She used to play left bench in basketball. Fiercely independent, she wanted her own sport, and we let her choose.
Then a pole vault pit turned up in the side yard, the runway beneath her bedroom window. Vaulters started coming to the house for practice, and invited her to jump with them. She picked up a pole.
Turns out those long legs are good for something other than playing post. They are powerful propellers of speed and launch, and in her first season, Sofia jumped 9’6″. Adversity struck in the spring of that year when she landed awkwardly on the first hurdle in the 100H, breaking her right ankle. With the mental toughness of a Marine, she picked herself up and crossed nine more hurdles. Then she sought the trainer for a pair of crutches.
Sofia’s sophomore year was about rebuilding bone and confidence. She bested her personal record by 1.5″. Frustrated, she added weight lifting and gymnastics to her weekly workouts. And now, in the first meet of her junior year, she jumped 10’0 in the Liberty Christmas Invitational and brought home a medal.
Sofia is a lover of movies, especially those with an underdog conquering her limitations. What follows breakdown? Sofia knows.
Breakthrough.
