Feet and head perpendicular to the ground 10 or more feet in the air — and propelled by a pole — is probably not something every child did as a first sport in their back yard growing up.
Soccer, baseball or just running around are more than likely the top children activities.
So, what would propel someone to attempt pole vaulting — head pointing straight down — for the first time?
“My freshman year, a really close friend of mine was competing in the pole vault,” McAllen High senior Ollie Tite said. “I thought it was the most interesting event ever. I didn’t even know it was a sport.
“I asked (McAllen High) coach (Luis) Cantu if I could just try it. He asked if I had any experience. I didn’t I just wanted to try it.”
She was immediately hooked.
Now Tite, a senior who has put together a tremendous pole vault season, set both the McHi school record this year at 10 feet, 7 inches and later surpassed the District 31-5A mark with a vault of 10-6. Her goal at today’s area meet in Mercedes — beginning with field events at 10 a.m. — and moving forward, is to progressively clear 11-0, 11-6, 11-8 and, 12-0 at state.
“The goal is to clear as high as I can,” said Tite, whose personal best, not in competition, is 12 feet. “And then medal at state.
Cantu said that most athletes try the pole vault out of curiosity.
“They just want to see if they can do it a first,” Cantu said. “A lot talk about doing it and some go and do it. Once they see if they can do it, then it becomes something fun and they start thinking about the success they can have doing it.”
Tite is second in Region IV-5A with her mark of 10-7 and trails only Boerne Champion junior Kaylee Krank (11-0) in the region. Sophomore Alexandra Herber of McKinney High is the state leader in the event with a vault of 12-6.
Other leading Valley vaulters and their personal bests this season include Class 5A’s Michael Chapa (Rio Grande City, senior, 14-0, fifth in the region), Marco De Los Rios (Donna High, sophomore, 13-3, 10th in the region) and Class 6A’s Alexis Martinez (Donna North, senior, 14-0, fifth in the region) and Nathaniel Martell (Weslaco High, senior, 13-3, 10th in the region).
According to worldathletics.org, “Pole vaulting, originally for distance, dates back to at least the 16th century and there is also evidence it was even (practiced) in Ancient Greece. The origins of modern vaulting can be traced back to Germany in the 1850s, when the sport was adopted by a gymnastic association, and in the Lake District region of England, where contests were held with ash or hickory poles with iron spikes in the end. “
In the 1800s, pole vaulting was done more to clear canals and, therefore, distance was more critical than height.
Tite’s connection, and success, were immediate. She competed on the junior varsity track team as a freshman and won every meet.
“I’m sure they (coaches) didn’t think I would do well and was probably another practice person,” Tite said. “I won the first meet with just three days of practice, and went on from there.”
The pole vault takes several attributes to be successful, physically, mentally and technically. Tite said she feels that strength may be her biggest asset.
“I think being able to bend the pole and knowing what I’m doing wrong as soon as I go up helps,” Tite said. “I need to work more on staying upside down long enough to get higher. Sometimes I may get really excited and I may come up too early. I need to be patient when I’m upside down.”
Cantu said Tite is in a position where things are changing in a positive way. She’s using a longer approach to create more speed, and she’s carrying a longer pole, a 13-foot one, to gain more height.
“We have a good group of pole vaulters jumping at the area meet,” Cantu said. Those vaulters include Tite, Macy Friedlein, Jenai Martinez, Gavin Britton and Mark Wilkins. “The key is speed. You have to have speed down the runway. If you have a lot of speed, it will shoot you up.
“Then, in order for the pole to give back the energy when it recoils, you need to be patient and remain upside down and that’s when good things are going down. The pole has to have enough time to do what it does and it will shoot you up.”
McHi and the Bulldogs have a traditionally strong pole-vault program. Last year, Josiah Martinez cleared 16 feet and now competes at Incarnate Word.
“He was third in the state, 16th in the nation and then COVID happened,” Cantu said.
The top four finishers advance to the regional meet at Hero’s Stadium in San Antonio April 23-24. But, maybe before that, Cantu may have one unplanned vault he will need to clear.
“Coach Cantu taught me the sport, he handed me a pole and gave me everything and he has taught so many people,” Tite said. “He’s really good at it and promised us he would do it before we seniors left.”
“Yeah, that’s a true statement,” Cantu said. “I’m not a great pole vaulter, but I’m athletic and maybe I’ll do 10 feet or so.”