It was ecstasy.
Bethany Buell popped off the mat, leapt into the air and raced to her coach. The University of South Dakota’s pole vaulting pride and joy had just done the unimaginable. She won the national championship. Buell cleared 14 feet, 7.25 inches on her final jump to tie the NCAA record and give her the crown. She hugged Derek Miles, her pole vault coach, a three-time Olympian and, until this moment, the best vaulter to compete for the Coyotes. None of this would have been possible if not for Miles. His savvy and experience in the training room and the runway combined with Buell’s desire, work ethic and pain tolerance were an unstoppable force at Friday’s NCAA national championships at the University of Oregon in Eugene. But it was a moment that nearly never happened. It was a championship that could have dissipated with every obstacle that landed in Buell’s path. Instead, the 2009 Summit graduate conquered them, one by one.
It was agony. more at SuburbanJournals
