Jess Stadler vaulted to titles and team record (MD)

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Perry Hall senior vaulted to titles and team record
06/13/07
By TOM WORGO
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When Perry Hall track and field coach Kirk Mateer first laid eyes on Jess Stadler as a freshman in 2004, the last thing he saw was a pole-vaulter.

After all, at 5-foot-2 and 98 pounds, she hardly fits the physical profile of a vaulter -- most of whom are several inches taller and 20 pounds to 30 pounds heavier.

"When I first met her, I was like 'Wow,'" Mateer recalled. "I couldn't believe this little tiny girl was jumping this high. It just amazed me. She was so small."

Obviously, appearances can be deceiving.

Stadler, still just 5-foot-3 and 101 pounds, won four Class 4A state pole-vaulting championships in a glorious high school career.

And she capped off her senior campaign by setting a Class 4A record with a jump of 10 feet, seven inches.

Stadler, the 2007 the Northeast Booster Athlete of the Year, also excelled in indoor track, posting top-three finishes in the county, region and state championships.

In addition to her track accomplishments, she was among the Perry Hall field hockey team's leading scorers.

"She was definitely a natural athlete," Perry Hall field hockey coach Chastin Faith said. "She could have played anything. She is the type of kid that adapted pretty easily."

Gators' indoor track coach Brad Kressman agrees: "I think she would have been pretty good at whatever she did."

Along with her four state titles, Stadler also captured four county pole-vaulting championships and five regional crowns during her four years in high school.

She set the school record (9-3) in the winter of 2006.

"She had the perfect storm of characteristics to be a pole-vaulter," Kressman said. "She had a really good combination of speed and flexibility."

Yet Stadler saw her performances slip during the 2007 winter season.

It was the first season in the last three years that she failed to win a title, which put a chip on her shoulder for the spring.

"It was a wake-up call for her," Mateer said of the winter season.

Stadler made a change for the spring season by bending the pole on her jumps.

She had been reluctant to do that in previous seasons, despite the urging of Mateer and her teammates.

For most of the season, Stadler worked on perfecting the new technique, and by season's end had mastered it.

The proof came in leaps and bounds, as she soared more than a foot higher than she had in the indoor season.

And that added height enabled her to sweep county, regional and state titles.

Stadler's 10-7 mark simply blew away the competition at the state championships.

The highly-regarded runner-up Jen Whitfield of South River jumped nine feet.

"She was the state indoor champion," Stadler said about Whitfield. "The competition was better than in past years. This was probably my most important one, because it was my last state championship."

Mateer couldn't believe how much Stadler improved in the final weeks of the spring season.

"To go up a foot and half in the last three weeks of the season was unbelievable," he said. "How many vaulters have you heard of doing that?"

The indoor season presented a stiff challenge for Stadler since she was using a new piece of equipment.

Maybe that's why she was jumping a few inches less than the 2006 indoor season.

And her performances were pretty good. Stadler finished third in the state and second in both the region and the county.

Still, the results were a disappointment for Stadler, who had grown accustomed to winning championships.

The second and third place finishes convinced Stadler she had to do something different -- bending the pole.

Stadler started for two years on the Perry Hall field hockey varsity.

It was Stadler's toughness in a November 2005 playoff loss to rival Dulaney that impressed Faith more than her ability to put the ball in the back of the cage.

"I will never forget the time she got completely taken out by the goalie," the coach said. "I thought she had broken ribs because she got taken out so hard. She got up and was like 'Coach I am not coming off the field. I am staying in.' "

Stadler, an All-Division second-team pick this year, was always a legitimate threat to score for Perry Hall. She recorded six goals to rank third on the team.

Her top performance this season came in a 4-0 rout of Parkville, when she notched two goals.

"I was one of the top scorers," Stadler said. "I was able to use my speed well and maneuver the ball up the field past all my opponents."

Faith relied on Stadler in the game's most critical moments.

"She was a go-to person in overtime because she had amazing speed," she said. "She was just solid and consistent. She always knew her role and did it well."

[GMUVaulter89]

Stadler definately had her moments this season but was occasionally inconsistent, but improved during the last month of the season.