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No. 5: SHSU pole vaulter puts fitting cap on super college career

By Cody Stark
Assistant Sports Editor
Who would have ever thought Sam Houston State senior Jennie Sewell would have had the type of year she did in 2007, especially since she took 2006 off to study abroad in France and get completely healthy?

But the Bearkat pole vaulter put the finishing touches on a brilliant college track and field career with a performance for the history books.

Sewell, a six-time Southland Conference champion heading into the ’07 season, won nine straight outdoor meet titles in the spring and became the first Bearkat to ever win an event in an NCAA regional. She also won the pole vault on a cold, rainy day at the Texas Relays.

Oh, and there is one more thing to mention. Sewell also had the highest finish ever by a Bearkat at the NCAA Track and Field Championships. She placed fifth at the NCAA national meet in Sacramento, Calif., which was good enough to earn All-America honors.

Things started to fall into place for Sewell on April 8 in Austin. On a miserable day for track and field, Sewell cleared 3.95 meters, or 12 feet, 11 1/2 inches in her first attempt. Because the weather was so brutal, that height stood up, and Sewell made Bearkat history for the first of three times in 2007, becoming the school’s lone Texas Relays champ.

“I think that was the most fun I’ve had all year,â€Â

She had a great year!! I was lucky to coach her during her senior season.

Yes, she had a great year and Kat you did a heckuva job with her, y'all were a great team. As miserable as the weather was at her Texas Relays victory, that is going to be one of my favorite Relays' memories, Jennie staying tough and leaving with that watch and smile.

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In fact, even head coach Bubba Thornton's favorite Relays memory is not about an event record being broken or an all-out race to the finish in front of the lights and cameras.

"One of the neatest things happened to me during the Relays last year," Thornton said. "There was this girl, I don't know her name, in the women's pole vault. We had severe weather last year, and one of the events we had to cancel was the pole vault - it was just too bad. So we are watching the weather and we see about a two-and-a-half-hour break in the weather, where it looks like we can squeeze in the woman's pole vault. So we start the pole vault and every one of the pole vaulters all showed up to compete, and the girl that ends up winning is just there with tears in her eyes. You know she has been working for that her whole life, since she started track and field that has been her dream - to win at the Texas Relays."

To some, it may be just another event. To others, it's their Super Bowl.