By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
STAYTON, Ore.– Perrydale’s Greta Fillible etched her name into the Pirates record books Friday afternoon at the Regis Twilight Meet.
The Perrydale junior, having already won the Pole Vault event, decided to up the ante and see how far she could go. Her PR was 8-feet-6-inches going into the meet, she crushed that by going 8-feet-9-inches.
But wait. She wasn’t done there. The bar went up to 8-feet-11-inches. She cleared that. Fillible celebrated once she cleared the bar as the bar went up to nine-feet.
For reference, Ruby Strawn from 4A Stayton finished second with a height cleared of 8-feet-even and Fillible was still going.
“It was a really amazing moment for me. I’ve been working towards it for so long and I was happy that I was able to meet it, but beat it at this meet because I’ve been working so hard,” Fillible said.
Her height’s with Pole Vault have only gone up going back to last season. On March 15 of 2024, she cleared 6-feet-6-inches at the Mid Valley Dental Icebreaker. At Districts of last year, she cleared 8-feet-3.5-inches. Entering this year, she’s been hovering between that 8-foot and 8-feet-6-inch mark before breaking through with that 8-feet-11-inch height at Regis High School.
It’s been that attention to detail with technique and getting everything just right that has been key for Fillible to get to this point.
“It’s a lot of work, that’s just what the Pole Vault is. It’s so much technique and everything just kinda has to be just right in order to get over that bar, but it’s worth it if you’re able to put into that effort,”
And though her attempts at nine-feet didn’t go in her favor on this day, Fillible knows she’ll have an opportunity or two to try to achieve that height at Districts and at State.
After a seventh-place finish in 1A State as a freshman and a ninth-place finish as a sophomore, Fillible is primed for another run at 1A State in the event going into the District Meet at Portland Christian on May 22 and 23, just continuing to work on her craft and making sure she’s doing all that she can to get better.
“Just more practicing. I really need to get my technique down on my swinging and turning and keeping my head back. It’s all really about that technique. The pole does bend, it’s just adjusting to the pole,” Fillible said.
Fillible finished ninth in the 300-meter hurdles with a PR time of 52.81. Isabelle Arthur finished 12th in the Javelin throw.
