Vaulter competes for Joplin despite losing home and school

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/27/29 ... oplin.html

Pole vaulter competes for Joplin despite losing home and school

By CANDACE BUCKNER

The Kansas City Star


Joplin pole vaulter Mariah Sanders had plenty of reasons to miss the Missouri state track and field meet after a tornado hit her home, but she wanted to represent the town.

JEFFERSON CITY | Mariah Sanders danced in place on the runway, her blue tights underneath her shorts showing flecks of white. She had rubbed so much powder on her hands by now, her final attempt at 10 feet, 3 inches, that she looked as if she had played in baker’s flour. Sanders gripped both hands around her instrument and prepared for her final moment.

She knew everyone would be watching her during her third attempt at the Missouri Class 4 girls’ pole-vault state championship competition — the name on her jersey instantly made her the fan favorite inside Dwight T. Reed Stadium.

Sanders, a junior from Joplin High, understands their fascination. Last Saturday, she qualified as the only Joplin track and field athlete to advance to the state meet. Then last Sunday night, a deadly tornado devastated her hometown.

Sanders lost her house and her school but needed only two days to decide that she wanted to compete in Jefferson City. Someone needed to be there for Joplin.

“Today, I was thinking whenever I was pole vaulting, I’m not doing this to win,” Sanders said. “I’m doing it for Joplin because there really isn’t a Joplin anymore.”

That stark reality contrasted with the face that Sanders put forward during the Friday afternoon competition. She beamed with constant smiling and embraced anyone who stretched their arms out for a hug. She chitchatted with rivals — such camaraderie happens often during a drawn-out event like the pole vault — and tried her best to answer any questions the girls had about last Sunday night.

While Sanders was spending that evening nearly 20 miles away in Seneca with friends, her family was huddling for cover inside a closet. Sanders remembers her friend’s father saying something about a tornado in Joplin but thought it was another warning because, “nothing ever hits Joplin, ya know.”

Then, Sanders checked her phone. She had six missed calls and tons of messages. She could not believe it when she read her 12-year-old sister Miranda’s text message sent in all caps: MARIAH TORNADO HIT US AND EVERYTHING’S GONE.

“I’m lucky that they’re alive,” Sanders said of her family.

On school days, Sanders could hop in her car by 8:24 a.m. and beat the first bell at Joplin High at 8:30 a.m. Now school doesn’t even exist. In her family’s home wreckage, Sanders recovered her gym bag still packed with her red and blue track jersey and silver spikes.

She decided to come to Jefferson City because she wanted this platform to show that Joplin High lives on.

Throughout the pole-vault session, a friend, MacKenszee Roberts, sat in the front row to root for Sanders. Roberts, who graduated from Joplin High last year, proudly held a homemade sign: Go Mariah Represent Joplin.

“I knew that not very many people would be able to come,” Roberts said.

“I knew she needed the support.”

On her final attempt at 10 feet, 3 inches, Sanders actually cleared her body over the bar. However, an audible gasp from the stands went out when the wobbly bar dropped to the ground.

Sanders still smiled. She then patiently and thoughtfully answered questions for several media interviews and made sure her message came through.

“I came up here prepared for (the attention) because a tornado just hit Joplin and the fact that I am the only one that made it from my school,” Sanders said.

“I knew it was going to happen, so I just wanted to make my own choice whether to be here or not. I just wanted to be here for my city.”



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/27/29 ... z1NcxhjP3G

[belmore]

Great story, proud of that young athlete.

[patybobady]

http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201 ... oplin-high

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thepostgame.com/features/201105/after-tornado-lone-competitor-left-joplin-high

Great article!

From the article:

Tornadoes tend to destroy everything in their path, but their path is always random. So while her school was destroyed, the stadium where Sanders keeps her poles was not.