While pole vaulting comes with some danger, Aledo's Sean Gribble has never been seriously hurt — with one exception: the District 5-5A Track and Field Meet in mid-April.
It wasn't from a broken pole or landing wrong. It was from a broken heart and not landing a spot in the postseason despite being one of the nation's top high school vaulters.
Gribble, a senior and an odds-on favorite to reach state and likely win it, failed to get out of district. He shockingly no-heighted, and with that came an end to a high school career that was supposed to conclude with a gold medal and an exclamation point, not question marks and looking for answers.
"Honestly, I wasn't freaking out. I was just vaulting like a normal meet," Gribble explained. "When I walked away later, I said, 'Well, that's my high school career.'
"I looked at my coach and said, 'Sorry.' I grabbed my bag and went to the training room. I sat there and prayed."
It was less than two weeks earlier that Gribble set a school record by clearing 17 feet, 0.75 inches at the prestigious Texas Relays in the same arena the state meet was held in mid-May. Excited and filled with momentum, he couldn't wait to get back to Mike Myers Stadium and compete at state for the first time in his career.
Gribble even had the nation's best vault for a week before a vaulter from Indiana topped it by an inch. His vault is still seventh best in the nation now that all of the state championships have been held.
In fact, Gribble's school-record vault was more than a foot higher than that of 5A state champion Gator Young of Argyle (16-0).
Young, a sophomore, is a friend of Gribble. The two were looking forward to competing against each other in high school one last time in high school before Gribble moves on to vault for Texas Tech in college.
"His mom told me he was heartbroken. He really wanted to go up against me at state," Gribble said.
While there's no guarantee Gribble would have won state, he admits there's a pain that accompanies never knowing what might have been. However, like most great athletes, he's turning the disappointment into opportunity.
"It hurts, but it's going to make stronger as a vaulter — and as a person," Gribble said.
Gribble is already considered a good person by pretty much everyone who has ever met him. He's kind to others, pleasant to be around, grateful for his talent, and he's not one for making excuses.
However, when pushed for what really happened at that district meet, Gribble humbly admitted that he was struggling with a split callous on his hand. Ironically, he developed it at the Texas Relays.
Instead of using a treatment called Second Skin, he opted for something different and he admits it was clearly was the wrong choice.
"It's a part of the sport. You get callouses," he said. "I had tape on it, but it took away from my grip strength.
"It's a sad reality, one that I am going to have to live with."
Immediately, Gribble turned his attention to cheering for his teammates, most notably teammate Brad Campbell, a junior vaulter who advanced to state.
"I'm really proud of him. He did what I could not," Gribble said. "He's got a decent chance of reaching the podium (as a medalist) next year."
Aledo vault coach John Rhodes said Gribble's continued support and efforts to inspire his teammates while he was only able to watch in the postseason further proved his leadership ability.
"Sean has done a great job this year as our senior leader. He is everyone’s biggest fan and always encourages his teammates. He always finds a way to stay positive," Rhodes said.
Gribble is simply a giving person. Immediately after the season he left for Pine Cove Silverado Camp in Columbus to shadow counselors and help elementary student campers.
"I went as a kid in Tyler and I loved it," he said. "I remember how much fun I had and I'm looking forward to helping kids have the same great time I did."
Gribble is a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, which would help explain his love of pole vaulting. He's also into snowboarding, hiking, rock climbing, and mountain biking.
And while he's never had a serious injury vaulting — he did get a gash in his lip once by biting it in the middle of a vault — he has been injured. In junior high as an all-star baseball player he broke his arm and later his thumb. He broke his arm again in the eighth grade.
So what did he do? He decided to try a sport where he would leave the ground, turn himself upside down on a pole and propel himself many feet in the air and over a bar.
"A friend a grade in front of me pole vaulted and he said, 'You've got to try this!'" Gribble said. "He was right. I was hooked.
"We're a different breed. You've got to be a little bit insane to do it."
Gribble continued to progress in his new sport. As a freshman he cleared 12-6 before the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season. As a sophomore he reached 14 feet and in his junior season he won district with a vault of 15-3.
Then came new heights — literally.
"Four weeks into the summer between my junior and senior year I went from 15-3 to 16-8," he said. "I changed one thing in my technique and it made a tremendous difference.
"I got closer to the pole (the way he holds it). I was like, 'Whoa!'"
Gribble's new dream is to vault for a championship in college for Texas Tech, and perhaps even get a shot at a world record and the Olympics. He is majoring in mechanical engineering.
In fact, he's already gotten a taste of what it's like competing against college vaulters. While his teammates were competing at the 5A Region I Meet at Tech, Gribble had the opportunity to participate in a vaulting competition against some of his future teammates. He placed seventh out of the 13 vaulters, clearing 15-10.
"It was a warm day with a nice tail wind and I was using a bigger pole," he said. "It was really cool. It felt awesome. I was like a kid in a candy store."
He was also told an uplifting story from Brit Pursley, Tech record-setting vaulter from the 1980s. Pursley had his own disappointing performance in high school, tripping in the hurdles and no-heighting in the pole vault.
"It cheered me up, not because I was happy that happened to him, but it showed me that you can bounce back and do great things," Gribble said. "I had the biggest grin on my face."
Among the things Gribble said he learned from his disappointment is to rely on others for support.
"I learned to depend on people around me. Going from such a high high at the Texas Relays to such a low low at district, they were there for me," he said. "It was a difficult time and it will probably always hurt at least a little bit. Everyone dreams of winning state, especially as a senior.
"But there's lots of good things ahead, I believe that. God put people in my life to help make that happen. This is not the end."
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