Margo Tucker's the nation's top freshman pole vaulter (IN)
Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:24 am
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a ... iesrecache
A flying leap
Margo Tucker's the nation's top freshman pole vaulter
By David Woods
david.woods@indystar.com
She competed in gymnastics and volleyball. She long jumped and high jumped. She sang and danced.
By leaps and bounds: Lawrence Central freshman Margo Tucker clears the bar easily on her way to setting Marion County and school records in the pole vault with a height of 12 feet. - DOUG McSCHOOLER / For The Star
Margo Tucker had tried multiple activities, but none energized her the way a new discovery did -- pole vault. Nineteen months after first grabbing a pole, the Lawrence Central High School 15-year-old is the highest-vaulting freshman girl in the United States.
"It's this huge rush every time," she said. "I feel like I'm doing my thing. Like I was meant to pole vault. I love it."
For Tucker and others in girls track and field, the first step to the state meet begins tonight with sectionals. Top four in each event, plus those meeting specified standards, advance to regionals May 22. State finals are June 2 at Indiana University's Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington.
Area schools are in sectionals at Bloomington North, Columbus East, Lawrence Central, Noblesville, Pendleton Heights, Shelbyville, South Putnam and Southport.
Tucker, using a longer run and bigger pole, vaulted 12 feet to win the Marion County title last week. She broke meet and school records held by Tori Allen. It was Allen's legal challenge that forced the Indiana High School Athletic Association to add girls pole vault, and it was Allen who became Indiana's first state champion in 2003.
"She really paved the way for me," Tucker said.
Tucker was at Belzer Middle School when she expressed interest in vaulting, so she was directed across the street to Lawrence Central and coach Tim Richey. Besides Allen, Richey coached White River Valley's Matt Campbell, who won three boys state titles in the vault.
In athletic ability, Richey said Tucker is a close second to Campbell.
"It was a long time before she got very good, but when we were doing drills, you could tell right away she was very athletic," Richey said. "She had speed and had some bounce."
Tucker said her coach "lives, sleeps and breathes pole vaulting." Now she does, too. She has trained daily since October 2005 and studies videotape as intently as any coach in any sport.
She developed a stress fracture in her shin last spring, so care is taken in workouts to prevent a recurrence. Tucker recovered by last summer and finished second in her age group in USA Track & Field's youth nationals with a vault of 10-10. She attended a pole vault summit in January at Reno, Nev., where she cleared 11-6 indoors.
No other freshman has vaulted as high as 12-0 this year, according to the Web site dyestat.com. One eighth-grader, Morgan Leleux, New Iberia, La., has vaulted 12-0.
Homestead senior Katie Veith, a two-time state champion, has vaulted 14 feet. That's out of reach this year. Tucker is instead aiming at 12-9, a freshman national record. She will continue competing into summer.
"I've tried so many different sports, and they were fun. But I always felt like there was something more for me," Tucker said. "I was always looking for the ultimate challenge, and this sport is pretty much the ultimate challenge."
A flying leap
Margo Tucker's the nation's top freshman pole vaulter
By David Woods
david.woods@indystar.com
She competed in gymnastics and volleyball. She long jumped and high jumped. She sang and danced.
By leaps and bounds: Lawrence Central freshman Margo Tucker clears the bar easily on her way to setting Marion County and school records in the pole vault with a height of 12 feet. - DOUG McSCHOOLER / For The Star
Margo Tucker had tried multiple activities, but none energized her the way a new discovery did -- pole vault. Nineteen months after first grabbing a pole, the Lawrence Central High School 15-year-old is the highest-vaulting freshman girl in the United States.
"It's this huge rush every time," she said. "I feel like I'm doing my thing. Like I was meant to pole vault. I love it."
For Tucker and others in girls track and field, the first step to the state meet begins tonight with sectionals. Top four in each event, plus those meeting specified standards, advance to regionals May 22. State finals are June 2 at Indiana University's Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington.
Area schools are in sectionals at Bloomington North, Columbus East, Lawrence Central, Noblesville, Pendleton Heights, Shelbyville, South Putnam and Southport.
Tucker, using a longer run and bigger pole, vaulted 12 feet to win the Marion County title last week. She broke meet and school records held by Tori Allen. It was Allen's legal challenge that forced the Indiana High School Athletic Association to add girls pole vault, and it was Allen who became Indiana's first state champion in 2003.
"She really paved the way for me," Tucker said.
Tucker was at Belzer Middle School when she expressed interest in vaulting, so she was directed across the street to Lawrence Central and coach Tim Richey. Besides Allen, Richey coached White River Valley's Matt Campbell, who won three boys state titles in the vault.
In athletic ability, Richey said Tucker is a close second to Campbell.
"It was a long time before she got very good, but when we were doing drills, you could tell right away she was very athletic," Richey said. "She had speed and had some bounce."
Tucker said her coach "lives, sleeps and breathes pole vaulting." Now she does, too. She has trained daily since October 2005 and studies videotape as intently as any coach in any sport.
She developed a stress fracture in her shin last spring, so care is taken in workouts to prevent a recurrence. Tucker recovered by last summer and finished second in her age group in USA Track & Field's youth nationals with a vault of 10-10. She attended a pole vault summit in January at Reno, Nev., where she cleared 11-6 indoors.
No other freshman has vaulted as high as 12-0 this year, according to the Web site dyestat.com. One eighth-grader, Morgan Leleux, New Iberia, La., has vaulted 12-0.
Homestead senior Katie Veith, a two-time state champion, has vaulted 14 feet. That's out of reach this year. Tucker is instead aiming at 12-9, a freshman national record. She will continue competing into summer.
"I've tried so many different sports, and they were fun. But I always felt like there was something more for me," Tucker said. "I was always looking for the ultimate challenge, and this sport is pretty much the ultimate challenge."
