Meissner leads Saucon Valley to title
May 12, 2006
By Beth Hudson
Of The Morning Call
Saucon Valley's Jacque Meissner didn't go out for the track team until her junior year — not that you'd ever guess that by looking at her results.
Though still a relative newcomer to the sport, the senior left the Colonial League Track and Field Championships with four individual gold medals — including a meet record of 11-3 in her favorite event, the pole vault.
''I love it,'' said Meissner, who started vaulting only last summer. ''It's so much fun. I'm really happy I decided to try it.''
Her natural aptitude in the event opened a door at Penn State, where she'll be vaulting next season.
On Thursday, however, Meissner was busy leading Saucon Valley to a team title at Bangor Memorial Park. The Panther girls scored 153.2 points and ran away with the championship over Southern Lehigh (90).
Senior thrower Jackie Freund won two events for the Panthers, while Southern Lehigh's Steph Bearish and Palmerton's Casey Ord also took home two individual golds.
It was a rewarding night for Meissner, who was a bit nervous coming into the meet.
''I didn't do too well at leagues last year,'' she said. ''[But] I just had to believe in myself. I've been fighting an injury for a while in my shin.''
Even so, Meissner cleared 11-3, more than enough to decimate the former meet record of 9-6. She sprinted to victory in the 100-meter dash in 12.9 seconds — one-tenth of a second better than Northern Lehigh's Erika Shafer.
To top it off, Meissner won the long jump and triple jump by a matter of inches over Ord. Meissner leaped 35-0 in the triple jump (Ord reached 34-10) and 15-11 in the long jump (Ord jumped 15-91/2).
But Saucon Valley coach Ed Kolosky believes the best is yet to come.
''The nice thing is I'm not worried about burnout with Jacque,'' Kolosky said. ''She's going to have an illustrious career at Penn State. Some athletes, they're done with track after their senior year. It will be interesting to see what Penn State holds in store for her.''
