Scott Berryman wins the Maryland State Finals of the Indoor Track 800m run for 2012!
Time: 2:01:22
FNP story follows: Dateline Largo, Maryland
| State Indoor Track: King extends reign with another title After overcoming injury, the Oakdale junior sets state record in pole vault Originally published February 21, 2012 By Greg Swatek | ||||||||
She's going to have an insufferably long wait before she gets the chance to compete. And her final attempt will always be a miss. It's the inescapable reality of being a pole vaulter.
King, a junior, has made such great improvements over the last three years that there now exists a giant chasm between her and the rest of the field at in-state meets.
It's not uncommon to see most of her competitors bow out of the event while she is still sitting idly by in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, trying not to get bored as she waits for his first turn. Once King gets going, it's usually quite a show.
At Monday's Class 2A-1A indoor meet at the Prince George's Sports and Learning Complex, King broke a state record of 10 years by sailing over the bar at 11 feet and 1Ú2 inch on her first attempt. What's more impressive? She landed on her feet.
"Ever since I was three years old when I started gymnastics, I didn't know it (at the time) but I was going to be working toward the pole vault and getting the record," she said.
Calling King entirely satisfied, though, would not be accurate since her winning height wasn't her personal record. On Feb. 4 at Hagerstown Community College, King soared 12-3, which even caught her by surprise.
"I was like, 'Whoa. I was not expecting that," she said.
This time, King missed three times at 12-2. She was basically over the bar on her second and third attempts before nudging it off both times on her way down.
"I just have so much to improve on," she said after winning a state indoor title for the second consecutive year. "I am nowhere close to stopping."
King joined Catoctin's Hannah Stone and Savannah Steinly and Walkerville's Scott Berryman and Megan Mounts as the champions from Frederick County. All of them competed in 2A.
Stone, Steinly and Berryman each won their first indoor state titles, while Mounts successfully defended her championship from a year ago.
At the county championships on Jan. 14, Stone broke the long-standing meet record, held by her coach Kathy Messner-Stevens, by clearing 5-81Ú4 to win the high jump.
Though she didn't match that feat, Stone said she felt good about her winning jump because it felt good enough to go over 5-9. Her confidence is completely intact as she prepares for upcoming regional and national indoor meets.
Steinly, who gave up basketball to run her first indoor season, will join Stone and other local athletes on March 9-11 at the New Balance Indoor Nationals after beating the qualifying time by a second in the 800. The indoor nationals will take place at the Armory in New York City.
Steinly's winning time of 2 minutes, 19.68 seconds was her best time indoors.
"I wasn't sure what to expect," she said. "I wanted to push myself and do the best I could."
Steinly dominated her race from the start, unlike Berryman, who had to make up a noticeable deficit on the final lap to nip North Caroline's Alex Schulties at the finish line.
Berryman's winning time was 2:01.22, which helped the Walkersville boys finish second in the 2A team standings with 43 points. (Frederick Douglass-PG won with 56). Schulties' time was 2:01.32.
"It was the last lap of the season," Berryman said. "Might as well kill myself" by putting in a strong effort.
Mounts, meanwhile, was motivated by her second-place finish to Douglass-PG's Desha Mango at the regional meet.
"Once you get beat, that inspires you to try a little bit harder," Mounts said.
At the state meet, Mounts tossed the shot 36-9, while Mango was third at 35-71Ú2.
"It nice to win it twice," the sophomore said. "Last year, I barely knew what was going on. This year, I knew what I had to do."
Prior to one of her vaults, King paused on the runway for a moment and just smiled. She was thankful to finally be healthy.
Last season, she strained her lower back in a meet at Georgetown Prep. She pushed aside the pain to compete at the state meet and she won the 1A pole vault by going over the bar at 11 feet.
But that was her last vault of the school year. The back injury forced her to miss the entire outdoor season.
"It was devastating," she said. "I didn't know if I'd be able to come back."
As a freshman at Thomas Johnson, King didn't have a successful vault in the finals at the indoor state meet. A few months later, she cleared 10-6 to place second in 4A at the outdoor state meet.
Now, she had raised the bar to 11 feet. But, suddenly, there was doubt. King was unable to do any physical activity while she recovered.
"I just had to stand back and kind of smile," she said.
But King is a hard worker. "I am very serious at practice," she said. "I really don't fool around."
And through the same determination that allowed her to push through the pain and win a state title, she is now poised to raise the bar to even greater heights. She confessed that her form is still not quite where she wants it. Though, saying "it's terrible right now" might be stretching the truth a bit.
"I am really looking forward to the outdoor season," she said. "I still have a lot of improving to do."
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