Justin Northwest pole vaulter Desiree Freier isn't afraid of

[CowtownPV]

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/26 ... ulter.html


Justin Northwest pole vaulter Desiree Freier isn't afraid of reaching new heights
.A By Austin Ries

Special to the Star-Telegram

In the final moments of her vault -- just before completing a 180-degree rotation to her left while pushing herself up and over the bar in a single motion -- Justin Northwest's Desiree Freier is almost completely inverted in the air.

Her eyes are looking a few feet above the bar and her legs are slightly bent at the knee. Her toes are pointed straight up and her blonde-streaked ponytail dangles below like a tassel on a graduate's mortarboard.


View photos
This is the moment Freier lives for. The moment where success and failure are separated by only fractions of an inch. The moment she forgets the one thing that should have stopped her from first attempting a vault four years ago.

"I'm actually afraid of heights," Freier said. "That's the ironic part of it all."

The 14-year-old is well aware she is an enigma in a sport fueled by the constant thirst to raise the bar. But unlike riding a roller coaster or climbing to the summit of a mountain, she wasn't afraid to try pole vaulting.

"It goes by really fast and you don't have to watch yourself climb up like in a roller coaster," Freier said. "Other than the bar you really don't see much."

The District 7-5A champion, who won't turn 15 until July, is going into the Class 5A Region I meet next week with the highest jump in the region, at 12 feet, 2 inches. Last week the freshman cleared 12-7 with her body at the Saginaw regional qualifier's meet, but couldn't throw the pole far enough away to keep it from hitting the bar.

"She got over [12-7] so that should give her some confidence going into regionals," Northwest girls track coach Melanie Green said.

The extent of Freier's dedication to pole vaulting is much clearer away from Northwest's outdoor track and inside the 10,000-square-foot building in the back yard of her Haslet home.

That is where her stepdad and private coach George Rodriguez runs the Elite Vaulter Sportz Complex -- a facility built specifically for vaulters of all ages to learn and practice year-round.

"[Desiree] picked it up pretty quick and has jumped consistently high for her age since she started," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez, who pole vaulted for Arlington High School from 1968 to 1972 and at North Texas, has been the director of Elite Sportz for eight years while working full-time at Bell Helicopter.

Despite being only 5-feet tall, Freier has two of the most important assets for pole vaulting -- speed and strength. Along with vaulting, Freier also runs the first leg of the 4x100-meter relay for the Lady Texans.

"She's very compact like a gymnast and she's very fast," Rodriguez said. "Sometimes I'd like to see her get excited, but she competes at one level and I think it's paid off for her."

Freier might not be the type of athlete that yells or pumps her fists after clearing a bar, but she still gets excited about some things. Like getting a letter from UCLA -- the first of many expected universities to come calling.

"I was really surprised and I was jumping up and down screaming," Freier said.

She still has some time before making any decision about college. For now, she wants to clear 12-9 1/2 by July to beat the national record for 14-year-olds.

Raising the bar is a natural goal for any competitive pole vaulter.

Even one who is afraid of heights.



Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/04/26 ... z1Kitio5bP

[belmore]

great article, really great kid.