Brooke Demo Article (Witchita State)

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EHS grad Demo wins Valley pole vault


Brooke Demo was the Class 4A pole vault champion a year ago at El Dorado High. This year, at the Missouri Valley Conference championships, she capped a season of steady, gradual improvement May 13-15 by winning the league title for Wichita State. She cleared 12 feet, 5.75 inches - a 6-inch improvement from her previous best height in the event. What's more, she has only been competing in the event for three years. - photo at right courtesy Wichita State University
By MATT THOMAS, Special to The Times
WICHITA -- Wichita State freshman Brooke Demo is no stranger to success - or hard work.

In her senior year at El Dorado High School, she won the Class 4A state championship in the pole vault and helped lead the 4x100 and the 4x400 relay teams to state titles as well.

With Demo, the success is easy to see, and therefore the hard work can't be far behind.

But, with her it's a little different. Her pole vault state championship came in only her second year of competing in the sport.

Although many people can't figure out how to set the clock on their VCRs, she managed to master one of the most difficult track and field events - all through hard work.

"I was committed to it when I decided to do it," Demo said, "because I knew I would have to put the time in to get anything done."

Since becoming a Shocker this season, her success has in no way diminished, mostly because her work ethic has only gotten stronger.

In her first collegiate meet, the Wildcat Invitational during the indoor season, she cleared 11 feet, 3.75 inches and finished fourth. By the midpoint of the spring semester, she had improved her height to 11-5.75 and earned herself all-conference honors at the Missouri Valley Conference indoor championships.

That accomplishment alone would have been a nice start to her WSU career, but she wasn't finished.

Picking up where she left off, she cleared 11-5.75 at the Stanford Invitational early in the outdoor season. Within a couple of weeks she upped her vault 6 inches and tied two Big XII vaulters with an 11-11.75 at the Emporia State Relays.

Now this kind of improvement would have made for a good freshman year, but Demo still wasn't finished.

Fast forward to the Missouri Valley Conference outdoor championship May 13-15 in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Not only does she cap a great freshman season, she takes it to the next level by improving another 6 inches to 12-5.75 and winning the Valley championship.

"Her progress has definitely been dramatic." assistant track and field coach Jennifer Ashcroft said. "She was really new to the vault, and I knew that she'd would show a lot of promise."

And she definitely has. In approximately one year, Demo had gone from winning the state championship with an 11-foot jump to winning an MVC championship by clearing 12-5.75, which demonstrates her work ethic and will to succeed.

"I think I went through the year pretty well." Demo said. "I kept improving throughout the year, and my technique has been improved drastically. The more track meets I went to, the more it helped me learn how to compete at this level."

But the story doesn't end there.

With her jump at the conference championships, she also attained a regional qualifying mark, which allows her to continue her stellar freshman season at the Midwest regional meet in Norman, Okla., on May 27-28, with an opportunity to earn a trip to the NCAA national championship meet June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif.

Regardless of how much further she advances, Demo has already had an unbelievable freshman campaign, and with the time that she is willing to spend honing her craft, she might have only scratched the surface.