Hello, for those of you who do not know me, I am Sarah Bell and I am from Bloomington, IL. I am a senior at Central Catholic High School. I participate in both varsity golf and track and field but my main sport is pole vault. For my first blog I would like to give my background on pole vault and how I came to be the athlete that I am today.
Most people wonder how people get started in pole vault because it is a very unusual sport to partake in. Although it is a part of track and field, to me it is definitely a sport on its own. My father was a self taught pole vaulter in high school so he was familiar with the sport. In Junior high, I ran a lot and participated in different relays that ended up placing in state. However, I could not find a field event that I could excel at. Being 5'2 now and probably 5 feet and 80 pounds then, high jump and throws were not really options for me. In the winter of my seventh grade year I heard of a group called the Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club. Finding this club was a blessing for me because I became a pole vaulter and I fell in love with a sport that I could enjoy and have fun doing.
I picked up the sport quickly obtaining the state title my seventh grade year after practicing for only three months. Eighth grade year I came back with more experience and won state a second time with a record breaking jump of 10 feet 9 1/2 inches, breaking the previous record of 10 feet 3 inches set by a prior Flying Dragons member. Coming into high school as a freshman it was very intimidating jumping against sophomores, juniors, and seniors knowing I was the youngest and coming off of a back to back state championship. I found out quickly, however, that it wasn't an issue after winning the IHSA 1A state titles as a freshman in high school. This same year I ran in three relays at state, two of them placed helping my team win an overall second place finish at state. My sophomore year I returned to state and finished in second place. It's hard to be upset with this because it is a second place finish in the state, but I knew that I still had a lot of work to do. My junior year I jumped an indoor PR of 13 feet 1/4 inch which at Prep Top Times which tied me for the number one pole vaulter in the country with my best friend Brittany Hull. Later I jumped an outdoor PR of 13 feet 2 inches at our Cornbelt Conference meet and jumped 13 feet again at sectionals which seeded me first for the state meet. At state I ended up only jumping 12 feet which definitely was a disappointment but I had jumped on the biggest poles I had been on that year and I was blowing through them so I knew I had made some great accomplishments. Although it was not the height I wanted, I ended up winning the 2A state title so I was more than happy.
This summer I ventured to Baltimore Maryland for the USATF Junior Olympic Games where I jumped my personal best of 13 feet 3 1/2 inches winning the young women national title. My family then drove to Houston Texas for the AAU National Meet a week later when I finished in fourth place with a jump of 12 feet, tired from the long and tedious travels. 
It is easy to say that I have had a very successful career in the pole vault and it is something that I am very thankful for. I have amazing coaches who support me and work with me, one of them being my dad, and it is something I work hard at every day. I have worked very hard for all of my accomplishments
This year I had a late start to my training because I participated in the state meet for golf and ended up with a 15th place finish which was something I was happy about being that I don't practice golf at all, except when I am in season because of my time consuming pole vault schedule. When I started training in November I started with my weight training three times a week and spring work outs the other two days. I continued this for a couple weeks before I actually picked up a pole. I then added on to my workouts after Thanksgiving with vaulting starting from short approaches. I eventually worked my way back to a longer run and partook in a couple meets in January and my personal favorite, pole vault heaven, the Reno Pole Vault Summit. Returning from Reno, track practices started. I then changed my schedule to track practices every day, weight lifting two of the days before practice, and vault practice the other two days after practice. For the past couple of weeks I have continued the schedule trying to maintain and build strength, which is imperative for pole vault, and keep working on different parts of my jump.
It's been a crazy past couple of months but it takes a lot of hard work to pole vault and I am willing to put it in and hopefully see more and more improvements as the season goes on. I'm continuing to get faster and stronger which will hopefully lead me to higher heights this year. Although this sport is very time consuming, I enjoy every bit of it and having a pole vault club has allowed me to practice surrounded by fellow pole vault friends who are doing it for the same reason as me, it's our passion and it's what we love to do.
I had a very exciting day on February 6th as I signed my National Letter of Intent for Vanderbilt University! I am looking forward to this upcoming track season and then being able to continue my pole vaulting career at a division 1 college where I can start a new and exciting chapter in my life!
Friday I have my first indoor high school meet of the season which is going to be very exciting. I also have the Windy City Pole Vault Summit on Saturday with many of my fellow pole vault friends from the Flying Dragons so this is a very exciting weekend!
Being my first blog, I wanted to give my background and let everyone know what I've been doing the past couple of months in the off season. My next blogs should be more in detail of my training and what is currently going on in the life of a pole vaulter.
