Plymouth, Michigan –They call themselves the Space Whales. But a more appropriate name for Plymouth’s trio of state finals-bound pole vaulters might be the Shooting Stars. Senior Jane McCurry is the ringleader. She is in her fourth season with Plymouth’s varsity girls track and field team and registered a vault of 11 feet, 10 inches at the Dearborn Heights Crestwood Charger Invitational — the best mark of the season by any female in the state. It’s also the Plymouth school record. Right there with her, flying through the air with the greatest of ease, are seniors Taylor Rieckhoff and Sarah Uhlian. McCurry won the Division 1 regionals with a mark of 11-2, with Rieckhoff (10-10) and Uhlian (10-10) taking the second and fourth spots, respectively. A fourth Space Whale, Megan McKeehan, also is going to the state finals after finishing seventh at regionals with a mark of 9-10. Salem’s Nancy Krutty (10-10) and Canton’s Emily Lang (10-6) also qualified, although Krutty will not be able to compete due to an injury sustained during a Salem soccer game. Triple threat McCurry, Rieckhoff and Uhlian all are seeded in the top eight entering Saturday’s D1 finals at East Kentwood, much to the delight of Plymouth head coach Ricky Styes. “We’re hoping all three of them are seeded at the state meet to finish in the top eight places and be all-state,” Styes said. “There’s a chance all three could be all-state vaulters for us this year.” Styes added how comforting it is as a team knowing the Space Whales are so consistently incredible in that particular event. “We go into a meet knowing we’re going to score a lot of points in the pole vault,” Styes said. “At regionals they went 1-2-4, so between … them we scored 24-25 points just from the three of them. “They’re a special group. It’s going to be hard to lose them. They’ve definitely left their mark, their legacy, here for sure.” Being part of an exclusive club also helps them make a big, competitive splash.
“The Churchill coach, a couple years ago, had a vault club called the Sky Sharks,” said McCurry, also teammates with Uhlian on Plymouth’s varsity gymnastics team. “So we were always making fun of him, so we decided to be the Space Whales to kind of one-up their own name.”
Styes said Plymouth vaulting coach Kevin Palmer was the instigator of the catchy nickname. The pole vaulters sometimes don Space Whales T-shirts for meets.
“I like the nickname. I think it’s unique,” chimed in Rieckhoff.
Of course, that nickname only underscores the fun and friendship McCurry, Rieckhoff (who also qualified for the state finals in the long jump) and Uhlian relish thanks to being on the Plymouth track squad.
“The three of them are inseparable,” Styes said. “They are great friends, they support each other. But they love to beat each other. They compete. Sarah and Taylor will fight to see who beats who in practice. It’s been nice to have three girls that perform very well in what they do.”
Rieckhoff, slated to run next year in the NAIA at Siena Heights University, said it is “really great that all three of us get to go as friends. We’ve just all worked so hard throughout the summer and the season. Not only is it great that I’m going, but to share it with those two, Jane and Sarah, is even better.”
The others offer similar thoughts.
“We have worked so hard for the past four years and hope that it shows on Saturday,” Uhlian said. “Throughout this year, we have done a great job as a team of sweeping most of our meets (places 1-3), while also continuously achieving new personal records, and I am so grateful to be a part of such a successful team. Beyond working together, I am proud to say that we are all best friends.”
Launching pad
McCurry, meanwhile, who will join the University of Wisconsin women’s track team in 2014, acknowledged she gets an adrenaline rush out of pole vaulting. It’s almost like one of her routines in gymnastics, another sport in which she is an all-stater (as is Uhlian).
“Yeah, I love it,” McCurry said. “I still kind of get a heart-jump feeling every once in a while.”
Uhlian, excited to qualify in the pole vault for the first time, noted that the gymnastics team is a perfect place to recruit newbies to the Space Whales.
“We recruit girls from the Plymouth gymnastics team because gymnasts already have a sense of body control and the strength that is needed for pole vault,” Uhlian said. “Additionally, you have to be a little crazy to fling yourself in the air as high as we do, and gymnasts definitely have the mental strength to go for it.
“I have been doing gymnastics for about 14 years and I know that it led to my success as a pole vaulter.” more at Hometownlife.com
