Sierra Maddox probably could not have had a better day than the one she had Saturday. The Jackson senior and defending state champion pole vaulter repeated her state-winning height of 12 feet, 6 inches to retain her title and cap a flawless, undefeated senior season at the Class 4 state meet at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. “It felt really good,” Maddox said about winning state again. “I was at least hoping to break the state record, but unfortunately it didn’t happen today.” Maddox missed breaking that record, which was set in 2012 by Lee’s Summit West’s Brittany Kallenberger, by 4 inches. She did, however, finish 6 inches ahead of Lee’s Summit West sophomore Nicole Kallenberger and one foot above Camdenton senior Judy Keys to defend her title. In addition to being a repeat state champion, Maddox ended her high school track and field career with a perfect record as she did not lose a single meet all season long. “I mean, I would have liked for it to have happened, and it did,” she said. “But even if it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have been too depressed about it, so it worked out really well.” To prepare herself for the event, Maddox said she focused more on herself and less on her competitors. “I had some competition today, and I was just trying to think about how I would want to vault instead of worrying about them, so I knew I just had to worry about myself and how it would evolve.” The strategy worked well for Maddox, who ended her impressive high school track and field career. more
