Sophomore Kendra Otto Von Askervold has tied Lake Stevens High School’s all time record for pole vaulting. In spite of being the youngest vaulter on the varsity team, Otto Von Askervold has shown the brightest, as the school’s record has not been broken since 2006.

“I competed at the Bi-District Qualifiers to go to state, and I ended up tying the school record at 10’6”. I was really excited. I was happy knowing that I tied the all time school record and I was so happy that I was so close to even breaking it. It was just a really great feeling,” said Otto Von Askervold.

Otto Von Askervold faced many struggles on the path to this accomplishment in recent months, suffering from multiple injuries.

“I had really bad shin splints on my jumping foot which was my left foot, and that kind of caused some setbacks. I had to miss some practices just for it all to heal. I also developed a really bad shoulder injury the week before Bi-Districts. So I was out the whole week and couldn’t practice for it, so I basically went into Bi-Districts just from where I had been with missing practices. I had a slip in my rotator cuff, so I couldn’t plant my pole correctly in the box, and it just took a lot out of my arm,” said Otto Von Askervold.

Her friends and fellow athletes took notice to her struggles.

“I had noticed that she had been injured a lot, and it really made it hard for her to pole vault. In spite of that she has put in a lot of extra time and effort into making herself better throughout the season,” said Junior Tiffany Roe.

As for Otto Von Askervold, this accomplishment is only a step toward her ultimate goal.

“Next year I want to break my own record now and make it all the way to state. You have to be in the top four qualifiers to make it to state. The qualifying height was 10”9’. Being so close this year, I know I’ll make it next year,”said Otto Von Askervold.