Reid gets program reinstated and vaults into state (AL)

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http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletime ... xml&coll=1

She truly MADE the team
Thursday, May 03, 2007
By MIKE EASTERLING
Times Sports Staff mikee@htimes.com
Reid gets program reinstated and vaults into state

BROWNSBORO - Pole vaulting coach Gary Griner watched carefully as his latest protege practiced.

Cara Reid, a Hazel Green junior who has been at the school for less than a semester, ran down the lane Griner built and vaulted into the landing pit he constructed behind his house in a wooded area off Dug Hill Road.

Reid made several attempts, Griner pushing her to let loose.

"I know you can do it,'' Griner urged, wanting Reid to put more bend in her back at the top of the vault. "You're a gymnast.''

Reid is a gymnast - or more accurately a tumbler - which helped her make the Trojans cheerleading squad for her upcoming senior season. She's also qualified for this weekend's Class 6A state track and field meet in the pole vault, something that happened only because of her persistence.

It's that persistence, perhaps, that pushed Reid to give Griner the effort he was looking for on a recent afternoon.

"That's better!'' Griner yelled. "You got a little 'ugh' in that one. Yes! That was it. You did it. Good.

"Now,'' he added, "it's repetition.''

Reid will make her third state meet appearance this weekend when action begins Friday for 4A, 5A and 6A in Gulf Shores and for 1A, 2A and 3A at Troy State.

With guidance from Griner - a local pole vaulting guru who taught two-time state champion David Rangel of Huntsville High - Reid hopes to place among the state's elite. She earned a trip to the beach with a vault of 9 feet, which was good for second place behind Hewitt-Trussville's Jamie Nelson at 9-6 in the Section 4 meet.

Reid has a goal of reaching at least 9-6 at state, which would equal her personal best. "Hopefully, 9-6 to 10 feet,'' she said.

Creating a team

The chance to compete at all nearly didn't happen.

Reid began pole vaulting her freshman year at Tavares High in Lake County, Fla., after a coach who knew she cheered and tumbled suggested it during a weight training class.

"At first I was like, 'No way, I can't do that,' '' she said.

She did anyway, and qualified for the 2A state meet that season and returned to the Florida state meet as a sophomore.

Needing what Reid's aunt, Cheryl Runyan, said was "different scenery'' the junior transferred to Hazel Green. Reid found a job, but as track season neared didn't find a coach or a program at theschool.

"I asked in the front office and they said they were still looking for a track coach,'' she said.

The program had been dormant for a year, but with Reid pushing the idea and recruiting athletes in the hallways, the team finally took shape and Jamison Barker was named coach.

The team competed in just two meets before sectionals, with Reid winning the Bob Jones Invitational the week before with limited work outs.

Though Hazel Green finally had its team up and running, the school didn't have vaulting pit or a place to practice. Reid borrowed a pole from Alabama A&M, and practiced at the Bulldogs' track once before the Bob Jones meet.

She soon found Griner, who regularly coaches Huntsville High's pole vaulters.

Loves the sport

Panthers pole vaulter Staylor Heath, also training under Griner, took a break as he also prepared for the upcoming state meet.

"He's improved faster than anybody I've ever coached,'' Griner said.

Heath and Reid are the only two pole vaulters working under Griner to qualify for state this season, so they're the only two working out at the former Ohio State athlete's pit.

Reid - who shares a house with Runyan, Runyan's husband, daughter, three grandchildren, three dogs and three cats - certainly appreciates the chance.

"She just really loves to do it,'' said Runyan, who reports that her niece is making straight As.

And with a little persistence, she may eventually become the top pole vaulter the metro area has seen. To earn that distinction, she'll have to move past Kiley Seitz, a Huntsville sophomore currently taking a break from track who most recently cleared 10-0 at the state indoor meet.

Seitz, incidentally, is Griner's granddaughter.