EUGENE – One jump was all that was needed for Sisters senior Mae Roth to claim the Class 3A pole vault title.

On the opening day of the track and field state championships at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus, Roth not only won the pole vault title, but matched the 3A state meet record of 12 feet as well.

“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Roth said. “I have been thinking about winning state since last year. It gave me a lot of confidence to know that I would win state on my opening bar. But it was definitely nerve-wracking.”

Roth won the event by clearing 10 feet, 6.25 inches, but she kept going. Only La Pine’s Lucy Fisher and Rogue River’s Reagan Alden had cleared 10-3.5. Roth then cleared 10-11.75 and 11-6.25.

She attempted as high as 12-2, which would have given her sole possession of the 3A record, but just missed clearing the bar on her final jump.

Roth’s path to the top step of the podium in her final year of high school before joining the University of Montana’s track and field team next year was an unorthodox one.

In her sophomore season she finished second at the district meet and just missed landing on the podium with a ninth-place finish at the state meet. In her junior season her marks were improving by more than a foot with her best jump clearing 10 feet. A district title and a top-eight finish at state seemed well within reach.

But not only did she not land on the podium, she did not even qualify for the state meet. At the district meet, Roth could not clear the initial height and received a dreaded “no height.”

“I thought about what kind of loser I wanted to be,” Roth said. “Did I want to be the loser who gave up or the loser who put in 10-times more effort. And I chose to put in that 10-times more effort.”

Then came the 5 a.m. lifts before school and jumping in snow during the winter months. And the results suddenly took off exponentially. On April 5 at the Oregon Relays, Roth cleared 10-6. Four days later she cleared 11 feet for the first time. Three days later she cleared 11-9.

“Just that progression was like, ‘Woah, all of my work is paying off,’” Roth said. “If you would have told me that I would have jumped 12 feet at the state meet last year, I wouldn’t have believed you. I’m super grateful for the journey.”