Athlete of Year honor not beginner’s luck for Maddy Smith

There's something Maddy Smith has a hard time getting people to believe — especially as the Ottawa High senior was on her way to winning a Class 3A state championship and sharing The Times 2019 Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year award.

"I still have a lot to learn with the pole vault. I've only been doing it for two years," she said.

"It made me nervous last season, all these girls telling me, 'I've done pole vault since sixth grade,' or 'I've done it since I was a little kid,' and I'd tell them, 'Oh, this is my first year,' and they were taken aback. They were like, 'You're kidding me, right?'

"But anything I take into my hands, I'm going to try as hard as I can. I never want to not do something to my full, best ability."

There can be no argument.

After an injury-plagued but still successful regular season which included wins in both the pole vault and 400-meter run at the final Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet, Smith captured the Moline Class 3A Sectional championship by nine inches with a jump of 11 feet, 6 inches. She followed that up by scoring make after make at height after height at the IHSA State Finals, culminating with a jump of 11 feet, 9 inches and Ottawa High School's fifth pole vault state championship — first by a female — on a sun-soaked day on the campus of Eastern Illinois University in Charleston.

"It's such a nice environment down there with those girls," Smith said of her competitors at state. "They're so supportive of each other, not negative. When they knew I'd won, they all ran up to me and were hugging me.

"It's like a little family. I love being a part of that."

Amazingly, Smith — who plans to move on and continue pole vaulting at Augustana College in Rock Island — didn't join that family until halfway through her high school career.

Although she was a track standout in the middle distances and jumps, Smith's junior high, Milton Pope, didn't offer the pole vault while she was there, she said. It wasn't until she was at OHS and saw her brother pole vaulting that her competitive spirit was redirected into what is now her favorite — and most accomplished — event.

"I always looked at (the pole vault) and thought, 'Wow, that looks like a fun event,' " Smith said. "While I was struggling a bit at Ottawa with a quadriceps injury and not improving in the long jump, my brother and his friend would pole vault goofing around, and one day I said, 'I bet I could beat you at that.'

"He said, 'No you can't, don't even try,' so of course I started doing it and it just kind of took off. And when the coaches saw me, they were like, 'Who is this girl?!?' "

There can be no doubt Smith was naturally gifted to excel in this particular event.

There can also be no doubt it wasn't that talent alone which lifted her to Illinois high school track and field's highest championship.

"Maddy tried pole vaulting at the end of her sophomore year," said OHS head girls track and field coach Jessica Kuhn. "She had some success at the beginning which propelled her to keep trying. She is an all-around track athlete in that she could pretty much compete in any event, but typical Maddy style, had to exceed at the most difficult event.

"She overcame a few different injuries and worked hard during the last two seasons vaulting as much as she could. She is a hard worker and pushes herself to the limit. She is a coach's dream when it comes to effort. ...

"She's had her eyes on this (state championship), and she wasn't going to accept anything less."

Smith made a point to thank coaches such as Kuhn and Jennifer Jobst, and of course OHS pole vault champion-turned coach Rusty Wells along with Fletcher Wells. Jim Johnson at Seneca and the College of DuPage's Robert Cervenka also worked on her with some of pole vaulting's finer points, and she gives considerable credit for her success to her strength training with Russel Deverteuil at the Ottawa YMCA.

Her parents, Sean and Kristy, always supported her, and through multiple injuries — including a dislocated left elbow suffered while trying out wrestling which caused her to wear a brace all the way to the state championship — she was thankful for the services of professionals such as Ottawa athletic trainer Eric Buscher, Perry Chiropractic Center in Ottawa and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Shin.

Her relationship and shared faith with Helen Wells, too, were important to Smith throughout her run through "this crazy sport." Smith mentioned Coach Wells' wife sharing a "A Pole Vaulters Prayer" with her that Smith felt helped lift her to the top:

Lord, may I run with confidence, plant with precision, follow-through dynamically and swing with courage. Thrust me upward and give me patience as I turn and clear the bar. Then, as I fly away, land me safely on the mats below.

"This," said Smith, "has been the foundation to how everything has gone this year. It boggles my mind thinking about it, because it really is truly amazing. God is good and always helps us handle what we are given every single step of the way."