Jodie Mayes Wins 6th State Title Sets New Ark5A State Record

[jmayesvaultmom]

Following is an article about Jodie. She was named Female Track Athlete of the year by the Morning News. They mistakenly say that a new state record was set at Meet of Champions, but the State Record can only be set at the state meet...not to say that it won't be broken next year with the talent coming up! So she will hold the state record for at least one more year. She has had the record for three years.

At little more on Jodie....it mentions 18 titles...NINE of them were individual titles....three indoor PV, three outdoor PV, and three for Floor Exercise in Gymnastics. She will be attending the University of Kansas next year!

http://nwaonline.net/articles/2005/06/12/sports/06.txt

Mayes Vaults Into Record Books
Fayetteville Senior A Well-Decorated Athlete
By Dustin Dearman
The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE -- The numbers don't lie: six state pole vaulting championships and 18 state titles overall in track, gymnastics and cheerleading.

Jodie Mayes is not only an athletic champion, she is a champion of time management.

Mayes capped off a decorated high school career this spring at the Class AAAAA state outdoor track meet by winning her sixth pole vaulting title in record fashion. Mayes broke her own state meet record with a vault of 11 feet, 7 inches. The win was her third consecutive outdoor championship.

For her efforts, Mayes has been named The Morning News Girls Track Athlete of the Year.


Mayes spent much of the year juggling her other extracurricular activities and a nagging knee injury she suffered before the indoor season, which kept her off the runway.

She didn't vault again until the Bulldog Relays in April, but the time off allowed her to slow down and relax.

"I think taking the break was a good thing," Mayes said. "Before the indoor season I was stressed. When I came back I had a lot more fun."

Mayes went undefeated in the first four meets she entered, only to finish third at the Meet of Champs despite jumping 11-8, what would have been another state record if not for Russellville's Whitney Cothran, who set the record at 12-0.

"I knew going into every meet I could jump 11-6. Going into the meet I had jumped 11-8 more times than any of those girls, but they just had the meets of their lives and I just had a regular track meet," Mayes said.

Mayes never vaulted under 11-6 all season.

Since the eighth grade Mayes has been competing in regional and national competitions. She is a five-time AAU and U.S. Track and Field national champion and at one time held three national records in her age groups.