One's a football player. The other's a cheerleader. Yet Rockwall's Grant Gunderson and Shelby Kennard both have the fearlessness and tenacity to succeed in the pole vault.

Gunderson, a strong safety in football, won the 5A Region II title with a personal-best vault of 15-6. He will be making his first trip to the state track meet. Kennard, a member of Rockwall's award-winning cheerleading squad, will be making her third trip to state.

"It takes a Type-A personality to do this sport, the type that never quits," Rockwall vaulting coach Toby Howell said. "They're very much go-getters."

Kennard placed third at state last year. She was second at regionals with a height of 12-0, below her personal-best 12-7.

"But at practice, I've been going over 13 and 13-6, so hopefully I'll get there," Kennard said.

Both have spent long hours at the pole vault pit, working on technique until well after dark.

"I think you've got to have a good attitude about things because it's a technical sport and a lot of things can go wrong," Gunderson said. "You've just got to be persistent with it."

Gunderson wears a helmet in football, but not when he goes 15 feet in the air. Likewise, Kennard said she feels more at home sailing over a crossbar than doing a basket toss in cheerleading.

"No, I never was afraid [to pole vault]," Kennard said. "Whenever they [cheerleaders] throw me up and have me do back-flips, that gets kind of scary."

Keith Whitmire