Kendall Queen Article (WV)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.newsandsentinel.com/sports/s ... 4queen.asp

'Jackets' Queen reaching for new pole vault heights


By JAY W. BENNETT



WILLIAMSTOWN - Two-time Class A state pole vault champion Kendall Queen will be the first to admit she still has a lot to work on if she wants to head off to college and compete at the next level.
While the Williamstown High School senior is hopeful of catching at least a partial scholarship somewhere nearby, she understands fully the need to literally elevate her game.

One of the main problems for the athlete, and it's something she's been working on for several years, is trying to push herself to beat herself.

"It's pretty hard to try and say, 'hey this is how high I can go and I have to beat myself,'" she said. "I'm not real gung-ho on beating myself.

"If I already have it I guess I need to pretend like it's somebody else I have to beat."

Expected to head into the state meet later this spring as the favorite to capture the small school pole vault title again, Kendall still keeps within herself the memories of a failed freshman campaign.

Although Queen qualified in the pole vault as a ninth-grader, she managed to clear just 7-foot and had to settle for 10th place.

Since then she's went 8-6 and 9-0, a Class A state meet record, to capture her back-to-back titles.

"I didn't take it seriously at all," she recalled of her first state meet. "I always thought if I didn't take it seriously and I didn't do well at all, that it wasn't bad.

"From there on out I learned I needed to start focusing and I think I really disappointed my coach because he knew I could do better."

Even though Kendall's head coach is Teresa Pickens, her pole vault coach is Doak Markley.

"He's my favorite person in the entire world," Queen said. "I love that man and respect him more than anyone.

"He respects me and he wants the best for me as much as I want it for myself. He keeps me going because I want to make him proud."

Currently, Queen's best mark in a meet is 9-6 in 2005, but she said she can jump upward of 11-foot, but has yet to record that mark in an official competition.

"I'm really embarrassed by that," said Queen, who even with a vault of 9-6 has the best Class A mark ever. "I swear I can jump 11, but I'm not good with meets, people and pressure.

"Everybody always kind of goes out before me and when I don't have someone there to push me to go higher I just seem not to go higher."

If she is going to gain the scholarship she wants, Queen knows she's going to have to show college coaches she can put it all together.

"If I can get a scholarship I would really like to," she said. "It would help out a lot with my parents and I think it would be a lot of fun.

"If I just get my act together during the track meets I think I can handle it."

Having been a specialized pole vaulter since her sophomore season, Queen has become a steady force in her one event.

"You can always count on her for eight or 10 points at each meet," Pickens said. "She gets by on a lot of natural ability."

That natural ability is something Queen knew she had deep inside from the start, even if people around her thought she was a little crazy.

"I kind of knew when I first started winning when I was in seventh-grade," Queen said of having her gift to vault. "I just think I was made to pole vault.

"Everyone else always thought it was a real weird sport to be doing. My parents never understood why I chose it and it's dangerous for one and not like any other kind of sport I've ever done.