(This is a continuation from Part 1 of this article)
Kelley went on to add, "I haven't had the best two weeks and I was really nervous going into today". "Every once in a while I get real superstitious. Last night I was sitting in my bed at the hotel thinking 'This is what happened last year and I took second.' I kept thinking 'What could I do different?'"
Kelley started off with a clearance of 14 feet and 6 inches. Of the five attempts in the beginning, he only failed to clear one of the heights, and that was at 15 feet. When the height reached 16 feet and 4 inches, he was on the verge of elimination from the championship. However, he managed to pull through and clear the jump on his third and final attempt. This kept him in the competition long enough to go on and jump 16 feet and 8 inches, which was enough to win him the title. (For a wide selection of great vaulting poles, check out PoleVaultPoles)
Kelley (who has signed with Oklahama for college) has experienced winning a state title before when he was a sophomore. He can now appreciate just how difficult it is to win another one. "To come back after taking second last year, you have a chip on your shoulder," Kelley said. "Sometimes you almost wish you never set the bar so high when you were younger, but it pushes you so much more now."
At one point in the event it seemed that Peare was heating up. In that period of time, he cleared three consecutive jumps. However, he fell short when the height was raised to 16 feet. Now that Kelley is moving on to the college level, his high school pole vaulting days are over. This, however, does not mean Perry will be without victories in pole vaulting. They expect winning to keep being the case. One of Perry’s promising talents in pole vault is the junior, Macee Erickson. She finished the pole vault event in fifth place
after clearing a height of 12 feet and 8 inches. Her return to Perry for her senior year keeps the hopes high for Perry’s track and field success.