Jessica Sullivan

[Russ]

NFA's Sullivan focused on the little things to be the best
By MATT STOUT
Norwich Bulletin


Around the state, there weren't too many other pole vaulters who could challenge Jessica Sullivan. Nor were there any added expectations placed upon her by her coaches, teammates or friends.

Yet, with each passing meet, there was this growing pressure to perform, this added burden to reach the heights she had before.


"I would sit there before meets and go, 'OK, I've got three meets left, I've got two meets left,' " said Sullivan, who cleared 11 feet, 6 inches during the Norwich Free Academy track team's indoor season. "It was like, 'Am I going to make that 11-6 again?' It was kind of counting down because I didn't really have that much time because at the bigger meets, there was more pressure, more competition.

"But I think at those types of meets," she added, "I'm able to compete better."

And for Sullivan -- the All-Norwich Bulletin Girls Track Athlete of the Year -- being "better" meant being the best.

After fighting through what she considered a slow start to her season, Sullivan rewrote the state record books several times over this spring. She broke her own Class LL record of 10-10, jumping 11-04, before eclipsing the previous State Open record of 11-001¼4 with the jump she had been after all season.

"That was my mentality going into the season," said the University of Notre Dame-bound Sullivan. "I wanted to say I could jump 11-6, it wasn't a fluke and it was something I could repeat in outdoor. And I think I showed that."

Weight room work

She did it, NFA pole vaulting coach Russ VerSteeg said, by focusing on the little things. Each year, Sullivan has taken the approach of not improving her entire vault but parts of it. This past season, thanks to some extra time in the weight room, she gained some speed, so she started her run-up eight feet farther back.

She also paid extra attention to her takeoff, focusing more on being "powerful and more aggressive because I found that when I focused on the bottom part of the jump," she said, "the top part came automatically."

"And she was healthy this year," VerSteeg said, adding that Sullivan competed through a pulled quad for most of last season. "But this year, she got stronger, she got faster, she did more lifting weights this year. So it's really a combination of a lot of things, and this was the year she really put everything together."

It was all supposed to lead to one more outstanding performance at the New England Championships in Fitchburg, Mass. But after rain postponed the pole vault event from June 9 to June 11, Sullivan rushed from her senior breakfast to the competition that morning, had one of the best warm-ups she's ever had and ... got sick.

But for someone who's always put a lot of pressure on herself, it wasn't due to the nerves.

"Normally before I compete, I don't eat that much," Sullivan said. "And I had our big senior breakfast where I had the bacon and the eggs and all that stuff."

Still, the senior didn't let it sour a season in which she accomplished everything else she wanted.

"She had such a successful season, you can't look back and take anything away from that because of the New England meet," NFA coach Kara Kochanski said of Sullivan, who also set a personal record this year of 12.8 seconds in the 100-meter dash.

"Every year she's gotten better," VerSteeg added. "And I see her continuing to get better."

Reach Matt Stout at 425-4250 or mstout@norwichbulletin.com