Multi-talented Rodriguez medals in pole vault at District Championships
CALN >> Her mastery of two sports is helping Camaryn Rodriguez refine her skills in a third.
Rodriguez is literally reaching new heights as a pole vaulter for the Methacton girls track team this spring. The Warrior junior continued her upward trek in the event Friday, placing fourth in the Class AAA competition during the District 1 Championships at Coatesville.
Rodriguez was one of the Pioneer Athletic Conference’s top medal finishers in the field, a field of 10 competitors reaching the awards stand. She was the conference’s top performer in the event, heading Spring-Ford’s Melissa Israel in fifth place.
And Rodriguez owes part of her success in her first year of pole vaulting to her background in gymnastics and club swimming.
“I previously participated in gymnastics my whole life,” she said. “People told me to try pole vault because they said gymnasts do well in it.”
As a member of the Sylvia’s Gymnastics club, Rodriguez had been training at Level 9 when she took up track. She was also a diver in swimming.
As a scholastic pole vaulter, Camaryn has been coming into her own these past couple weeks.
She went 10-9 at the PAC meet, beating out Israel (10-6) for the gold medal. On an unsettled weather day at Coatesville, she cleared 10-6 — a foot off her personal best (11-6), but sufficient to get her in next weekend’s PIAA Championships at Shippensburg University.
“It definitely wasn’t one of my personal bests,” Rodriguez said, “but coach says making states was the priority. I didn’t miss any jumps prior to the bar being set at 11 feet after I hit 10-6.”
As for weather conditions that improved noticeably in the afternoon hours, marked by a period of sunshine toward the end of the day’s activities …
“The wind wasn’t a big factor,” she said, “but the rain at the beginning of the meet made it interesting. We had to cover our poles and stand under umbrellas.”
The overall unsettled weather during the spring season helped condition Rodriguez to the day’s inclement conditions.
“In other meets, the conditions were worse. Windy, and some snow,” she noted.
In anticipation of the state meet, Rodriguez is shooting for some loftier heights.
“My goal is to jump 12 feet at states,” she said. “There’s a lot of good competition in Pennsylvania. Some are jumping 13 feet.”
Elsewhere around the PAC girls’ field, Christina Warren was third in the long jump at 17-8. The Viking junior also won her qualifying heat of the 100 low hurdles, clocking a 14.03 that improved on the 14.60 she ran to win last week’s league meet.
Pottsgrove’s Miazziah Rose was eighth in the AAA high jump, clearing 4-11, and Perkiomen Valley’s Dorian Philpot also went eighth in the shot put with a throw of 35-11½.
In boys AAA, three PAC contestants made the medal stand in the discus. Champion Pat Maloney placed third with a 156-2 — he had gone 149-7 to win at PACs — ahead of Owen J. Roberts’ Aidan Hayward (fourth, 151-0) and Pottsgrove’s Justin Adams (eighth, 141-8).
The AAA high jump action saw Perkiomen Valley’s Cole Peterlin placed sixth at 6-1, and Boyertown’s Ethan Michaels eight at 5-11.
NOTES >> District competition resumes 9 a.m. Saturday with the running of the 3,200 for boys and girls in both Class AAA and AA. In the field, the girls AAA and AA triple jump lead the schedule of 14 finals.
