’t terrible if you ask me.”

Rittelmann had more than a passing acquaintance with championship meets.

It was a yearly rite of passage for Rittelmann to make the journey to Shippensburg, where the outdoor state championships are held, or to State College, were the indoor competition is usually staged.

Rittelmann made it to the state meet all four years in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

She came home from those meets with three indoor medals (a third and two fourths) and two outdoor medals (a fourth and a sixth).

Not bad for a girl who drastically changed her approach to the event late in her junior season.

Rittelmann quickly made a name for herself as a frehsman, winning the WPIAL title in the high jump.

But she struggled to improve until she altered the number of steps she took on her approach from eight to 12 on the advice of her coaches.

The change allowed her to clear 5 1/2 feet to set the school record and vaulted her to three medals in the indoor and outdoor seasons.

“All of my coaches — Rod Harris, Rick Zitalone, Annessa Steele, Evan Long and John Williams — have been amazing,” Rittelmann said. “They care so much about the team and they really push us to do our best every day.”

As a freshman, Rittelmann said Mason McLaughlin had a huge impact on her.

McLaughlin, who graduated in 2009 and is now a member of the track and field team at Slippery Rock University, went out of his way to help Rittelmann, she said.

“He was an upperclassman at the time I was on the team, so, of course, I looked up to him,” she said. “And he always pushed me to do my best in every meet and to work hard in the weight room and just really made a lot of the younger kids feel like they belonged on the team.”

That made Rittelmann’s decision to attend Duquesne, not SRU, all the more difficult.

Ultimately, the Dukes won her over.

“I loved the campus, the (Division I) track team and the entire feel of the school,” Rittelmann said. “Plus, they have my major, which is athletic training.”

Rittelmann’s goals at Duquesne are much like the ones she set for herself at Butler.

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to raise the height in the next few years,” Rittelmann said. “And win some big meets.”