Megan Weller article (IL)

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http://www.southtownstar.com/sports/137 ... re.article

Weller leads L-Way contingent taking part in pole vaulting and gymnastics
Pole story not the whole story

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January 12, 2009
BY TONY BARANEK Staff writer
Clap ... clap ... clap ...
Megan Weller stood taut, the pole in her hands pointing straight up, and stared with determination down the runway that led to the vaulting pit.
Above the pit rested the bar at a height of 12 feet, 1 inch. Inanimate objects don't taunt, but it might as well have said, "Here I am, Megan. You going over me?"
Somebody else gave the answer.
"You've got this, Megan," a fellow competitor said Sunday from the portable grandstand, while others continued the rhythmic clapping.
The place was the fieldhouse at Lincoln-Way North High School. The event was a pole vaulting meet conducted by Flight Track Club.
It was Round 3, the last chance - at least on this Sunday - for Weller to better by 1 inch her career-high mark of 12 feet, set just two Sundays earlier.
She had come close on the first two tries, getting over but taking the bar down with her. This time, the legs churned and the pole dug in with just a little bit less authority. Weller went up, but not over, and came straight down the pole, landing in a heap.
She still got an ovation from the crowd, but no glory.
"It was just a lot," she said. "My legs were shot. It was hard to give 100 percent on the runway."
The day before, Weller, a junior and the top girls gymnast at Lincoln-Way East, had competed in all four events at the annual Lincoln-Way Invitational. She finished third among 45 all-around competitors.
Weller has been a gymnast much longer than she's been a pole vaulter. Becoming the next Mary Lou Retton was her ultimate dream from the age of 3 until the end of grammar school.
"It was," Weller said. "But then it just became too much. We'd practice 20 hours a week-plus. It was basically my life. I just wanted to have fun in high school, so I quit club and decided to just do high school gymnastics."
It was a decision she insists she doesn't regret.
"High school gymnastics is a lot more fun than club gymnastics," Weller said. "It's more laid-back, and coach Skip (Adamson) is fun. I'll most likely stick with it for one more year."
Her college hopes, however, are focused clearly on pole vaulting.
Weller's father, Monte Weller, was a pole vault competitor at Purdue University, where he won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 1987 and '88. The latter season, he vaulted 17-9 3 / 4 .
"Freshman year, when I came to Lincoln-Way East and quit club gymnastics, my dad suggested that I try track," Weller said. "He taught me how you hold the pole, and I tried out for team. I did pretty well."
Weller went 8 feet, 6 inches in her first varsity meet and later qualified for state with a 9-0. As a sophomore, she recorded a personal-best 11-6 and again qualified for state. This time, she made it to the second day and finished eighth.
"Freshman year just about making it and the whole aspect of state and just being there for experience was good," Weller said. "Last year's, I knew what it was about. I made it to finals, where I kind of messed up. I should have gotten higher than eighth place."
During the indoor season her sophomore year, Weller was able to recruit fellow gymnast Lauren Saffran to join the track and field team.
"I was at practice up in the gymnastics gym," Saffran said. "She was like, 'Why don't you come and just try it?' So I came down and wound up picking it up. I wasn't really scared. It's really similar to gymnastics, except that you're running with a pole."
Saffran also qualified for state last year with a 10-0. Her younger sister, Sarah, also doubles as a gymnast and a pole vault competitor for Lincoln-Way East.
The record-chaser for now, however, is Weller.
Her vault of 12-0 tied the all-time Lincoln-Way East high held by Dianna Noonan, a state finalist on multiple occasions. Noonan won't have to share the record just yet, though, since Weller's achievement came in a non-high school club event. But Weller will be on a fast track when the first gun sounds on the indoor season in February.
"Our goal for her this season as a junior is to get the state record (13-3)," said Bob Cervenka, Weller's club and high school coach. "After that, we'll be looking at anything above that. The national record is 14-3. So those are our two goals."
Weller? For now, she's just looking ahead a few days.
"We'll have a meet next Sunday at Wesleyan University," she said. "I'll have another chance then."
The bar continues to beckon ...