Evie Mathis, the extraordinary Wayland Middle School eighth-grade pole vaulter, has outdone herself yet again. The daughter of Rick and Cindy Mathis Thursday afternoon at Hastings cleared an even 12 feet to not only win the event in the meet, but also to elevate her to No. 1 in the nation for all female pre-high school vaulters. She broke her own eighth grade State of Michigan record and her own school record. Though not in high school yet, she has surpassed the school record in the pole vault and twice earlier this year cleared 11-6.
Wow! Good for you, Evie. Very impressive.
Miss Mathis’ 12-foot vault at Hastings is 3 feet 9 inches higher than minimum qualifying height (8 feet 9 inches) for the 2022 MHSAA D2 State Championship meet.
Her parents are going to need a bigger mailbox for all the interest letters she will be receiving from track and field coaches across the country. I hope Wayland’s track coaches get bigger capacity voice mail box for the calls they will be getting.