After El Reagan won the pole vault at the Class 3 state track championship meet on the morning of May 28 at Adkins Stadium in Jefferson City, she gave a big hug to assistant coach Nathan Thurman.

“I really wanted to win for my coach because he worked really hard for me to be where I am,” the Montgomery County sophomore said. “I would not be where I am without coach Thurman.”

Reagan became the second MCHS athlete in three years to win a state title in the girls division after placing first in a school-record 10 feet, 8 inches in the pole vault. She broke her previous mark of 10-5.25 from her third-place finish at the Sectional 2 meet on May 21, which earned her a second trip to Jefferson City.

“I worked really hard this season,” Reagan said. “My coach (Thurman) and I have put in a lot of hours and a lot of overtime to make it here.”

Reagan was one of eight MCHS athletes who earned an all-state medal during the two-day state meet. Junior Lyric Ford finished fourth in the 1,600, senior Sam Queathem came in fifth in the javelin, the boys 800-meter relay team of juniors Adam Czerniewski and Dominic Luttrell, sophomore Jacer Brower and freshman Jadrian Thurmon placed sixth and freshman Tyler Erwin was eighth in the high jump.

Last year, Reagan became the first MCHS girl since 2016 to place at state in pole vault after finishing eighth. Now, she’s among a small group of state champions from MCHS that include Renee Finke and Ehren Banfield.

“It’s not easy to be a state champion, especially in our class,” MCHS head coach Stephanie Finke said. “When you see our distances, times and jumps, they’re better than Class 4. It’s a pretty big accomplishment. I’m proud of El for getting there.”

Renee Finke won the state title in the high jump in 2019 and 2021. Reagan’s win in the pole vault on May 28 makes it the third season in a row the MCHS girls team had an individual state champion. The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think we’re a group of hard workers,” Reagan said. “It all comes down to attitude and work ethic. We want to win. We’re competitive and we want to work hard.”

Palmyra junior Abbey Redd finished second in a 10-8. But Reagan was awarded the state title since she was the first athlete to clear 10-8 on her first attempt. Redd, who won a Class 2 pole vault title last year, cleared 10-8 in her second attempt.

“I knew it was going to be close,” Reagan said. “When she had a third attempt at the 11 (feet mark), I was like, ‘I think she is going to make it. She has worked really hard.’ When she didn’t, I didn’t know if I won or not. It was definitely good that I made 10-8 on the first try.”

Reagan battled with Redd and Palmyra sophomore Alaina Loman in the pole vault for most of the season. They competed against each other four times. Loman won district and sectional titles, while Redd had four victories.

“They’re very nice,” Reagan said. “We’re all just friends. I feel like we have a kind of respect for each other because we’re good at what we do and what we do is hard to do.”

Reagan picked up her eighth win in the pole vault this season and the 12th in her high school track career. She started competing in the pole vault last year.

Thurman said he was happy to see Reagan celebrate a state championship.

“It felt really good,” Thurman said. “This is my 10th year of coaching. I’ve learned and she has learned through the other girls coming up. I became a better coach. We worked on her turn this year. That was her main goal from last year.”

Reagan is already preparing for the 2023 track season.
“The work does not stop,” Reagan said. “I’m going to keep working. I have more poles to go on. I can fix my form even more. I need to work on some speed training. I’m excited for the next two years.”