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Senior Kate Mullins still chuckles over the way her pole-vaulting career began six years ago. Back then, she had no idea she would some day earn NCAA Division II honors or that she would have a chance of advancing to Division I nationals. Back then, her best event was the hurdles, but she still had an urge to give the pole vault a shot.
It was her sophomore season at Chinico Valley High School. Pole-vaulting was not a sanctioned girls' event in high school meets, even though it was for boys. Even though she had never tried the event before, Mullins asked her coach if she could try it just once. Her request was big news for the rest of the team, since no girl had ever made that request before.
"I had always wanted to give pole vaulting a try so one day, I told my coach I just wanted to try it once at the end of practice," she said. "He announced it to the entire team so when I ready to try it (the bar was set at seven feet), everyone was watching. Everyone was surprised when I made it. When I told my parents about it that night, they weren't sure what to say."
Mullins wouldn't try the pole vault the rest of high school, but she never forgot her one attempt. When she arrived at Binghamton University her freshman year, she told head coach Mike Thompson she was interested in trying the pole vault as an event."
"He smiled and said he was hoping I'd ask," she recalls.
Since then, Mullins has gone on to flourish in the pole-vaulting events. She qualified for the Division II NCAA Championships in just her third meet. The next year, she earned All-America honors at the Division II level by placing seventh at the national meet.
"I had no idea I'd qualify for nationals so soon," she said. "I was very excited but also very surprised."
Despite her success, Mullins is the first to admit that she has learned a lot about what it takes to specialize in pole vaulting.
" When I first tried the event, I was able to do it only because of my athletic skills," she said. "It takes a lot more to do well in the pole vault than just being a good athlete. Going upside down over the bar takes much more practice the higher up the bar is raised. It is something I have really had to work at."
With Binghamton moving up to the Division I level, however, Mullins has her sites set on bigger goals. She is determined to advance to the NCAA Division I Championships before her career is done.
"Last season, when I started going to meets such as Penn Relays and the Florida State Invitational (both of which feature numerous top Division I schools), I was pretty nervous and did not have as much confidence. This year I feel I am much more able to compete at that level."
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