Colonel Crawford's Gabby Roston, Lucas' Bekah Case push each other to new heights
NORTH ROBINSON — It has been a tough spring for Colonel Crawford's Gabby Roston and Lucas' Rebekah Case.
Two of the best pole vaulters around — they finished third and sixth respectively at the Division III state meet last year — have been hindered by weather for the first month of the season.
"The weather at the start, it'd be windy then it'd be cold, so I was running through a bunch," Roston said. "But now that it's starting to warm up, I feel like the poles are getting squishier so I can jump on bigger poles now."
Weather wasn't the only thing holding them back.
"Crestview last Friday was the first meet that there was some competition," Case said. "That helped me then, and today."
Case cleared a mental hurdle at the Forest Pruner Invite seven days earlier jumping 11-0 for the first time outdoors. It was a new personal best, and set a meet record after she soared over 10-09 to break the old one. She then followed it up clearing 11-0 again on Tuesday at the Mid-Buckeye Conference In-Season Meet.
"Today I came in wanting a little more, but I'm content with what I have." Case said after finishing runner-up to Roston at the Bob Royer Invitational on Friday. "I was blowing through poles, just couldn't figure it out,"
She cleared 10-6 with Roston but struggled with 11-0, bowing out after three attempts. Roston would jump 11-0, then 11-3 for the meet record, and capped off the day with a new personal best of 11-6.
"It's really exciting because I've only jumped it in the summer — which doesn't really count — but I put a lot of work in, so it's just nice to see it pay off right now," Roston said.
She had to get creative at times this season leading up to the Bob Royer in order to fuel her competitive side.
"I try to compete with the boys," Roston said. "It's kind of fun because we just make fun of each other. And they're really good about helping me out."
Jumping 11-06 was Roston's mental block that she finally shattered through.
"My freshman year I jumped 11-4, last year I jumped 11-4, and then what I've done in the summer and stuff — I just like couldn't get it done," Roston said. "I feel like today I just kind of let loose, my friends are here jumping with me from my club, so we just have fun.
"It just seemed easy to jump."
It was simultaneously the best competition Case and Roston have seen this season, and the most relaxed they've been.
"We're good friends," Case said. "We both go down to Buckeye Pole Vault Academy in Sunbury, so we've gotten to know each other the past two years. I started talking to her freshman year, and then last year we both went to state together."
The two even pick each other's brains about jumps.
"Watching her, I knew what I needed to do because she has a really good technical jump," Roston said. "It's nice to have somebody that you can ask questions to who knows what you're going through. The coaches know it, but they don't feel what we feel."
As the postseason nears with the district meet back at Colonel Crawford High School on May 15 and 17, Case and Roston are finding their rhythm at the perfect time.
"Getting closer to conference and districts it's nice to have more bigger meets and to have more competition," Case said.
And that has sparked new goals for the pair. One is eying a school record, the other her next major milestone.
"I got 11-3 indoor, and now I'm just trying to get back there," Case said. "The school record's 11-3 so I'm hoping to get that at some point this season."
"Hopefully by the end of the year I'm jumping 12-0, that'd be really nice," Roston said. "It's a big goal for me, but I'm just gonna go one meet at a time."
If anything can push them to new heights, it's each other.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Crawford's Roston, Lucas' Case hope to push each other back to state
