Girls have only been pole vaulting for about a decade, but already many Dexter girls with pioneering spirits are making names for themselves. This year, the Dreadnaught girls turned in a bumper-crop of record performances. Jenny Heldt and Bailey Wandyg beat or matched school records 8 times, qualified for Regionals and placed in the top 4 at the State Championship meet in Caledonia. Three 9th graders, Rebecca Pilkerton, Christine Murray, and Carly Dalton, qualified for Regionals. Rebecca and Carly broke the freshman record five times and went to the State Championships as well.
To put this in perspective, last year, three Dexter girls went 9 feet on four occasions and broke school records three times. This year, three girls went 10 feet on 14 occasions and broke school records ten times. The Varsity, Senior, Junior and Freshmen records were increased by 15 inches to 2 feet.
In addition to these outstanding performances, most of the ten girl vaulters on the high school team and the half-dozen girls on the middle school team improved their personal records by a foot or more over the season.
The success was assisted by a community dedicated to providing sports access to girl vaulters. According to pole vault coach, Geoff Gerstner, “Many thanks have to go to the Joan C. Banfield Foundation and the Athletic Booster Club of Dexter. Both organizations provided needed new poles for our vaulters.” Just as bowling balls have different finger grips and weights, vaulting poles have to fit an athlete’s abilities and body weight perfectly. To this end, poles are manufactured in ten to seventeen foot lengths, at six-inch increments, and are made for athletes of specific body weights between 70 and 230 pounds, at 5-pound increments. Each pole costs nearly $300, and one athlete may require 3-5 poles in a season. “The generous donations helped sweep the girls to high achievements,” said Gerstner. “All of this year’s records were made on the new poles.”
In the pre-season, the vaulters held a “Gymnastics Class for Vaulters” at Champion Gymnastics, and this also had an impact. All records were broken by athletes with gymnastics training. Early morning winter practices kept muscle injuries to zero among athletes who participated regularly in the pre-season. And the speed and strength training programs provided by coaches Chris Hanlon, Tom Barberi and Geoffrey Gerstner gave the kids the skills necessary to be talented on the vault runway. “Our girls learned a lot about the rewards of dedication, cross-training, tough mental attitudes and hard physical work”, Gerstner said.
According to Gerstner, the girls became more united as a team after the freshmen girls organized a slumber party at Bekah Williamson’s house. They held hands and screamed while watching a scary movie together and made personalized pole vault t-shirts. They created a name for themselves, The Stick Sisters. “The event brought the girls together in ways I could not have done,” Gerstner said.
The girls will continue vaulting through the summer, while the weather is good. “We won’t go into hibernation this year when fall and winter come, though,” says Gerstner. “I hope to keep the girls involved in gymnastics, speed and strength training, and other programs that will keep their vaulting skills in tip-top shape. With this group of talented girls, continued hard work and community support, I think Dexter pole vaulting will become known statewide.”
Legend for picture. Dexter girl vaulters, left to right, Jenny Heldt, Meredith Bricault, Rebekah Williamson, Carly Dalton, Christine Murray, Rebecca Pilkerton, Alexis Bednarz, Janelle Heldt, and Bailey Wandyg and the new poles they used to break school records ten times. Not shown is Joan Wolfe, tenth member of the Dreadnaught girl vaulting team.
