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Chandler, Arizona –Clearing her head was just as important to Vanessa Davis as clearing the 13-foot mark in Saturday’s pole vault event at the 74th annual Chandler Rotary. After clearing 12-6 early in the season a year ago, the Desert Vista junior focused on getting to 13 feet by the end of the year. Only she leveled off and stayed at 12-6 all year long before posting 12-9 toward the end. It left Davis, despite winning state, frustrated with her progress. So posting a mark of 13-foot early in this season bodes well for Davis. She has no plans of replicating last year’s season when she seemed to get stagnant, especially considering she nearly cleared 13-5, which would have been the state record, on Saturday. “It means so much to get to 13,” said Davis, who tied the Chandler Rotary meet record. “I’ve been so focused on it for so long that now I can move past it.” Thunder pole vault coach Jeff Guy said it was huge after not performing as expected last week at the indoor nationals. “The difference is being a 16-year-old sophomore compared to a 17-year- old junior,” Guy said. “As she has matured as a student athlete her confidence level has increased. She is on pace to have a great year. To have already cleared 12-6 three times already is huge. Last year we wanted to be consistent at 12 feet. Now we are wanting to be 12-6 to 12-9 consistently and pop the big one every once in awhile.” more
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