Council Rock South’s Dominique Franco and Savannah Wood taking separate paths
NORTHAMPTON – Gymnasts since they were toddlers, the same athletic endeavors that have brought Council Rock South seniors Dominique Franco and Savannah Wood together are now sending each on separate paths.
Franco is headed to Villanova to continue her pole-vaulting career, but Wood is headed for warmer pastures.
While Franco also looked at Northeastern, she knew her heart belonged to ‘Nova.
“Honestly, Villanova was my number one choice and I knew that going into the whole college search,” said Dominique. “I knew that’s where I wanted to go and, after I took my visit, I knew that it was the perfect fit for me.”
While Savannah is still deciding between Jacksonville State and East Carolina universities, neither is in close proximity to the Main Line campus and ‘Nova’s Wildcats.
“I think it’s pretty cool that we’re both committing at the same time,” said Wood. “But it’s going to be weird not having her around because we’ve known each other since we were three.”
This pole-vaulting duo met each other as pre-schoolers trying to learn gymnastics at Paradise Gymnastics in Trevose (now, Leaps and Bounders).
At South, the two girls have taken what they’ve learned and transformed it into success on the pole vaulting circuit. Both made their college intentions known at a signing ceremony held recently on Rock Way.
Dominique holds the freshman indoor record of nine-feet, six inches. The previous record was nine feet held by CR South alum Tory Worthen, who was recently inducted into the Council Rock Sports Hall of Fame.
Franco has cleared 12-4 this season indoors and she is trying to break the school record of 12-6.75, which is held by Worthen.
Ironically, Franco’s coach is Worthen’s father Ken, who also coached Tory before she graduated in 2009 and took her game to the Ivy League at Princeton.
Franco credits Worthen – the coach, not the Lady Tigers’ pole-vaulter – with introducing her to the sport.
“He has helped me tremendously,” said Franco. “He is the one who introduced me to the sport and it really helped.
“He brought me up and showed me how to connect everything to gymnastics.
“I’ve done gymnastics most of my life and it was easier to make the transition with him.
“Between him and the help of my (Philadelphia Jumps) Club coaches, they’ve all helped me enormously over the last two years so I have to give them all a lot of credit.”
Wood also sang Coach Worthen’s praises.
“The program here has prepared me a lot,” said Savannah, whose top height is 11-9. “I think I had one of the best coaches around for high school pole vaulting.
“The coaches and teachers here prepare you very well for what lies ahead.”
What lies immediately ahead for Wood is her big decision. She like the coaches at Jacksonville State, but East Carolina has the major that she’s considering – pre-med.
“The coaches are very nice and I like the scenery; it’s really beautiful there,” she commented on Jacksonville State.
And East Carolina?
“They have every academic thing that I want,” she says.
Meanwhile, it’s nice having one more season to hang around with her old pal, Dominique.
“I like to have someone to compete against me because it makes me better and it makes me more competitive,” she said of Franco’s presence among the vaulters at CR South.
“It’s just nice to have her on the team with me.”
NOTES: Clearing 12 feet, inches, 10.75 Amanda Benninghoff (Class of 2013) holds the highest mark set at CR South during the outdoor season, breaking the old record set by Tory Worthern (2009), who, during her time at Princeton, was the first eight-time pole vaulting champion in Ivy League history. Worthen set a new record in the 2012 Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track & Field Championships by clearing 13-6.25. Benninghoff recently took fifth at the ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a personal best of 13-4.25.
Contact the author at ssherman@21st-Centurymedia.com or @BucksLocalSport on Twitter
