Surprise jump to success

When senior Courtney Vacek was encouraged to join track last year, she had no idea that she was about to uncover a hidden talent, or that this talent would make her a state champion in just a few short months.

“I had some friends who were doing triple jump,” Vacek said. “I wasn’t that fast, and I couldn’t pole vault [because of shoulder surgeries], so I decided to try it.”

Senior Chloe Harris, a good friend of Vacek’s, encouraged her to participate.

“I was the only [triple jumper], so I tried to get her to join,” Harris said.

Vacek found immediate success in her first meet at Tigard on April 2 last year when she jumped 36’6” to break Glencoe’s school record.

“I didn’t really know anything about the school record, and I had no idea I broke it until my coaches told me a few minutes after my first jump,” Vacek said.

This meet was only her second time ever triple jumping because practices usually only consist of workouts and drills, never the actual technique.

“She had never even practiced going into the sand,” Head Coach Dennis Rice said. “It was incredible. The school record was 10 years old.”

Vacek credited her success to her background in gymnastics.

“Gymnastics incorporates dances, and the routines have leaps,” Vacek said. “Triple jump is almost identical to a leap series [in gymnastics] that I’d been practicing for years.”

Vacek’s gymnastics career ended quickly during September of her junior year because of shoulder injuries and resulting surgeries. Although she had been participating in gymnastics from the age of three, she could not compromise her future health, especially considering she did not think she would see much future improvement.

“As much as I enjoyed [gymnastics], I had reached my peak,” Vacek said. “I wouldn’t get any better.”

Luckily, Vacek found a new sport.

Her track success continued throughout the season. At the half-point in the season, she was jumping around 37’. She jumped 38’7” at districts, which qualified her for state, where she jumped 38’7”-enough to place first.

Her state title resulted in numerous letters from college track programs, including Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. She reached out to UC Davis and is hoping to attend in the fall to participate in triple jump.

After winning state and breaking the school record as a junior, both Vacek and Rice have high hopes for her senior season.

“We’re really looking forward to this year,” Rice said. “Because she won as a junior, she has the motivation to repeat.”

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