Her dreams of a golden finish - and a victorious ending to what’s been an unusual senior season - in the pole vault were dashed once again.
“It’s really cool to get second place and I should be really happy,” Toone said, “but I just wanted first so bad.”
No matter what Toone told herself after a runner-up finish in Saturday’s Class 5A girls pole vault at the University Interscholastic League State Track and Field Meet at Texas’ Mike A. Myers, she still couldn’t mask the disappointment.
In what quickly turned into a two-athlete competition, Toone had a shot at the gold medal she desperately wanted after what she considered a disappointing third-place finish last season.
But after watching New Braunfels junior Demi Payne clear her first attempt at 12 feet, 6 inches, the Vanderbilt signee never got over the bar on any of her three chances of tying her season-best mark.
“Since last year and getting so close to winning, she had a whole year of waiting,” Belton pole vault coach Gary Bunch said. “There’s excitement of finally getting that chance. She just ended up a little bit short.”
Because of bouts of mononucleosis and the flu, Toone took only a combined eight vaults at the District 12-5A and Region II meets to clinch a state spot for the second straight season.
On Saturday, Toone - who was the only returning 5A medalist and has a personal-best of 12-9 - needed nine attempts at four different heights.
“She was pumped, she was ready,” Bunch said. “I think that’s what makes her feel a little bit let down. Everything seemed to be going so well warming up.”
Toone came into the competition at 11-6, after two competitors had already been eliminated. After making her opening attempt at 11-6, Toone made her second chance at 12 feet to stay alive with only Payne remaining.
Payne’s only miss came at her first attempt at 12-3 and Toone needed her final jump to stay in the competition. Payne cleared 12-6 and all but wrapped up the gold.
“It’s mixed feelings,” Bunch said. “She’s happy that she got silver, but she wanted a little bit more than that.”
Toone plans to take a month off before leaving for Nashville, Tenn., in July to begin the next chapter of her life and vault for Vanderbilt.
But Toone didn’t want to think that far ahead Saturday. This one hurt too much.
“It’s really disappointing,” she said. “I wanted first and I jumped a lot less than I did last year. I’m happy to have made it and it’s a good season overall.”
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
