http://kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=63290Students balance school and sport
Posted On: Saturday, Dec. 31 2011 11:11 PM
By Rebecca Rose
Killeen Daily Herald
BELTON — More than 100 athletes took to the floor of the Bell County Arena on Saturday, launching themselves into the air as part of the "Expo Explosion III Pole Vaulting Competition."
The event, put on by Texas Elite Pole Vaulting, was a daylong competition featuring pole vaulters from across the country in 14 different age groups.
Jack Chapman, owner of Texas Elite Pole Vaulting in Killeen, said exposition events, such as Saturday's competition, help young athletes get ready for the high school track season, adding that the day was less about individual competitions and more about team unity.
"It's a real unique sport," he said. "It's a family environment. It's not us against them. Everybody supports everybody."
Chapman said pole vaulters who are part of college and high school athletic teams face difficult challenges integrating athletic success with the day-to-day demands of teenage life.
"They have to balance academics, home life and athletics," he said. "It's tougher than a lot of people think."
From gymnastics to pole vaulting
Participating in the day's competition was Annie Rhodes, 16, a junior at Waco Midway High School. The track hurdler spends more than two hours a day, three days a week perfecting her pole vaulting skills.
"I used to do gymnastics, (pole vaulting is) some of the same motions, like going upside down or flying through the air," she said. "It's challenging and it's fun."
For Rhodes, whose best height so far is 12 feet, six inches, the most challenging part of the sport is purely psychological.
"The hardest thing is not psyching yourself out, like worrying if your step is wrong, if you're not on the right pole," she said.
Like Chapman, Rhodes said the day was about joining with a community of other pole vaulting enthusiasts.
"You get close to (the other vaulters), because those same girls come to every meet," she said. "It's fun to make new friends and encourage each other."
Pole vaulter Reece Timmons, 16, is a junior at Robinson High School. A childhood friend of Rhodes, Timmons also started pole vaulting through her love of gymnastics.
"It's a lot like gymnastics," she said, watching a young vaulter fly and twist over a nearly 12-foot hurdle. "It's fun to go out there and do your best and know you've achieved what you been working hard for."
Compete with self
Timmons said that while athletes are competitive by nature, in pole vaulting, the biggest competition is often with themselves.
"A lot of times I just want to go out there and try to get my best," she said. "But if not then I just have fun and do the best I can."
While neither competitor had decided where they would pursue their college athletic careers, one fellow competitor they can look to as inspiration is Mark Thomas.
Thomas, a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Texas, credited Chapman with not just getting him involved in pole vaulting, but being the reason he ended up as part of the Longhorns' track team.
"My college coaches enjoy me coming back here because it's another person I can get information (from) to further my pole vaulting knowledge and jump higher," said Thomas.
The Lorena native has competed in pole vaulting since high school, and like Chapman, pointed to the challenges of balancing athletics with a highly demanding academic career.
"Most people think it's so easy being an athlete," he said. "But this is the most difficult thing I've ever done. It's like having a full-time job while trying to go to school."
But even as the sophomore trains for the upcoming season, he said he wasn't at the event to win.
"I know everybody here, because I've jumped with them for so long. So, it's not really about beating them," he said.
"I just enjoy being here. It's so different than a regular college meet," said Thomas.
"It's fun and exciting. And everybody knows you, so they're all rooting for you, no matter what."