Kristen Keith jumps 13' in Texas

[pvmaster45]

Kristen Keith Jumps 13’

The actual series was 11’, 12’, 12’7â€Â

[belmore]

Way to go "Krispen"!

[nitro]

congrats

[PVJESS08]

Way to go Kristen!!! Can't wait to see ya at Relays!!

[trackris24]

Thanks Jess I can't wait to come down to Austin! Hopefully we'll have good weather! How have you been jumping? Tell your family I said hi!!
~Kristen

[princess]

Way to go Kristen, I posted something in the Texas one and I didn't think to keep looking down the page any way, I know Jess is going to the Relays, are you going to the relays, and you Jump looked awesome on film way to go, you are AMAZING!!! I Hope you are going to the relays so I can see you there!!!!!! Great Job, ,

Katie V.

[drcurran]

Help me out here. First post said the bar stayed up, but was dislodged from the pegs. What does that mean? In the video it looked like the bar got "bumped" but not dislodged. Thanks in advance for any help.

Dan

PS - GREAT jump!!!!!!

[belmore]

The bar bounced off the pegs and up on to the outrigger, if the bar does not land back on the pegs, but stays up on that part of the standard it is a miss.

[drcurran]

Thanks for the explanation. I guess the way it was said in a earlier post was the part that was confusing. If the bar was displaced or dislodged, then it did not "stay up at 13-3". Not very often, but I've been working when that same thing happened. Always seems to happen on a record or at least a personal best and then you get to be the one to tell someone that was a failed vault. Not much fun! Thanks again for the explanation.

Dan

PS - I watched the video again and still could not see the bar off the pegs, but the video was a little fuzzy.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/high_ ... igh_school

Resilient senior showing she's one bold vaulter
By By, MILENKO MARTINOVICH
Special to the Star-Telegram

STAR-TELEGRAM/LAURIE L. WARD
Carroll senior Kristen Keith practices Wednesday in preparation for this weekend's Texas Relays in Austin.
Tim Keith pleaded with George Rodriguez to coach his daughter. Rodriguez said he had more than enough kids to work with, but Keith talked him into it.

When Rodriguez, who coaches pole vaulting at Elite Vaulters Sports Complex in north Fort Worth, saw Kristen vault the first time as a freshman, she couldn't clear 6 feet, 6 inches.

But Rodriguez saw potential. And with some arm-twisting from Keith, a former fraternity brother of Rodriguez's at North Texas, Rodriguez added Kristen to his stable of vaulters.

Kristen Keith, a senior at Carroll, has reached the potential Rodriguez saw three years ago. Keith's vault of 13 feet is the best among area Class 5A vaulters this season, and she will test herself against the state's best at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays today at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin.

Keith's introduction to pole vaulting was almost by accident. A Cedar Park High School coach, who was also the father of one of Keith's friends, was in search of middle school athletes interested in the pole vault, a sport not popular among girls at that time. Keith was intrigued and gave it a try.

"The fact that not many girls did it back then probably appealed to her more than anything," Tim Keith said. "She has an enormous amount of self-confidence. That allows her to take chances more than most."

Kristen Keith suffered through the sport's growing pains. She played volleyball and gymnastics, but nothing compared to the pole vault.

"It took a couple of years just to understand the technique," said Kristen, 18. "There's a lot of physics to it."

Keith blossomed her sophomore year when she decided to give up other sports and focus on the pole vault. The sacrifice paid off as she reached the state meet the past two seasons.

But getting to her first state meet was not easy. She learned two days before the meet that she had a broken left foot. Keith's doctor said she would not be able to compete. Jennie Keith, Kristen's mom, remembered her daughter replying that she would compete even if it meant further damage and a later surgery.

The doctor was impressed by Kristen's courage and wavered on his diagnosis.

"The doctor called later that night," Jennie said. "And he said, 'You know what? If it was my daughter, I'd let her compete.'"

Keith experienced foot trouble again last season, this time a stress fracture in her right foot. Keith's training was limited, and she competed only in big meets. She still reached the state meet.

Carroll coach Niki Gilley said it is Keith's fearlessness that makes her successful in the pole vault. According to Tim, Kristen gets that fearlessness from Jennie. And growing up with two older brothers, Travis and Trey, also toughened her up.

Although Keith will be a favorite at the Texas Relays, she doesn't measure success by winning a meet. She said her biggest opponent is the bar, not her competitors.

"What's important is to jump the best that I can," Keith said. "Whether I win is not that important. I want to PR [personal record]. That shows improvement."

[SweetPVJumps]

[quote="belmore"]The bar bounced off the pegs and up on to the outrigger, if the bar does not land back on the pegs, but stays up on that part of the standard it is a miss.[/quote]

whats the outrigger?

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent ... e1371.html

Southlake Carroll's Keith, among best in state, seventh at Texas Relays
10:10 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 12, 2006
By BRANDON GEORGE / The Dallas Morning News
Southlake Carroll senior pole vaulter Kristen Keith could do nothing but smile after a tough day Friday in the pole vault at the Texas Relays.
Keith, one of only two girls in the state to have cleared 13 feet this season, struggled to clear the bar at Mike A. Myers Stadium. Keith missed on her first two attempts at her opening height of 11 feet, 6 inches before clearing easily on her final chance.
The next height – 12 feet – proved just as tough for Keith. Again, she didn't clear the bar until her third and final attempt. Keith missed on all three attempts at 12-6 and was eliminated, finishing seventh.
"I got off to a slow start when I was warming up," Keith said. "Some days you have it, and some days you don't. It's a really confusing sport."
Keith said she wouldn't worry about her performance at the Texas Relays.
"It's not what you jump today," she said, "it's what you jump in May."