Penney High School senior Lindsay Vollmer finally met her match last weekend at the MSHSAA Class 2 Track Meet at Lincoln University in Jefferson City. And that match came in the form of a quiet freshman from California High School.
Vollmer almost single-handedly brought home a state team title for Penney as she scored 36 of her team's 40 points.
But Vollmer fell just short in her attempt of winning her 12th goal medal at the state meet, which would have tied a state record.
Vollmer won the gold in the long jump, 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles but she was deprived of the dozen by talented newcomer Sydney Deeken. The six-foot freshman from California won the high jump, clearing 5-6 on her third try.
Deeken had heard a bit about Vollmer's history but admitted that she did not know a whole lot about her prior to the state meet.
"When we got there somebody told me she was going for her 12th gold medal and had never lost," Deeken said. "I said, OK, Wow!" And it was a wow moment when Deeken finally cleared 5-6 on her third attempt.
"I had been close the first two times but just hit the bar with my butt," Deeken said. "I was just relieved when I finally cleared it." Deeken attempted to break the state record at 5-8 but failed. But then she has three more years to go for that mark.
"People told me I was close but I was just not comfortable with that height," Deeken said.
Deeken said that Vollmer did talk to her after the high jump. "She congratulated me and said I was pretty good," Deeken said. "She wished me luck with the rest of my career."
Pinto coach Rick Edwards felt that Deeken's high jump championship was more than "pretty good". "Lindsay Vollmer is a spectacular athlete who is going to the University of Kansas," Edwards said. "To beat an athlete of that caliber makes this title that much more special."
It was a great ending to a busy weekend for Deeken. "Going into the meet I just wanted to try my best and hopefully get first in whatever I could," she said.
The meet started for Deeken Friday with the long jump. She earned her first state medal with a fourth place finish, jumping 16-6.5. She had jumped 17-11.75 at the sectional meet.
"I was very nervous coming into the meet and I just felt I did not do my best in that event," Deeken said.
Deeken, who also played on the Pinto varsity volleyball and basketball teams as a freshman, had a night to regroup and she came out Saturday competing in her favorite event, the triple jump. She jumped 35-10.5 which was good for third place. "My PR in the triple jump is 37-11.5 and that would have won," Deeken said.
She had one last chance to win and closed out her first state meet in style with her championship in the high jump. Deeken, who also qualified in the 200-meter dash and finished 10th, got the first of what may be many chances to stand on the top of the podium.
"Performing at the state meet is a lot of pressure for anybody, especially a freshman," Edwards said. "I think Sydney was a little nervous at first but as the meet progressed she just got better and better. She really stepped it up.
"We like to call her quietly competitive. She doesn't say a lot but when she is in competition she likes to win. Winning three medals at the state meet, including a first place, is quite an accomplishment. She exceeded our expectations. She is very tall with good speed. If she continues to work in the weight room I think the sky is the limit for her."
