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Bronaugh sophomore vaults to first
On May 16, Vanessa Langford achieved part of the goal she had set for herself. She won the Missouri Class 1 girls pole vault championship with a vault of 9 feet, 9 inches. She did not break the state Class 1 record of 10 feet, 3 inches.
"She actually has been over 10 foot, 3 inches in practice," Warren Langford, her father and coach, said.
"It's just a matter of getting it in a meet," Vanessa, who just completed her sophomore year at Bronaugh High School, said.
Warren, who coaches the pole vaulters at Nevada High School, said that the facility at Lincoln University, where the state track meet is held, is laid out differently from any other facility he has seen.
"Most times you go to a meet, the pole vault is off in a corner, and then you get to state and it's right at the bottom of the grand stand," he said, adding that there were running events going at the same time as the pole vault.
"You can hear the runners and the crowd while you are vaulting," Vanessa said.
Langford, who has been vaulting since she was in the seventh grade, placed third in the pole vault at the 2007 Missouri State Track Championships with an 8-foot, 6-inch vault and currently holds the junior varsity girls record at Nevada High School and the Northeast Arma, Kan., record of 9 feet, 6 inches and has her eye on the Nevada varsity girls record of 11 feet, 6 inches.
Langford said that she practices five or six days a week. When track meets begin, she drops back to three days a week.
Athletes use each of the meets during the track season to improve their performances to get ready for the state meets.
Because of bad weather she was only able to participate in four meets before the state championships: Nevada Invitational, Gorilla Relays at Pittsburg State University, Arma, Kan. and Stockton.
"It was really windy at Arma," Vanessa said.
"She didn't have a good vaulting day until State," Warren said.