VERMILLION — Between overcoming a pair of rather serious injuries and preparing for a summer wedding, Bethany (Buell) Firsick had plenty of real-life outlets this year for her pursuit of a psychology degree. It also helped her in winning a Division I national championship in pole vault. Firsick, a fifth-year senior at the University of South Dakota, became the school’s first D-I national champion when she won the vaulting title at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in early June. For that performance, Firsick has been named College Women’s Athlete of the Year by the South Dakota Sportswriters Association, the second time in three years she earned the statewide honor. “It’s still kind of crazy to think about all of it,” she said, looking back on the year. “I go back to the feeling after the injury, not knowing if I would be able to finish it out. “All of that was icing on the cake.” The native of St. Louis, Mo., missed most of the outdoor track season with a torn ligament in her left shoulder, that required surgery after the national meet. Adding salt to the literal wound, Firsick also battled through torn ligaments in an ankle.
Did she expect a return after that injury?
“Not really,” she said, laughing.
“When it first happened, it was pretty drastic. I could hardly move it at all,” she added. “The doctors said, ‘You can try to vault, but it might not work.’ My coaches and I pretty much agreed, ‘Let’s put a pole in her hand and see what happens.’”
What happened was a second-place finish in the Summit League Outdoor Championships, and within a month, a national championship on her final jump.
It was another accomplishment on a USD resume that now includes five career conference titles (between the Great West and the Summit League) and three All-American honors at the D-I level — indoor and outdoor meets.
Those two injuries this spring could have easily derailed a once-promising season, according to USD women’s track coach Lucky Huber.
“She knew she was there, being ranked number one all season, but with that injury, it was like, ‘Shucks, this could have been the year,’” Huber said.
With vaulting coach Derek Miles helping managing her number of vaults, Firsick battled through rehabilitation.
“Certain kids are really tough, they like to compete, but it takes a lot of mental toughness,” Huber said. “With a kid like Bethany, she thinks, ‘OK, it’s time to do it, it doesn’t matter if I’m banged up.’”
The challenge for Firsick now is: How do you repeat a national championship performance?
Simple, she says.
“Being my last season, I just want to have fun with it and enjoy it; see how high I can jump,” Firsick said.
Huber heard a similar message at the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Convention, held earlier this month in Orlando, Fla.
Indiana high jumper Derek Drouin earned the male Bowerman Trophy (the track equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) and during his acceptance speech, talked about having to motivate himself for the 2013 season after earning silver at the 2012 Olympics.
“To get yourself up again and repeat it, that’s the challenge here with Bethany,” Huber said. “We know the things to do, we have the proven model, but it comes down to, ‘Are you hungry enough?’”
With eight of the top 10 finishers from the outdoor national meet set to return, Firsick’s climb back to the peak of the Division I vaulting world figures to again be challenging. She will be joined by junior teammate Emily Grove, who finished seventh last spring.
Understandably, Firsick will enter her senior seasons (indoor and outdoor) with a target on her back when the Coyotes open their indoor season Jan. 17 at the Holiday Inn Invitational in Lincoln, Neb.
“Derek likes to remind me of that,” she said, with a chuckle. “I have certain personal benchmarks that I want to accomplish.”
Among those goals is reaching the hallowed 14-feet-9 range, which Firsick said was her goal last season before getting hurt. Her career best stands at 14-feet-7.5.
That’s where he focus will remain, rather than worrying about what some of the other vaulters across the nation are doing.
“I’ve realized that when I get too concerned with everyone else, I’m not close to my potential,” Firsick said. “I’ll do all I can, but if they beat me, they were the better competitor.
“I understand that’s how sports works.”
