Payton Carter Soars to New Heights with Runner-Up Finish in Class 2A Pole Vault at State Meet
By Fred Kroner
The move up from Class 1A to Class 2A didn’t slow St. Joseph-Ogden senior pole-vaulter Payton Carter.
After placing twice in previous years in her specialty (eighth as a sophomore and third as a junior), Carter logged her top state finish on Saturday (May 18) when she captured the runner-up medal in Class 2A.
Carter cleared 11 feet, 8 inches on Saturday at Eastern Illinois University, in Charleston.
In the preliminary round on Friday (May 17), Carter cleared 10 feet, 2 inches, the mandatory height to reach the finals.
SJ-O had one other individual state-meet competitor.
Savanna Franzen finished 18th in the 1,600 meters (5:19.86), which had 33 competitors.
SJ-O scored eight points and tied for 35th in the Class 2A team standings. Meet champion Normal University High accumulated 63 ½ points.
In all, 71 schools scored points at state.
