Qualifying for the Ohio Indoor Track State Meet did not seem as big a challenge in 2013 as it did this 2014 season. Of course, last year it was our first qualification as a team, so there were no expectations.

It truly was a team traveling up to Akron that year: we had an Indoor State Championship 1600 meter relay team, along with an 800 meter relay team, two distance runners, and little me pole vaulting as a sophomore.

Things have changed. We lost more than 20 seniors last year, which included most of our relay teams and field event athletes. Rose Menyhert, 11, and I were the only girls left from the Varsity team returning this season.

Our duo has started a trend, it seems. On Wed., Mar. 5, we both were officially told that we had qualified to the Indoor State Meet on Mar. 8, I for pole vaulting and she for the 3200 meter run.

We were the only two of our entire team.

“It’s really weird to be going by myself for distance. I wish our team could go because there’s always a more positive attitude with the team atmosphere, and it’s really encouraging to have them there,” said Menyhert.

Menyhert had been working toward the competition for many weeks before the word was given. She had been ranked fourth after her first meet.

“I like having my own work outs for States because they make me feel important, but it’s also lonely. When the coach picks me out to do something different than everyone else, it’s weird and isolating,” said Menyhert.

I would have to agree with her words. My pole vaulting coach, Mr. Jerry Klyop, had severe health issues at the beginning of the season.

Without him, combined with the fact that I am the only girl indoor pole vaulter, I was left alone to compete during meets.

I do not complain when I say this- Menyhert’s words remain true that there is a certain euphoria that comes with being the team’s only representative in an event.

I am merely attempting to convey that there are trials with every success. The boy’s 800 meter relay team missed the qualification by one hundredth of a second- a hard hit no matter how it is worded.

My respect continues to build for the mental toughness of successful athletes, because that is what it takes: immense mental toughness to keep perspective in the midst of the loneliness, the bittersweet-ness that always accompanies victory.

Whatever my reasons for competing in the State Meet, I now also run for those who cannot. And that is a worthwhile motivation.