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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Mead vaulter makes convincing case in field

Joe Everson Correspondent

Mead High School debater Dana Giffen came out ahead in the toughest contest of her life last year: convincing her mother that, after a serious knee injury suffered during her sophomore year, she should resume her high school career as a pole vaulter.

The result was an impressive fifth-place finish at the Washington State 4A Track and Field Championships, and a personal record during the season of 11 feet, which is tied for 10th all-time in the state.

But Mead coach Dori Robertson wasn’t sure that Giffen would even be permitted to come out during her junior year after the injury, which occurred when she landed awkwardly on a landing.

“I honestly didn’t think we’d get her back,” said Robertson recently. “She got hurt with two or three weeks left in her sophomore season and missed the rest of the year and a lot of school. I don’t think her parents even wanted her out for track.

“She came out, though, and the first week or two she was running sprints, but I could see her watching the vaulters every so often. She was just really drawn to pole vault.”

When Giffen decided she wanted to compete again in the vault, Robertson says she had Dana call her mom—”I didn’t want to face her parents”—and the rest of the season was a story with a happy ending.

Giffen’s first experience with the pole vault was as a freshman, when she also was enrolled in Robertson’s honors English class.

“I was surprised that she came out,” Robertson said, “since she seemed so focused on the scholastic side of school. She started out with sprints and the high jump, trying to find her event. I don’t remember how she found her way to the pole vault.”

But since Giffen had come from a gymnastics background, she already had an advantage in the vault, Robertson says, and without a lot of other athletic experience, she was extremely coachable, working first with Shawn Gumke, then with Laurie Chadwick, her Mead event coaches.

“One of the reasons she’s so successful,” said Robertson, “is that she takes the same approach to vaulting as she does in the classroom. She puts in a lot of hard work, she’s always on you to help learn something new and she’s very much a student of the game.

“Dana wants to be the best and expects to be the best, not just in the vault but also in the classroom. She’s very aware of the world around us and is reading all the time about current events, foreign policy and the political climate.

“At state last year, I don’t think she was out of her room except to eat and vault because she was studying for a couple advanced placement classes. She’s interested in attending the University of Washington, I know, and at times talks about walking on. I know that they’re interested in her.

“One of the best things about Dana is that she understands the right balance of being a student and being an athlete.”

And as it’s turned out, she understands the finer points of how to win a debate with her parents.