“STATE SURPRISE!” Olivia Carney of Rockport Fulton Impresses With a State Medal in the Pole Vault

There were nine contestants in the Class 4A girls pole vault competition that took place on Thursday, and every one of them had cleared at least 11 feet at the regional level.

As soon as the competition was over, the one contender who hadn’t been there was beaming as brightly as anybody else.

Olivia Carney, a sophomore from Rockport-Fulton, beat her previous best clearance twice at the UIL State level. She cleared 11 feet and 11-6, which allowed her to finish third and bring home a medal. This was her first time competing at the state level.

“I was nervous and sick to my stomach,” Carney added that she was feeling. “I didn’t think I was going to get third.” Even though she had missed the final time at 12-0, Carney claimed that she was unaware that she was sitting in third place, surpassing three other competitors who had missed fewer times. The moment she became aware of the situation, she broke down in tears, overtaken with happiness.

“The judge came up and I asked if we had to jump off and he told me only first place had to jump off,” Carney explained to reporters. You must remain because you are in third place… I was like, ‘No way,’ and I immediately started crying. On her second attempt, Carney was able to clear 10-6, but on her first effort, she was able to make 11 and 11-6, which gave her the tie-break for the bronze medal.

Rockport-Fulton had not sent a female pole vaulter to the state competition since 2021 when Mikey Dominguez advanced to the next round and won a silver medal. The sophomore for the Pirates stated that it was a significant event because of this.

“I was kind of doing it for her, (the last pole vaulter Mikey Dominguez) and I did it to prove to everybody,” Carney explained to reporters. Since the beginning of the season, I have been under a lot of pressure to go to state. I placed a great deal of importance on it. It was such a relief when I finally qualified for state after completing the regionals and getting through them. All this time, I had been putting a lot of pressure on myself to succeed.

I didn’t go into it to win a medal or even try to win a medal; all I wanted was to set a personal record. My seed was the last one. Getting a medal was something I never imagined would be feasible at all.

Carney’s teammate Brody Karl, who competes for Rockport-Fulton, finished in fourth place in the Class 4A boys pole vault after accomplishing a clearance of 14-6. Karl placed just off the podium.

Jaicee Jasper of Sulphur Springs won the Class 4A girls’ state championship with a score of 13-0. Kira Bowman of Nevada Community finished in second place with the same score, but she had more attempts than Jaicee Jasper.