Incoming SBHS senior finishes 2nd in pole vault at Junior
Olympic regionals after clearing 9-03
Although she was disappointed with her height in the pole vault
competition at the Region 14 Junior Olympics Track and Field
Championships last weekend, Sophie Coelho should find some solace
in the fact that she qualified to nationals.
Incoming SBHS senior finishes 2nd in pole vault at Junior Olympic regionals after clearing 9-03
Although she was disappointed with her height in the pole vault competition at the Region 14 Junior Olympics Track and Field Championships last weekend, Sophie Coelho should find some solace in the fact that she qualified to nationals.
“Definitely a little bit disappointed in the height,” Coelho said, “but the ranking was okay.”
Clearing a height of 9-03 last Saturday at the Junior Olympics regionals in Bakersfield, Coelho fell three inches short of her personal record, but advanced to the national meet, nonetheless.
“She destroyed that height,” San Benito High track and field coach Julio Trinidad said.
An incoming senior at SBHS, Coelho took second overall behind Kayla Kamaka (10-03 1/4) of Roseville, but managed to stave off Santa Clara’s Colette L’Heureux (9-03) in the end.
“She’s been the one I’ve been wanting to beat,” Coelho said of L’Heureux, who took first place with a 10-0 vault at the Central Coast Section Track and Field Trials in May, only to finish in eighth place at the CCS championships with a 9-06 vault one week later.
“She’s had it over me for so long,” Coelho added.
Coelho, who missed the cut at the CCS Trials with an 8-06, has certainly seen her vaulting ability improve somewhat drastically since the completion of the prep season. Already known for her speed – she was the first leg on the girls’ 4×100 relay team this past season – Coelho has become a “savage” in the weight room, Trinidad said.
“She’s programmed like a machine,” the coach added. “She works hard, trains hard, and she’s bringing it with everything she has. She clearly flipped the switch from a seasonal vaulter into a committed all-around (vaulter).”
And after a disappointing 8-06 at the CCS Trials in May, Coelho set a personal record of 9-06 at the Pacific Association Junior Olympics in Livermore earlier this month, owing the significant improvement to a developed form and stronger work ethic.
“Now she’s way more advanced in her training,” Trinidad said.
Clearing 9-03 on her first attempt in Bakersfield, though, Coelho didn’t think it’d be enough in order to place in the top three at regionals and earn a nationals bid.
“I didn’t think it’d be,” she said, “but a couple of girls didn’t show up and I slipped in there.”
Partly due to its cross-country distance, however, Coelho doesn’t plan on attending the 43rd USATF National Junior Olympic Track and Field Championships, scheduled for July 28, in Greensboro, N.C.
But nevertheless, she did qualify.
“It would have been fun to go,” she said, “but maybe next year.”
