Marques Butler article (GA)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/loc ... 454403.htm

WARNER ROBINS - Coaches who watched Marques Butler in the pole vault Thursday at the Region 3-AAAA boys track and field championship described his second-place jump as the "immaculate vault."

In what seemed to take minutes, Butler's final attempt at 10 feet left him nowhere near the bar. The pole was bending in the opposite direction of the bar. But instead of sliding down the pole, Butler somehow got the pole to bend toward the bar and next thing he knew, he was standing straight over the bar. Butler managed to vault over it and earn himself a berth in the state meet.

"I was real nervous on that jump," Butler said. "I had scratched the previous two attempts and I only had one attempt left. I didn't know if I should try the stiff pole or bend it. I decided to try to bend the pole. It was just a great jump.

"It was crazy. Before I took off running, I just prayed. I prayed, 'Dear Lord, let me do all right. Please don't let me fall off this pole.' I had been working on bending the pole in practice and when I jumped, the pole bent and I could feel it circling around. So I just tried to step over (the bar) and push off the pole. I was just happy I made it."