Mansfield junior Shade Weygandt has won the last two 5A pole vault titles and set the state meet record last year with a vault of 13 feet, 7 inches. At the 5A Region I meet in April, she vaulted a personal best 13-10, which is about a foot better than the best of her 5A competition.

But she'll still be very motivated this weekend.

"When you're a pole-vaulter, you kind of get greedy," she said. "When you get a height, you want to go higher."

Weygandt often makes that look easy, but it hasn't always been that way. In January 2006, she set a national record for sophomores by clearing 13-6.

In the three months that followed, Weygandt struggled to clear anything above 13 feet. But she doesn't dwell on that.

"If you overthink it, that can be very harmful for you," she said. "You just have to relax and go get it."

Matt Wixon