On my way to the Jr. Olympics Record. I loved to pole vault. When I was in the 4th Grade, my father made me a bamboo pole wrapped with tape so it wouldn't break and splinter. Some vaulters did not do this, and when the pole broke, they got impaled on the splinters. Some even died.
When I was 17 and in the 12 grade, I started to use a fiberglass pole, a new innovation in pole vaulting. During the first month, when I was trying to master the fiberglass pole, it threw me everywhere in and out of the pit. Sometimes, the landings were very painful, especially when I landed on the hard ground outside the pit. But my heart told me not to quit.
And sure enough, one day, it all came together, and I could fly. After that, my fiberglass pole never gave me another problem, and eventually, in May 1962, it all came together, and I broke the Jr. Olympic Pole Vault record.
My best vault was 13 feet, 7 inches. Today, many young High School women vaulters are vaulting much higher than this. This past spring, Amanda Moll set the national high school record at
4.61 meters| 15'-1½ inches, from Capital High School in Olympia, Washington.
