Archive
Subscribe
Weather
 |
|
 |
|
Drescher wins high jump, places second in pole vault |
By B. Scott
Anderson, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Scott at
banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
|
MONMOUTH — If Julie
Drescher hears another comment about her right ankle, it will be too
soon.
The sophomore suffered a severely sprained ankle in the first round
of the Class 1A girls state basketball tournament in March before
returning to lead the Bucks to a state title. On Saturday, 79 days
later, Drescher won the state high jump competition and finished
second in the pole vault at the OSAA Class 1A state track meet at
Western Oregon University.
More impressive about her performance during the weekend was the
fact Drescher’s ankle was at only about 60 percent strength and
“definitely hurts at the end of meets,” she said. But the last thing
she wants to be known for is an injured ankle.
“People ask me about it every time they see me,” she said. “They
always say, ‘Oh, Julie Drescher. How’s that ankle going?’ It’s
parents, it’s students, it’s everyone. Students will say
congratulations on basketball and then they’ll start asking about my
ankle.”
The story of her ankle injury has become legendary.
“It’s the famous ankle,” Drescher’s teammate, senior Erika Wilmes,
said laughing.
At the state basketball tournament, Drescher suffered the injury
and was seemingly unable to return for the rest of the tournament.
But she was flown from Baker to The Dalles to see a doctor
specializing in sports injuries. An hour after she entered the
doctor’s office on her bruised and swollen ankle, she emerged to
play all 36 minutes of her team’s 54-49 win against Joseph. The
point guard, who was named the Class 1A player of the year, led the
Bucks with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
After the basketball season was complete, Drescher rested her ankle
as much as she could and competed sparingly. Her first competition
came April 21 in a meet at Sherman County — the team’s sixth
competition of the season — where she high jumped 5-foot, 4-inches —
good for a tie for fifth in Oregon’s Class 1A all-time rankings (the
Class 1A state record is 5-7.25 set in 1979 and 1980 by Arlington’s
Teresa Bailey).
While the high jump was considered her best event, Drescher, at the
urging of St. Paul track coach Todd Bos, started working with the
team’s pole vaulters. It seemed to be the right fit for Drescher,
Wilmes said.
“It’s one of those events where if you have some strength and
coordination, which she obviously has, then you can do well in it,”
she said.
After learning the basics of the event, Drescher finished fourth at
the meet at Sherman County with a height of 7-6. After she went 7-0
at a meet at Kennedy, she finished second at the district meet,
behind Wilmes, with a height of 7-0. On Saturday, her personal best
height of 8-3 was enough to take second.
“I was just hoping to get over 8-foot, so it was a little
surprising,” she said.
Bos said with the right instruction, Drescher can be a force in the
event in her final two years.
“I hope she can find some coaching this summer, but she’ll be busy
this summer with her other stuff like basketball,” Bos said. “But
she can be a really good 1A vaulter.”
Sherman County’s Kirstin vonBorstel won the pole vault with a
height of 9-6. With vonBorstel graduating this year, Drescher will
return next season as the person to beat at next year’s state meet.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said laughing. “It’s weird
because I just started it, but we’ll see how it goes next year.”
A second-place finish at the state meet is more than Drescher
expected, especially since she wasn’t even sure she was doing things
correctly in practice. In her approach at the pole vault, her
starting point is much closer to the pit than her competitors. She
said since she didn’t have the proper form, her starting point
really didn’t make a difference.
“So next year we’ll start working on form and stuff because,
really, this year I just picked up the pole and ran up to the pit,”
she said. “Next year I’ll learn how to do it.”
Drescher’s state championship in the high jump was more or less
expected. She entered the competition with the state’s top mark, but
Bos said anything could happen. After all, because of her ankle
injury, Drescher had only taken 10-15 jumps in practice all season.
She ended up going 5-1 to win the state title, but her height was a
disappointment. She said she wanted to jump 5-5 for a new personal
best.
“I won, so that was good, but the jump I won with wasn’t nearly
what I was expecting to go,” she said.
Just be sure not to ask about her ankle again. |
|
From
May 23, 2007, Newberg Graphic
Click Here to Subscribe |
|
|
|
 |
|
