By: centraljersey.com
Mary Kennedy-Moore and Rebekka Vuojolainen have spent hundreds of hours in the car, riding together from Cranbury to Vertical Assault in Bethlehem, Pa.
"It’s an hour and a half with no traffic," Kennedy-Moore said. "It can take two hours. We’re usually driving in rush hour."
The car rides have been worth it to help the Princeton High School seniors develop into some of the top pole vaulters in the state. The two tied for 14th place at the Meet of Champions on Saturday in Toms River.
"We both did our season’s best," Vuojolainen said. "We’ve been jumping that consistently. We were both really hoping for 10-6, but at least we jumped 10."
The two credit each other for some of their development. In addition to long treks to Vertical Assault, they spend significant time in practice helping each other with the technical event.
"We go while the other one’s always watching," Vuojolainen said. "We watch our take off steps. We videotape each other. We give each other advice on what they’re doing wrong. If we didn’t use each other, it’d be hard to get better.
"Since our school doesn’t have a designated pole vault coach for the winter. We definitely need each other to help each other in the winter. We practice at Jadwin, and it wouldn’t be useful to have that gym if we didn’t have anyone to correct our jumps."
The two have been steadily improving since taking up the sport in the spring of their sophomore year. Kennedy-Moore started to get more serious about it by going to Vertical Assault, Vuojolainen joined her there that fall. Both used to do gymnastics, and that background, which is common in vaulters, helped get them into the sport.
"I just thought it looked fun," Kennedy-Moore said. "I don’t remember there being much more than that. I liked it right away. It was fun."
Said Vuojolainen: "My older sister was on the track team. My mom was pushing for me to do track as soon as I was done with gymnastics. Pole vault was the most attractive to me. It uses some of the same skills. I felt it was important to try at least."
It’s gotten more fun as the two have enjoyed more success. Kennedy-Moore won the Central Jersey Group III championship at 9-feet-6.
"It wasn’t the best day with heights," she said. "I only jumped 9-6."
Bigger for her was combining with Vuojolainen to win the Group III state relays together. They combined to jump 20-feet.
"I think that was a bigger accomplishment," Kennedy-Moore said.
Agreed Vuojolainen: "It was a good accomplishment. I think that was the first time we both jumped 10 that season. To do it together, it was fun."
The two are each other’s biggest fans. They root for each other to continue to develop, and are happy with progress. Kennedy-Moore has returned from a back injury that cost her all of the winter last year and most of the spring as she recovered. With her injury, she was having trouble gripping the pole, which limited her heights.
"I’ve definitely gotten a lot better this season," said Kennedy-Moore, who is looking into vaulting at Villanova University next year. "I don’t really have good numbers, but my form has gotten a lot better. I want to get 11. I’m still doing some indoor on my own. I’m going to a meet in Oakland (scheduled for Thursday). I’m hoping to get 10-6 or maybe 11.
"My coach says I could get 11. It’s just a matter of time hopefully."
Kennedy-Moore has been encouraged by what she’s seen through this season. She is close to breaking through.
"I’ve been working on 10-6 most of the season," she said. "On my second attempt, I got over it, but then my pole hit the bar.
"I fixed a lot of form problems I had at the beginning of the season," she added. "Last year, I was really inconsistent. I had a back injury. This year, that hasn’t been a problem."
Vuojolainen also has seen improvements, which is a reason that she has stuck with it even while establishing herself as one of the top triple jumpers in the state.
"In my first season of ever doing, I was jumping 8-6," she said of pole vault. "Suddenly next season, I was at 9-6. Then 10-6. It’s exciting to keep progressing."
This year, she has seen progress, but it hasn’t always shown up in the heights. But the winter has helped prepare her for bigger clearances in the spring.
"I’m pretty happy with it because it was consistent," Vuojolainen said. "Last year, I jumped 10-6, and this year I only jumped 10. But I feel like I’m more consistent and my form is getting better."
The fixes carry with them the potential to go higher. With better form, she has the ability to clear greater heights.
"Last year, I did my whole season not turning over at the top," Vuojolainen said. "I’d been going over on my back. I’m trying to fix that. It’s getting closer. I feel like that’s the only way to try to get higher is to fix my form so that’s what I’m going to try to keep doing.
"My goal for the outdoors is to be able to jump my best while turning over. If I do that, I’ll hopefully be jumping at least 11."
Kennedy-Moore hopes to be right there with her. She and Rebekka Vuojolainen have been good friends since seventh grade. They were in gymnastics together, in school together and now are helping each other vault to the top of the state, no matter how long it takes together in the car.

