In Her Own Words: Sarah Bell

So I arrived back in good ole Bloomington, Illinois this morning at 6:30 and to say the least I am exhausted. I had one of the best weekends of my life in New York City at New Balance Indoor Nationals. 
 
We arrived Friday night and being my first time in New York, coming over the George Washington Bridge for the first time and seeing the skyline was so cool. My dad and my coach took my poles into the Armory to drop them off and they came out in awe of how awesome the atmosphere was in there. I didn't really know what to expect, but this just added to how much excitement I had to be in New York jumping at the Armory. 
 
Saturday was our touristy day as we took the subway to the Empire State building and went up to the 102nd floor and saw all of the city. It was one of the coolest things I've ever done. My coach didn't want to go because he is afraid of heights but I dragged him up and he loved it.  We then went to Times Square, Ground Zero and took a long subway ride back to the Armory to watch some of the boys vaulting competition (I was not a fan of the subway. I couldn't believe how many people you could squeeze into one space!). We tried to do as much as we could in one day without wearing out my legs .  
 
Going into Sunday, my goal for the meet was to just have fun. I didn't want to put any pressure on myself or worry about a certain height to achieve. I was in New York jumping in an electric atmosphere and I wanted to go out and do my best. The atmosphere truly was amazing with music going and everyone cheering.  Opening height was 11-7 and going back and watching the video, I cleared it by about 2 feet. I ended up clearing 12'9 which was not the height I wanted but I couldn't be upset about it. At 13'1 I got on the biggest pole I have ever been on and I was over it I just never finished up my jump. I finished in 6th place and the top six places got medals and achieved the status of being "All-American" so that was very exciting as well. There was a special room for the All-Americans to go and buy special clothing so I definitely had to get  something because I love new clothes. They also gave me an awesome new backpack with the New York skyline on it that I and veerrryyy excited to use!
 
Even though I wanted to jump higher, I left New York with an incredible experience under my belt and I was so thankful I got the chance to go out and jump with many other great vaulters. If I could I would definitely do it again and I suggest to the younger high school vaulters to take the opportunity and go out to Nationals because it is an experience I will never forget!

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