State Track & Field Meet - Day 3, AAA Girls Pole Vault recap
This Wednesday on the track is opened to host the sixteen qualifiers in the AAA girl's pole vault. Nobody else competes on this day, so the place was all for them! With 16 qualifiers, the range of girls vaulting was certainly wide spread. Having the girls AAA on Wednesday is basically a logistics decision. Having 16 girls vaulting does take some time. We started at 2pm and finished by about 4:20pm. But when you can see girls vaulting eleven and twelve feet, well, being out there for the afternoon is just a blast!
Taylor Picket came in with the best overall seed but had a few trouble and ended up in 3rd with a vault of 10-6. That was still a great vault and goes to prove how finicky this event can be. The technical characteristics of this event are overwhelming at times. Everything has to come together just, and to steal a term - absolutely positively - perfect! You can't blow through the pit. The angle of attack and angle of carry has to be perfect. Drive knee in the right position. Grip height changes, but has to be just right. Grip width precise during the approach run. No late plant. Can't over stride. Even lowering the pole has to be done with precision. And of course, stride length and frequency can be a coach's nightmare when it's inconsistent. But when all of this comes together, when the technique is flawless, and the athlete realizes their abilities to soar... it's that term I heard when I vaulted a very long time ago... B2B... beginner to Bubka!
Well, this is the state meet so we don't really see beginners at this stage of the game. We do have a freshman in the mix, with Brittany Bishop of Anderson County. Brittany came in strong and ended up in the fourth place spot with a 10-6 vault. She made her 10-0 jump on the first try and the 10-6 but couldn't get that elusive 11' mark. But there's a lot to say about a freshman gaining the experience of the pressure of competing in the state track meet. My guess is we'll be seeing a lot of Brittany over the next several years.
Maddie Coulthard of Clevelend came in with a best vault of about 10-3 she set earlier in April. And that mark was about a 8 inches over her 2015 PR of 9-6. And of course, so much better than her 2014 best of 7-6. That year to year progression had to make you think that once she made the state meet, what would that experience do for her... it did a lot as she vaulted at the 9' mark with ease, then six more with ease and again at 10' with ease... then 10-6 and 11'. It wasn't until she got to the 11-6 mark that she struggled a bit... so she ended up with a great PR of 11-0. And considering its set at the state championships, hey, that's what you like to see for sure!
The athletes medaling in the meet, the top eight, vaulted from 9-6 to 12-0 and put on a great vaulting show this afternoon. They had the MTSU track all for themselves. And they did what you expect, put on a great vaulting show and those that watched were all impressed, including myself! Yes, I know, for all you vaulting aficionados, today's AAA girls pretty much was the Track AND Field meet for State... but as you know, tomorrow the rest of the girls are out there starting their competition and so come out and watch as we see the best in the state compete!
See you on the track,
Coach Ted
#CoachTed57 #TNMileSplit