Don't be fooled by Gaffey's modesty; she earned gold

Scranton Times Tribune
By: Donnie Collins
05/28/2005


Right now it must be pretty cool to be Amber Gaffey. She has the school record she wanted. Has the personal record she wanted. Has her gold medal and, much to the dismay of the state's Class AA pole vaulters, has two more years to build on all of that.

The Susquehanna sophomore climbed down from her perch atop the medal stand at the PIAA Track and Field Championships on Friday, flashed an "ah-shucks" smile, and insisted she never expected to be the state pole vault champion.

Truth is, it surprised few others. If it surprised anyone at all. Being the best may not have entered Gaffey's mind, but she has worked at it like it's the only thing she has ever thought about.
 
This is the story of a talented vaulter who entered her second state meet the top seed in the AA girls event by six inches over her nearest competition. Arguably, that made her the biggest gold-medal favorite in the entire AA competition. It is the story of a girl who missed only two jumps before sailing over the bar set at 11-feet, 3-inches, breaking her own school record, hitting the goal she set for herself before the competition.

 It's also the story of a kid and a family who have made sacrifices.

 When she finished seventh grade, Gaffey knew the pole vault would be the focus of her athletic pursuits.

 So she quit her first love, gymnastics, and started taking pole vault lessons. In Allentown . That meant 90-minute drives twice a week for her parents, Robert and Dawn, back and forth on the road leading their daughter to her dream of joining former state pole-vault champ Jim Corse and legendary hurdler Teresa Covert in the annals of Susquehanna track history.

 "I practice it for two hours each time I'm there," Gaffey said.

 It shows.

 Almost systematically, she eliminated her competition. Two sophomores seeded just below her, Harbor Creek's Amanda Carpin and Reynolds' Kimberly Preston, were gone before Gaffey could break a sweat at 10-foot-9. Hickory junior Mandy Carine bettered her 10-foot-6 qualifying mark by clearing 11-feet on her final try. That was the only thing that prevented Gaffey from claiming the title earlier than she actually did.

 A lot of gymnasts become good pole vautlers, Gaffey said. Not a lot of them become champion pole vaulters, though.

 Maybe she never expected all this success just yet. Then again, maybe the signs pointed there all along.

 Consider her gymnastics background, which probably trumps the one dent in her armor. While all her opponents used a speedy approach as their primary power source, Gaffey uses the body control she learned in gymnastics.

 Her foot speed, admittedly, isn't good enough on its own to propel her higher.

 Her strength is her physical strength, her ability to swing herself upward, higher and farther, than anyone else in her class. That's precisely what she did Friday and probably what she will do again next year and the year after that.

 "I think of what I want to do," Gaffey said, when asked if she's started looking to the future yet, "and I go from there."

 She never imagined she would go there the first time.

 How can anyone not imagine it happening again?

© 2005 Vertical Assault