She started as a dancer. Now, she’s breaking records in the pole vault.
In the minutes and seconds before Lafayette senior pole vaulter Sarah Ferguson sends her body skyward, there isn’t much that crosses her mind.
A check of her hand placement on the pole, maybe some words of encouragement whispered under her breath.
Then, a couple jerks of the pole to her right hip before the run toward the vaulting pit and the contortion of her body that’s a necessity to clear heights rarely seen at the high-school level in Kentucky.
The Lafayette senior took home the girls’ pole vault title at Friday night’s Class 3A, Region 6 track and field championships in Winchester, clearing a mark of 13 feet, 6 inches with her best vault.
The mark is believed to be a region meet record, but it’s not even the best Ferguson has jumped this week.
On Tuesday night during a field-events only meet in Oldham County, Ferguson — who will compete collegiately at Washington — cleared 14 feet, setting a new personal best.
If Ferguson clears 13 feet, 6 inches during June’s state meet at the Kentucky Outdoor Track and Field Complex in Lexington, it would be a new Class 3A and overall state record.
But Ferguson has learned to not keep numbers in her mind during meets.
“I would be thinking about the 14-foot bar at the 12-foot bar, and that’s not really something you can do,” Ferguson said of her junior year approach. “This year (as a senior) I’ve just let that go and just gotten back to jumping, and things just roll a lot smoother.”
Ferguson only dedicated herself to pole vaulting in recent years.
From the fourth through eighth grades, Ferguson went to the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA) in Lexington.
Like her other friends at SCAPA, Ferguson was a dancer, although admittedly not a great one.
But after taking part in tumbling lessons and successfully doing a back tuck, Ferguson’s mother — who ran cross country and track at Kentucky — suggested that Ferguson try pole vault.
Ferguson began going to a pole vault club the summer before her freshman year, and developed a rivalry with her same-aged stepsister that helped Ferguson fall in love with the sport.
“Dance might have given me a little bit of space awareness, body awareness, but I was not very good at dance,” Ferguson explained. “I was never a gymnast, so I had to build in that upper body strength after starting pole vault.”
Already a state-title winner, Ferguson said she pays some attention to other pole vault heights cleared from around the country, but she’s more concerned with her own individual performances at each meet.
As for the future?
Ferguson said she clicked well with Toby Stevenson, Washington’s associate head coach for the track and field program, and the coach that works with UW pole vaulters.
Stevenson, who won the silver medal in pole vault at the 2004 Summer Olympics, previously coached at Kentucky.
Ferguson’s college decision came down to Washington and Kentucky, the school that both of her parents and brothers attended, and the campus that Ferguson lives five minutes from.
So why make the decision to go nearly 2,400 miles away from home to Seattle?
“I just wanted an adventure,” Ferguson said. “I figured if I was going to do something crazy, it would be now. . . . I just went for it.”
Ferguson also hopes to continue pole vaulting beyond the collegiate level, if possible.
“I want to keep loving it and keep getting better,” Ferguson said. “I know if I’m enjoying it and I’m with a good group of people, that’s how the higher level will come.”
Future UK women’s basketball player steps up
In a couple months, Anderson County’s Amiya Jenkins — the 2022 Kentucky Miss Basketball — will be taking the court at Memorial Coliseum for the University of Kentucky as part of a revamped Wildcats roster that will feature six freshmen and 10 total newcomers to the team.
For now though, Jenkins is still an Anderson County Bearcat, and she turned in a trio of top finishes in track events for her high school Friday night.
Jenkins finished second in both the 100-meter hurdles and the triple jump, and third in the high jump during the Class 3A, Region 6 meet.
Haggard helps Dunbar secure girls’ region championship
Lafayette was the defending girls’ Class 3A, Region 6 champion, but it was Paul Laurence Dunbar that came away with top honors Friday in Winchester.
A big reason was the performance of freshman Isabela Haggard, who won three events for the Bulldogs.
Haggard finished first in the long jump, triple jump and high jump, helping score the points necessary for Dunbar to win the team title.
Paul Laurence Dunbar finished in first in the girls’ team standings, with Lafayette second and Bryan Station third.
Distance and relay results help Tates Creek to boys’ title
Lafayette was also the defending boys’ Class 3A, Region 6 champion, but the title was passed along to Tates Creek on Friday night.
Success in relay races and distance runs helped the Commodores to the boys’ title.
Tates Creek won the 4-by-200-meter relay by just 0.01 seconds over Woodford County, and Tates Creek took home second in the 4-by-100 relay.
The Commodores ran first and second in the 1,600 meters, with senior Reeve VanDemark winning the event ahead of junior Philip Lamartiniere.
VanDemark won the 800 meters by 0.01 over Lafayette senior Daniel Whitaker, and Lamartiniere sailed to victory in the 3,200, winning by more than 14 seconds with Paul Laurence Dunbar freshman Noah Mathews in second.
Tates Creek finished in first in the boys’ team standings, with Woodford County in second and Lafayette in third.
Results
First-place finishers in each of Friday’s events:
GIRLS
4-by-800 relay: Lafayette (Meredith Wilson, Sophia Cahill, Ileanna Wilson, Anaya Brown), 10:00.10; 100 hurdles: Keira Antoni (Paul Laurence Dunbar), :16.97; 100: Sanaa Washington (Bryan Station), :12.72; 4-by-200 relay: Bryan Station (Taniyah Hines, Jatajza Pinkney, Neveah Taylor, Ta’Shya Cramer), 1:46.69; 4-by-100 relay: Bryan Station (Taniyah Hines, Sanaa Washington, Mikayla Garrard, Jatajza Pinkney), :50.52; 400: Maquoia Raglin (Scott County), :59.93; 300 hurdles: Keira Antoni (Paul Laurence Dunbar), :45.61; 200: Sanaa Washington (Bryan Station), :25.89; Shot put: Trinity Gottler (Anderson County), 39-8; Discus: Trinity Gottler (Anderson County), 134-0; Long jump: Isabela Haggard (Paul Laurence Dunbar), 17-1; Triple jump: Isabela Haggard (Paul Laurence Dunbar), 38-3; High jump: Isabela Haggard (Paul Laurence Dunbar), 5-0; Pole vault: Sarah Ferguson (Lafayette), 13-6; 1,600: Maggie Twehues (Woodford County), 5:34.60; 800: Anaya Brown (Lafayette), 2:24.36; 3,200: Anna Gedritis (Paul Laurence Dunbar), 11:58.77; 4-by-400 relay: Henry Clay (Elliott Pennell, Olivia Sparks, Janna Whaley, Ainsley Wilson), 4:06.57.
BOYS
4-by-800 relay: Woodford County (Sawyer Ford, Jase Crume, Ryan Hendrix, Jackson Gordon), 8:20.06; 110 hurdles: Ishan Cooper (Henry Clay), :15.77; 100: Adrian Jones (Montgomery County), 10:92; 4-by-200 relay: Tates Creek (Braylon Grady, Matthew Underwood, Cartez Guy, Michael Webb), 1:30.55; 4-by-100 relay: Frederick Douglass (AJ Matthews, Tate Johnson, Kerrington Eubanks, Deiron White), :43.48; 400: Jackson Gordon (Woodford County), :50.52; 300 hurdles: Ishan Cooper (Henry Clay), :42.09; 200: Jeremy Hamilton (Scott County), :22.24; Shot put: Cristian Rodriguez (Scott County), 49-4.5; Discus: Grant Garrison (Woodford County), 140-6; Long jump: Tyleik Maxwell (Clark County), 21-5; Triple jump: Javon Adams (Lafayette), 43-11.5; High jump: Tyleik Maxwell (Clark County), 6-2; Pole vault: Rodney Potts (Montgomery County), 12-0; 1,600: Reeve VanDemark (Tates Creek), 4:32.55; 800: Reeve VanDemark (Tates Creek), 2:01.66; 3,200: Philip Lamartiniere (Tates Creek), 9:49.09; 4-by-400 relay: Lafayette (Benjamin Tussey, Reed Richardson, Daniel Whitaker, Jackson Stone), 3:30.14; Shot put (Wheelchair): Jacob Pendleton (Great Crossing), 24-0.5;
MIXED
Shot put (Unified): Jenna Blevins (Clark County); Long jump (Unified): Elijah Fyffe (Clark County); 2-by-50 relay: Clark County; 4-by-100 shuttle hurdle relay: Clark County; 2-by-200 relay: Clark County.
