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My Signature: Hailey Sweatman Raises the Bar for Expectations
Track and Field  . 

My Signature: Hailey Sweatman Raises the Bar for Expectations

by Brad Muller, Director of Content

South Carolina redshirt junior Hailey Sweatman broke the school record in the pole vault, indoor and outdoor, when she went up and over 4.35 meters (14′, 3 ¼”) at the South Carolina Invitational on February 7. The exercise science major was drawn to the event at an early age, and although she has her name in the record books, there’s nowhere to go but up.

“I’ve held the record in my middle school. I still have the record at my high school, and now I have it here. I knew coming in my freshman year that I wanted to leave with my name at the top. This is just the start because it’s still early in the season. I’m not satisfied because I’ve known I can get that height.
Hailey Sweatman
“I got interested in pole vaulting when I was I the sixth grade. I got into track because my friends on my competitive cheerleading team also did track in the spring. I was walking one day with my parents, and I saw people doing the pole vault. I didn’t know what it was. I told my mom, ‘I want to do that!’ It looked really cool.

“In the seventh grade, my coach gave me a chance to do it. It was a little rough at first. My freshman year in high school, things started to click and come together for me. What I like about the event is that it challenges you ever day. Every jump and every run down the runway are different than the previous one. You’re not always going to hit the marks in the right spot. It challenges you physically and mentally.

“I was roughly aware of what the (South Carolina) record was, but I wasn’t sure of the exact number because it is different for indoor and outdoor.

“It was my third attempt. All of the running events were pretty much already done, so it was kind of quiet. The (public address) announcer called me out, and I felt like the pressure was on. I was thinking that everyone was looking at me now because nothing else was going on.

“I was kind of tired because we were doing back to back jumps, and there wasn’t a lot of time to rest in between. I talked myself into gearing up for it one more time to make it down this runway the way I need to be. With that, along with everyone staring at me, I was thinking, ‘you’d better make this!’

“I started running down, and it felt really good. I was hitting all the marks. I felt myself float into the takeoff. I was taking off at the right spot. When I went over, I definitely felt something graze the bar, and I thought, ‘please, just stay up.’ When I landed and I saw that it did, I said, ‘oh my gosh! It’s about time!’

“I had attempted this bar many times earlier in the season and even sometimes last year. It was a feeling of accomplishment because I’ve done it in practice, but now it was finally on the record. I’ve known that I could do this.

“(Assistant) Coach (Kevin) Brown has learned how to talk to me and how to keep me calm. He simplifies it for me.

“Now that I’ve done it, we’re shooting for like 4.45, 4.50! It gives me confidence now. The next bars won’t be easy, and I need to work on form. I can definitely improve. This will help for SECs and regionals and nationals as the bar keeps getting higher.”

 

Sweatman signature

 

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