Leap of Faith

Friday didn’t start the way Arcadia junior Casidi Pehler had planned in her head. 

It ended, though, the way she dreamed it would — with a WIAA Division Two state title in pole vault at the track and field state championships at UW-La Crosse’s Roger Harring Stadium.

Pehler scratched her opening two leaps at 11 feet despite clearing the bar on her first attempts throughout most of the season. She was in danger of being eliminated with one more miss.

Instead the junior cleared the bar on her third attempt and let out a relieved sigh and a double fist pump. 

The last-chance clearance catapulted her into a three person race for the state title, which she won as the only vaulter to clear the bar at 11 feet, six inches.

“It’s unbelievable,” Pehler said of hearing her name announced as state champion. “It’s the one thing I’ve had on my mind all year and my biggest goal, so to be here now and know that I did that, it’s just crazy.”

Pehler finished fourth at the state meet last spring with a jump of 10 feet, nine inches. Starting this year’s meet at a height that was greater than she finished last year was a sign that her work on pole vault made a difference, she said.

Pehler spent most of her offseason training and traveling to camps. The junior focused on her speed for the runway approach and getting stronger physically and mentally, she said.

Saturday’s start was not ideal, but Pehler admitted that she knew she would likely face adversity at some point.

With her season on the line, Pehler and pole vault coach Taryn McKeeth went back to a saying they’ve shared hundreds of times.

“Our saying is we love third attempts because she always gets records on her third attempt,” McKeeth said. “I just yell to her, ‘We love third attempts’, and she’s like, ‘Yeah, I got it.’”

The ensuing leap was the clearing jump at 11 feet. Pehler said the moment allowed her to reset and focus on her approach.

“By being able to get over that, I feel like it really made me stronger and definitely is going to put me off better for my future now because I had that experience,” she said. “Just being able to get past that, struggling with my opening height, and then still being able to come out on top.”

Pehler edged Lodi’s Lilly Callahan, who took second at 11 feet, three inches. Amery sophomore Kelly Fern (11-0) was the only other athlete to clear the 11-foot mark. 

Winning a state title has been Pehler’s goal since her freshman year when McKeeth begged Pehler to give pole vaulting a chance. 

She cleared seven feet on her first-ever attempt, and Pehler’s passion for the event grew shortly after. Pehler later broke McKeeth’s school record in the pole vault and holds the current mark. 

Pehler is the third Raider to win a state title in pole vault and the second girl (Margo Sendelbach, 2004). 

Now that winning a state title is accomplished, Pehler has hopes for one more championship run next year as a senior and also hopes to compete for a college track and field team. 

With her personal record at 12 feet, three inches, there’s one primary goal for next year—beating the state record of 13 feet, three inches, set by Bonnie Draxler of Wrightstown in 2014.

“I have this (state title) now, and next year the state record is honestly the next thing up there,” Pehler said. “So I’m going to continue to put more time in the offseason with that goal in mind so I can come back and hopefully have a good attempt at that.”