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Teen sets pole vault records after breaking her back

Doctors expected Emma Grace to struggle walking. No one expected her to fly.
Credit: Bobby Lewis
Emma Grace has rebounded from a serious back injury to become an elite pole vaulter.

Emma Grace thought her athletic career was over. She suffered a compressed and displaced fracture of her lower spine and sacral segment and herniated three discs in her back as a seventh-grade cheerleader.

Doctors expected her to struggle walking. No one expected her to fly.

“I want to just (go to) higher heights,” said the East Lake High School junior. “I want to do this in my future and I don’t want to stop after senior year.”

Four years ago, a broken back nearly broke her spirit. Fast forward to last weekend at the regional track meet, and Grace set a new personal record with an 11-foot pole vault. The effort was good enough to get her into the state championship this weekend in Jacksonville.

“When the pressure is on, she just rises above,” said East Lake High School track coach, Britt Taylor. “She’s the best. It’s not even close.”

Grace started competing as a sophomore after noticing the oldest school record at East Lake was pole vaulting.

“I want to break that,” she said.

Two years later, she did.

“She’s a beginner essentially, and she’s only going to get better,” said her pole vaulting coach, Zoe Harper, who vaulted at the University of South Florida.

The previous mark was 9’4”. Grace topped that as a sophomore. Her personal best is 11’. She hopes to top that in the state tournament and eventually go to college on a pole vaulting scholarship.

“I want nothing more than to come out here every day and pole vault,” she said.

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