TCNJ

18 The College of New Jersey Magazine P R A I R I E S P O R T S > I remember the first day I ever vaulted: March 28, 2015. Getting off the ground and holding on to the pole upside down, it's the coolest feeling, like you're flying. > Before each jump, I look at the runway, take a deep breath, and push off to start my run. As I get closer to the pit, I throw my hands up over my head, stay as tall as I can, push up off the ground, and keep my form while staying tight to the pole. As I'm going upside down, I point my toes over the bar. After that, it's just enjoying the fall back to the ground. > The poles are made out of fiberglass and vary in length. The ones that I jump with are 13 feet, but they range up to 17 feet. Each pole is relative to the athlete and his or her ability, technique, and size. > My best height is 12 feet flat, which I hit during high school. My freshman year at TCNJ, I jumped 11 feet and 11-3/4 inches and broke the school record. > I had two partially herniated discs in my back and compression in my spinal cord my freshman year at TCNJ. I was out for the whole spring season. > My sophomore year, after coming back from my injuries, is one of the best memories I have of vaulting. I realized that I couldn't take the sport for granted. You have to get everything out of every single moment. > With the 2021 season starting so late and no in-person training during the past year, a lot of the pressure to hit certain milestones is essentially gone. Pushing myself to reach new heights, literally and figuratively, is something that I look forward to doing my senior year. The track is my happy place, so if I can go there now to practice, smile, and laugh with my teammates, and compete a few times, then I can truly say I had a successful season. > I've always been a science nerd. When I was little, I got a microscope for Christ- mas and would take leaves and bugs from the backyard and put them under it. I want to work in a cancer research lab. The disease is close to my heart because I've had a lot of people in my life affected by it, so that's a field I want to pursue. — as told to David Pavlak How I Got Here NICOLE LESTER '22 Record-breaking pole vaulter finds that her happy place is in the air.

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