“Disbelief.”

That one word summarizes the feelings that Williamsburg High School graduate Wyatt Lefker had earlier this year, just after clinching the Horizon League pole vault championship for Youngstown State.

“It didn’t feel real,” Lefker said. “It felt like a dream. The last jump at 4.95 [meters]…when I cleared that bar, it felt like a dream. The entire place was shaking because of how loud people were screaming.”

It wasn’t a smooth transition from high school to college for Lefker, athletically. It took some time for him to adjust to the new level.

“It started a little bit rough,” Lefker said. “I wasn’t really improving too much from high school. I think there was an adjustment period for me, getting used to the training program and how those adjustments worked out for me. I had to get used to the program, but once it clicked, it clicked.”

There were several reasons Lefker chose the Youngstown State program, but athletics are only part of the story.

“I really liked [the vaulting coach, Rick Penniman] and I really liked the track team as a whole,” Lefker said. “Not only are they a Division I team that was willing to have me as a teammate, the family at Youngstown State is unbelievable. It’s a big group of brothers and sisters out there, and I never expected that as a college team. We have dinners together, it’s so close. I love how much of a family aspect there is to it, everyone is just a big family.”

Prior to the start of the outdoor season, Lefker’s confidence was shaken following a disappointing indoor season. The week before the outdoor championships, a hamstring injury compounded that problem.

“I was down on myself,” Lefker said. “The week before conference outdoor, I experienced a hamstring injury and I was even more down on myself. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to be able to run down the runway. I didn’t practice, I didn’t do anything because I was in so much pain.”

Lefker credited Youngstown State’s training staff for helping him heal enough to compete. In order to give himself as much rest as possible prior to the meet, Lefker went the week before the championship without practicing.

“I hadn’t practiced in a week,” Lefker said. “I hadn’t even attempted to run, I knew it wasn’t a good idea to risk myself more. I was planning on saving myself for the meet. I did a long warmup and got some treatment from the medical team.”

Before his turn at the pole vault, Lefker said he knew his team had already earned enough points to win the team title, so he went out hoping to do the best he could.

“I felt OK,” Lefker said. “I was still hurt pretty bad, but I knew I could push through it. At that point, it was more of a pain tolerance than my hamstring not working. I can deal with pain. I knew I would be able to jump, so I just went in thinking, ‘I’m going to come in at a high bar and I’m going to go for the gold.’”

Lefker got the gold, finishing .01 meters shy of the Youngstown State record in the process. Roughly one week later, he cleared 5.01 meters (roughly 16.5 feet) to break the school record and win the title at the Harrison Dillard Twilight, held at Baldwin Wallace University.

On May 23, Lefker became the first pole vaulter in Youngstown State history to compete at the NCAA preliminaries. He was unable to clear the bar, but he plans to build on his results this past spring to prepare for 2020.

“I’m going to push myself even harder,” Lefker said. “I’m going to work on technique, speed and strength. My goal for this year is to go even further than I did this past year, it’s always to improve, get better and go further. You never know what can happen.”

https://www.clermontsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_Lefker.jpg

By Garth Shanklin

Sports Editor