- 2019 Highlights
Personal Statement
I didn't think about doing sports like I once did in middle school, I only thought about getting good grades. I was usually the kid who played all sorts of sports until I stopped because of a very serious illness and didn't think about doing anything athletic again. During my Sophomore year of high school, a classmate named Analicia asked me to join cross country , during this time I was very out of shape and I didn't think much of it, but one day I wanted to give it a try. It was painful, I was struggling to stay in the sport and thought about quitting, but I didn't despite my times were far below average as my first ever 2 mile time was around twenty minutes or higher. Fast forward I stuck with it through the whole season and decided to join track and this was the start of me finding out my favorite event to do and that was the pole vault. Although there was one problem and that was there was no official coach for the event and I basically had to teach my self. Not to mention the only pole I had was a fourteen foot pole which doesn't help as I was also one of the shortest athletes on the field standing five foot two. I stuck with it and stayed as a distance runner all the way to the middle of my junior year beating my 2 mile time in the 5k. I was proud of my self of how far I came, but my true goal was to become a pole vaulter and I had two choices whether to become a mediocre pole vaulter or a great one so near the end of my track season I decided to do sprints. from sophomore year to junior year I jumped 7 feet to 9 feet straight pole only. This wasn't enough so I decided to find a club after I got my drivers license. Over the summer of training with the club I actually got to bend the pole and ended up jumping 12 feet. I'm in my senior year of high school and still no coach at my school, but that doesn't stop me from trying to jump higher. Hearing from other coaches on how I improved so quickly after joining a club boosts my confidence and this is only beginning as I want to do whatever it takes to pole vault at the collegiate level.
