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HOMETOWN:Oconomowoc WI
BIRTH DATE: July 30, 1975
DIVISION: Central
CLUB/TEAM: Oconomowoc Ski Club
HEIGHT: 5' 5"
WEIGHT: 113 lbs
PERSONAL RECORD: 127 meters
CAREER: Interior Designer, Keck Design Studio
Karla's Career Highlights ... 1992 - present
- 2005- Top Central Division Woman Ski Jumper
- 2005- 3rd Place Women's Continental Cup Team Event
- 2004- Top Central Division Woman Ski Jumper
- 2003- US Women's Team Event 1st Place
- 2003- 3rd place US Women's Team Tryouts Lake Placid, NY K90
- 2002- Only year in 25 year career that I did not ski during the winter while I was in school in California, I jumped on Plastic that fall)
- 2001- 2nd Place Meinerzhagen Germany Women's Summer Tour
- 2000- 2nd and 3rd Place Meinerzhagen Germany Women's Summer Tour
- 1999- Women's World Champion, Ramsau, Austria K90
- 1999- Second Place overall F.I.S. Ladies Tour
- 1999- 1st Place Baiersbronn, Germany F.I. S. Ladies Tour
- 1998- Official Forejumper along with Eva Ganster at Men's World Cup Four Hills Tourney
- 1998- Invited by Sweden to compete against the men in 5 Continental Cups in Sweden, and forejump the Men's World Cup in Falun Sweden
- 1998- Placed 4th at "unofficial" First Women's World Championship
- 1997- Official forejumper along with Eva Ganster at Garmisch, Germany, Innsbruck Austria, and Bischofshofen, Austria for the Men's World Cup Four Hills Tourney.
- 1997- Won the 1st Women's US National Championship at Westby K60
- 1997- Lindsey Van and Karla Keck became 1st two Females to jump Westby, WI K120
- 1997- Official Forejumper on K90 and K120 Trondheim, Norway Men's World Championship
- 1997- Summer Women's Tour Ornskoldsvik, Sweden (1st Place), Vuokati, Finland (3rd Place), Stams, Austria (2nd Place), Predazzo, Italy (2nd Place) Second Overall for
- 1996- Invited By Norwegian Coach to train in Oslo with Kollenhopp Team
- 1996- Jumped in Men's Class in Norway Cups throughout Norway
- 1996- Official Forejumper on K90 and K120 Thunder Bay Canada Men's World Cup
- 1996 - Rumford Maine International Women's Championship Silver and Bronze Medalist
- 1995-Invited by Austria to be on the US Team for the World Team Masters Competition held in Battery Park, New York City, in front of the World Trade Center. Our Team won 1st Place.
- 1995 - Gold and Silver Medal at Women's World Championship Exhibition Thunder Bay, Canada
- 1995- 1st and 2nd Places Rovaniemi, Finland First International Women's Series Women's Series
- 1995- Went to Sweden for First snow training at Gallivare Sweden with Top Canadian Female Jumper Allison Carroll, trained with all of Men's World Cup Teams
- 1995- 2nd Place Rovaneimi, Finland Women's International Class
- 1994- 1st Female to try out for the Men's USA Olympic Team
- 1994- 1995 USOEC, United States Olympic Education Center, at Northern Michigan University; 1st female Ski jumper to qualify against the boys for a spot on this EliteTeam at NMU
- 1992- Invited by the Austrians to be part of an experiment to see if Women were trained with the boys, if we could compete against them.
- 1992-93 - Eva Ganster and Karla Keck 1st two Women allowed into Austria's Internatsschule fur SchiSportler at Stams, Austria
- 1992-93- Eva Ganster and Karla Keck 1st Women to compete against Men in Austrian Cups and Alpen Cups
- 1992- Top Central Junior Jumper Overall at the junior Olympics (Men's Class)
- 1992- Central J2 Junior Champion (Men's Class)
- 1992- 1st Place Central Division (J2) Junior Olympic Tryouts
- 1992- Cynthia Kelmenson and Karla Keck were 1st two girls to ever compete at US National Championships, Brattleboro, VT K90M
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Karla's Autobiography - story of a ski jumper:
A pioneer in women's ski jumping, I have been competing for 25 years in this male dominated sport. I began by competing and qualifying against the boys for spots on the Men's Junior Olympic Teams in 1990. I won the 1991 Central Division J2 tryouts, beating all but one of the J1 boys. My top Junior Olympic finish was 7th, all 6 of the boys who beat me were later named to the US Ski Team. By then, I was one of Central's Top junior jumpers. I had always thought that the girls could jump with the boys, until I realized that despite my results, I never qualified for any teams, and that I had hit a roadblock because there was no place for the Women to go in the sport. I made it my mission to help lay a foundation for women's Ski jumping, and open up the opportunity for Women to compete in this great sport of ski jumping and give them a goal, an achievable dream to compete at the highest levels that the sport offers. There still is no Olympic event for women, and the highest level of competition available for female jumpers is the Ladies Continental Cup Series. A lot more needs to happen to make sure that this dream becomes a reality and that the women are allowed to compete in the next Winter Olympics in 2010. In 1992, Eva Ganster (Austria) and I were invited to forejump at the Men's World Cup Four Hills Tournaments in Garmisch, Innsbruck, and Bischofshofen. We competed in Men's Continental Cups throughout Europe and the US. and also against the men in Alpen Cups, and Austrian Cups. I represented Kitzbuhel Ski Club. We generated a lot of press and made it known to the international ski jumping World that Women COULD jump ... and WERE jumping! It became my mission to blaze a trail for women's ski jumping. My goal was to make sure that people became aware of this sport for women and to represent the US at all of the preliminary Women's Events. There was no funding, so it was all on my own dime, but I felt strongly about its importance for the future of the sport. I made all of my own arrangements and some of the coaching arrangements for some Swedish and Finnish Women Jumpers as well as some of the US girls who joined up with the tour for some of these preliminary events. Work, yes. Worth it? YES! By 1998 there was a Women's circuit in Austria and Germany (which has now evolved into the F.I.S. Ladies' Continental Cup Series). Larry Stone was Team USA coach and a huge supporter and pioneer coach of women's Ski jumping. Larry brought the US women to this tour and since I was already in Scandinavia, I would meet up with them in Europe. I remained one of the top jumpers on this tour until 2002 when, discouraged that we still did not have an event at the Olympics for Women, I returned to the US to attend school. I am still competing and training and am setting my sights on 2010 Olympics. Here are a few of my favorite things!
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