Vaulting in the Big Leagues

I’m extremely excited for this weekend.  It’s finally outdoor

It seems like I’m starting so late, but the team competed over spring break at Disney World while I was down in West Palm Beach visiting family.  JEALOUSSSS! My roommate Sharikka came back with 2 fancy medals with Mickey Mouse on them…luckyyyyy.

This weekend is my first outdoor meet of the season and what better place to kick it off in my hometown of Fitchburg at Fitchburg State College.  Alright, there’s probably a better place.  I’m really excited to compete in Fitchburg on a familiar track, my family doesn’t have to travel very far at all, and the weather forecast so far looks absolutely beautiful!  Not only am I competing in Fitchburg, but I’m very excited to be headed back to Fitchburg High School and help out with Patriot Pole Vault’s clinic at Crocker Field, or also known to some of my UML teammates as “the triangle track”.  Hopefully, I’ll be going right over there after I compete. (Depending on the time schedule and stuff )

I can’t believe the semester is already winding down and outdoor season is soooooo short!  We have only 4 meets before the conference championship—where I will hopefully take pole vault again and our team will claim the title for the meet

I also can’t believe that this month I’ll be registering for classes for my SENIOR YEAR. Well, the first senior year at least. HAHA. I’m probably going to be here for at least an extra semester, but looking over my credits I’m actually a lot closer to graduation than I thought…scary!!

So I’m starting to feel like I’m taking over this blog but whatever, here it goes. Yesterday I had another meet in NC, the Raleigh Relays. It was the most competitive meet thus far in the season. There were a ton of people there and the meet went on forever, all day Friday and Saturday. So I didn’t have as much free time as I did last time we were in NC. We got there on Thursday and went to the track for a light work out. Then Friday I spent most of the day at the meet to help Brian out. Then Saturday I competed, then we went back to Boston. The weather wasn’t as great as last time either. It wasn’t as cold as it was here but it was definitely the worst weather we’ve competed in thus far. It was still a fun weekend though, spending time with the team. I was in the first flight of vaulters which opened at 11’6″. I was nervous because I had never opened that high before. But I cleared it on my second attempt. Unfortunately, that was my only clearance of the day, but it was still good enough for 6th place. I was hoping to clear at least 12′ but at least I know I can open at higher heights than I thought!

I’m so glad that it finally feels like spring. All week the weather has been absolutely wonderful. The spring weather couldn’t have come at a better time. Yesterday was our home opener and we couldn’t have asked for better weather. It was a tough week for training, though. I was only able to vault for about 15 minutes all week. For some reason, the scheduling for our practice facility got messed up. When we usually have practice the lacrosse team had the field. So one of the days we usually vault we didn’t get to vault at all. The other day we usually vault our practice time got moved up to the time I have class so I got to practice with about 15 minutes left to vault. With the outdoor season just starting we had some tough workouts this week too. So I was a little sore all week. The soreness and lack of vaulting made me a little nervous going into the meet. But the meet was really low key, almost just like another practice so that made me feel a little better. Things just didn’t seem to be going well in warm ups. I decided to stick with my usual opening height of 11′ though. I missed my first attempt which I hadn’t done in a while. But as the meet went on my jumps improved and I ended up with a second place jump of 12′. The coaches decided to throw me into the 100 too for some reason. That went okay I guess. I came in 18th out of 53 with a 13.37 (about .2 slower than my high school PR). Overall, though, I was happy with the day. It made me feel good to know that even on a bad day I could still clear 12′. So I’m looking forward to heading back to NC next weekend with a full week of practice. Hopefully some big things will happen!

Yesterday I competed in my first outdoor collegiate meet, the Seahawk Invitational at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I did pretty well. I cleared 11’7″ and came in second place. It was a beautiful day out in NC, 70 degrees and sunny with a tail wind I felt pretty good in warms ups. I usually open at 11′ but since they were doing 3″s and 9″s I decided to go 10’9″ instead of 11’3″ since it was my first outdoor meet. I cleared 10’9″ and 11’3″ on my first attempts. Then the bar went up to 11’7″ and I cleared that on my first attempt also. Then the bar went up to 11’11″ (I have no idea why they chose these increments.) I came really close, but no cigar. I went to a new pole for 11’11″ (a 13′ 155 that was just a little softer than the 155 that gave me so much trouble indoor). I think that pole is going to be great for me once a get some more reps on it in practice. So it was a decent start to the outdoor season.

Overall the trip was really fun. We left for Logan at 6:30am on Thursday morning. It was about an hour and a half plane ride into Raleigh then about 2 hour bus ride to our hotel in Wilmington. Once we got to our hotel we got some lunch then headed over to the track to do a light work out. Of course the second we get to the track it starts pouring. Most people tried to wait for it to pass but it never did. Us vaulters though decided to just tough it out and run in the rain. It was actually quite fun since it was nice and warm out. When we got back from that we had some free time. I went shopping and got dinner with a some people. Then we all just hung out in the hotel for a while. Friday I went to the meet to watch some of the other events. Then went back to the hotel and just hung out the rest of the day. Then Saturday I competed and was at the meet for the rest of the day. Of course I forgot sun block so I came back to Boston with a bit of a burn We left for the airport right from the meet and then it was back to the cold and rainy weather in Boston.

It was great to spend some quality time with the team. It wasn’t so great though coming back to loads of homework. Oh well, overall it was a good weekend Next up is a home meet, The Husky Spring Open, next weekend. Hopefully it’s not too cold!

Well it finally all came together! On Friday at the New England Championships I finally got back up to what I was clearing in high school. I finally cleared 12′ which got me 3rd place and qualified me to compete this weekend at the ECAC championships. The meet was definitely a great kick off to my spring break. Even though that Saturday I got stuck selling t-shirts at the meet for 4 1/2 hours! But it was worth it to see Northeastern place 2nd overall. I got to go home after the meet. It was great to finally get to see my family. And I had Monday off of practice so I got to spend an extra day at home. Now, I’m on my way back to NU for practice. I’m going to go home for at least one more night after practice today. Tomorrow, when I go back for practice I’ll probably stay there. Spring break could not have come at a better time for me. The week off of classes is definitely much needed. My classes this semester have been kicking my butt!

Having last weekend off gave me time to adjust to my new run from 7 steps instead of 6. I felt great at my last practice on Wednesday, my last jump especially. I dropped my shoulders with confidence on the 13′ 155. It felt incredibly weird which caused me to then pull, but other than the pull it was one of my best jumps ever. So I felt good going into the meet on Friday, I was nervous but confident. I felt pretty good in warm-ups. I came in at 11′ and cleared that and 11’6″ on my first attempts. I was still feeling good, but needed to get on a bigger pole. Since the 155 had been giving me trouble Brenner was able to find a stiffer 150, from BU, for me to use. I guess that was what I needed because I cleared 12′ on my first attempt! It was probably the most relieved I’ve ever felt after a jump. I was so happy and my adrenaline was pumping like crazy. I had a little trouble staying relaxed and focused on my attempts at 12’4″. It would’ve been nice to PR, but I was quite happy with my collegiate PR of 12′. Now that I’ve gotten my confidence back and got some poles that work well for me, hopefully the PR will come this weekend. If not, I’m still happy with my first collegiate season.