Stick Jumping

 A lot of people may be questioning why I trust a stick to launch me into the air just to clear another one, and that's just the hidden beauty of pole vault! Before I get into why I chose this rather out of the ordinary event, you may be wondering, what is pole vault? In simple terms, it’s just trusting a stick to propel me over a bar. However, the event of pole vault is much more complex and technical than just that. Pole vault in the sport of track and field is categorized as a field event in which athletes run down a runway using a fiberglass, flexible pole, to propel themselves over a horizontal bar that varies in height. 

Ever since I was young, I have lived for an adrenaline rush. I always said, “the taller, the faster, the better,” as nothing seemed to scare me. I grew up playing every sport under the sun, track and field being one of them. I can remember when I was around five years old, my parents signed me up for a youth running team. I would show up to practice and be told to run my heart out and that’s exactly what I did. Throughout elementary school, there wasn’t an option to run track until I hit middle school. I had thought that in the sport of track, you could only run. When I got to middle school, those opportunities of events I could choose from slowly opened a door for me. At the time, I had no idea what pole vault was but after seeing older kids do it, I was all about it. It seemed like the perfect field event for me to try out! With anything new, it takes time and dedication to get better. My success in pole vault was not overnight and took years to develop. During middle school, competition in pole vault was just me having fun and doing something not everyone can say they do. I suppose younger me was good at it since I won conference after just one year in the event. In high school, my love and passion for pole vault continued. Freshman and sophomore year were rather challenging, trying to progress and not hit a plateau because of injuries. When I switched to a division one high school my junior year, that’s when my pole vault career blossomed. 

I ended up increasing my personal record by over a foot and a half in just the span of one outdoor season. I began to win meets and conference titles. My senior year was by far my best. I was able to compete in an indoor season, making it to state and nationals for the first time. Once it got to the outdoor season, I was vaulting twelve feet and winning nearly every meet I competed in. I set meet records, won league, won districts, qualified for state, and nationals all over again as I did in the indoor season. 

Since committing and starting my freshman year here at Ohio Northern, I have spent the last six months practicing and working to become better at my event. While pole vault isn't the only event I compete in at ONU, it's one that never fails to give me a rush of adrenaline.