http://www.thetimesherald.com/story/spo ... /18830623/Shell commits to pole vault at Oklahoma
Paul Costanzo, Times Herald 9:17 p.m. EST November 10, 2014
Mackenzie Shell
(Photo: JEFFREY SMITH / TIMES HERALD, JEFFREY SMITH / TIMES HERALD)
Mackenzie Shell almost canceled her official visit to Oklahoma.
After taking a pair of visits to Indiana, the Port Huron Northern senior pole vaulter was pretty sure that was where she wanted to attend school. But a phone call to cancel set the wheels in motion to change Shell’s mind.
“I called the coach, and he said, ‘I really think you should go,’” Shell said. “Before I went, he came for a home visit and to watch my practice. He got me really excited to come down for an official visit.”
Shell wrapped up her visit with the Sooners on Sunday, and after flying home made another call, this time to commit to Oklahoma. She will sign with the school at 2 p.m. Wednesday in a ceremony at Northern. She chose the Sooners over Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, South Florida, Akron and Kentucky.
She visited all seven of the schools — Indiana twice — making for a busy fall. It also made for a tough Sunday night of phone calls, something she wanted to do before announcing her commitment on Twitter at 8:19 p.m.
“I was still stressed (after making her commitment) a little bit because I had to tell all the other coaches,” Shell said. “Once I told the Oklahoma coach I was going there, I felt a little better.
“I wanted to sit there and call everyone and then be done. They were upset, because they really wanted me, but they were like, ‘Good luck with the season. If we see you, come up and say hello.’”
Shell became one of the nation’s most coveted prep pole vaulters with a stunning junior season, which included multiple All-American finishes, a state championship, a state record and a personal best of 13 feet, 6 inches, which ranks her sixth in the country.
“Last year, until I got to really high heights, I never would imagine that I would get to where I am now,” Shell said. “I was only at 11-3, so I was thinking I would go to a smaller school in Michigan.
“I wasn’t really focused on college that much. I kind of thought that it had its time to come, and I was really focused on getting to a point where I could compete in college.”
Her success led to offers from some of the best programs in the country. Northern boy track coach Craig Dickinson, who also coaches the pole vaulters, said that while he’s had Division I-caliber athletes who have received full-ride offers before, he had never had coaches come here to make in-home visits.
They weren’t the only ones traveling, of course, as Shell had a busy fall making trips of her own.
From the final weekend in September through this past weekend, Shell was on a visit every week. She went to Nebraska, then Tennessee, then South Florida, then Akron, then Indiana and Kentucky in the same week, then Indiana again, and finally Oklahoma.
“Toward the middle, it started to (get tiresome), and I just wanted it to be done,” she said. “But I knew if I really didn’t go on these visits, I would probably regret it.”
The comfort she felt at Oklahoma was what put the school over the top. Not that she didn’t feel comfortable at other schools, she said, but just more so in Norman.
Shell would be the Sooners’ top pole vaulter now, but she said that being at the top of the team didn’t play much of a role, if any, in her decision.
“I think I’m the top one coming in. He wanted someone to kind of lead the group, I guess,” Shell said. “They have a pretty young vaulting team. I just wanted some competition, whether it be in the school or the conference (Big 12) they’re in.”
Dickinson said he felt Shell made the right choice.
“I think it’s a great fit,” he said. “It’s in the South, which we had said all along was important, because she can jump year-round. The vault coach was the national coach in Wales, so he has connections in Europe. If (Shell’s vaulting) goes the way we think it can, those connections are invaluable.”