All in the family
BROOKVILLE — Kendall Grossman had to think when asked how many members of her family have competed in the pole vault in high school.
“Ten,” she answered after a moment. “Yeah, 10. And they all went to Moniteau.”
The freshman added to the list of accomplishments her family has achieved in the event, winning a District 9 Class AA title with a vault of 10 feet, six inches Friday at Brookville High School.
Her freshman campaign had already yielded a school record of 11-4½, set earlier this season.
“You never want to assume anything, but I had hopes of making states,” she said. “And the weather was good today.”
Grossman, whose cousin, Collette Grossman, earned a medal in the pole vault Friday with a fifth-place effort of nine feet, has a pole vault pit outside her house. It allows her to hone her craft outside of the high school season.
“I started when I was in seventh grade,” she said. “It was awkward at first, but I put a lot of practice time in.”
With a bright athletic future ahead of her, Kendall Grossman will cap her freshman season at the PIAA championships next Friday and Saturday at Shippensburg University.
“Being just a freshman, it’s going to be more of an experience thing for me,” she said. “My dad, Matt, holds Moniteau’s boys record in the pole vault at 14-1. I just want to keep making him proud and have fun. That’s the most important thing, have fun.”
Grossman was one of only two Butler County-area athletes to win a district title, A-C Valley junior Emma Fox being the other.
Fox prevailed in a closely contested 100-meter hurdle final. Her time of 16.03 seconds edged DuBois Central Catholic’s Riley Meyers (16.06) and Moniteau’s Samantha Hall (16.08).
Last year, Fox was runner-up to Meyers by three-tenths of a second.
“Today’s race was a little too close for comfort,” Fox said. “I could hear (Meyers and Hall) beside me. We leaned forward at the same time at the finish line and I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if I had won. Then a guy came over to me and told me I did win. It was a relief.”
It is Fox’s third straight district medal in the event. She placed sixth as a freshman in 2015.
“The biggest difference for me is just learning to run fast in between the hurdles,” she said. “My mom, Stacey, is my (hurdle) coach and she always tells me to run fast in between the hurdles and sprint to the finish.”
Later in the day, Fox earned a second berth to states when she placed second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.65.
“My mom said my best event is the 300, but I prefer the 100 hurdles,” she said. “I hope to run my personal bests at states.”
Two other girls extended their season — Moniteau’s Cambrie Campbell (second in javelin and fifth in shot put) and Gabby Stewart (third in 100 dash).
Boys
Jake Patton surprised himself.
Moniteau’s junior was confident he could earn a trip to states in the 300 hurdles, but wasn’t as sure about the 110-meter event.
Then he ran a 15.43 in prelims in the latter event.
“That got my hopes up,” he said.
Patton followed through with a fifth-place time of 15.49 in the finals, coming just under the PIAA qualifying time of 15.5.
“I really wasn’t expecting to get to states in the 110s,” Patton said. “I started out this season working more on them, but switched back to the 300 hurdles because I knew I had improvements to make there.”
Patton then advanced in the 300 event, placing second at 40.99.
Dalton Anderson also made the cut in the 110 hurdles, turning in a personal-best time of 15.29 to place third.
“I was ranked high in a few other events (high jump and javelin) and didn’t do so well,” the senior said. “It’s nice to know I will end my high school career at states.”
Anderson and Patton teamed with Steven Fawcett and Emmanuel McLean to place second in the 4x400 relay. They will enter states with a time of 3:32.94.