Maria Horrigan’s primary goal is to win a state championship in the pole vault.
But it isn’t her only aim.
The Bowling Green junior also is striving to break the state and state-meet records during the Division I
state high school track and field meet.
Horrigan is the favorite to win her specialty after she won a regional championship last weekend at
Amherst Steele with a vault of 12-10 – the best in the state this season and her personal best. She’s
held the BG record since her freshman season.
She’s also jumped 12-9 this season and her regional vault was seven inches higher than the next best
effort among the 15 other state qualifiers.
Only three other state qualifiers jumped 12-0 or better during the regionals, although all 16 cleared at
least 11-0.
"I’m jumping well right now and I’m pretty confident going into the meet," said Horrigan, who
has turned the state meet into her home away from home.
She’s making her third appearance at state after finishing third as a freshman and tying for 13th last
season.
She expects to have to clear 12-9 or better to win the state title. The competition is Saturday at 3 p.m.
at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Stadium.
At state, her focus will be solely on the pole vault. During the regular season, she also competed in the
long jump, and ran on the 400 and 800 relay teams.
Horrigan was the Northern Lakes League champion in the long jump.
"I’m looking to win for sure, but I hope to vault as well as I did last week," Horrigan said.
"If I jump well, that’s all I can ask, even if I don’t win. If I jump 12-10 and don’t win, I can
still be happy with that."
Horrigan nearly broke the state and state-meet record of 13-1/4 at Amherst last week. After clearing
12-10, she moved the bar to 13-1/2.
She missed all three of her attempts at the record height. Both records were set at last year’s state
meet by Uniontown Green’s Morgan Estes, who graduated last spring.
"I thought I had it on one of my vaults. I just barely nicked the bar," she said. "I
didn’t think I’d be going for the state record this year, but if the opportunity comes at state, I’m
going to be really psyched about that. That would be an awesome goal for this weekend, if not this
weekend, next year."
Horrigan’s been driven by her state finish last season. She cleared just 10-6 at state last year after
clearing 11-8 at state as a freshman.
She increased her strength and conditioning during the offseason, attended pole vaulting camps and even
did some gymnastics training.
Many pole vaulters are gymnasts and Horrigan was a gymnast growing up.
"Last year’s state meet really lit a fire under her," BG head coach Joe Hudok said, also
praising assistant coach Duff Madaras for her improvement. Madaras works with the team’s vaulters.
"She’s really worked hard since the end of last season and it’s paying off. The sky is the limit
for her."
"I was more prepared physically for this year than I was last year," Horrigan said. "As
soon as last season was over, it was, ‘let’s get going for next season.’"
Horrigan’s also been helped by her good friend, Otsego pole vaulter Cole Gorski. The two train together
and attend camps during the offseason.
Gorski, a senior, is one of the favorites to win the state championship in the boys Division II meet
Friday.
The two became friends through Horrigan’s older brother, Michael, who vaulted for the Bobcats. He’s a
2012 BGHS graduate.
"We motivate each other through friendly competition and push each other to get better,"
Horrigan said. "Our coaches do a great job, but it’s really nice to have someone your own age to
help you through everything because they know what you’re going through."
Horrigan is hoping to become a consistent 13-foot vaulter next season and hopes to clear 13-6 by the end
of next season.
Her main focus for improvement is her turn at the top of the vault.
"If she can improve that, she could add another foot to what she’s jumping," Hudok said.
Horrigan, who has a 4.2 grade-point average, is still working on her college choice, but isn’t close to a
decision. She’s narrowed the list to roughly 15-20 schools and is hoping to earn an NCAA Division I
scholarship.