South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Rethy soars to second-place finish at state

DeSmet pole-vault standout also excels in the classroom

After clearing 14 feet, 3 inches just two weeks before the Class 4 boys’ track and field state championships, DeSmet senior Ryan Rethy of Oakville surprised even himself by clearing 15 feet in the pole vault at the state championships for a second-place finish.

“It was a surprise,” Rethy told the Call. “I had made 14 feet, 3 inches two weeks before state and didn’t really do well in practice going into state.”

The one thing that Rethy liked about the state championships was the ability to compete in front of a large crowd at Dwight T. Reed Stadium in Jefferson City.

“State was really cool because the runway was right in front of a giant packed grandstand,” he said.

The trip to the Class 4 state championships was Rethy’s third as he took 10th last year with a vault of 13 feet and 13th as a sophomore with a vault of 12 feet, 6 inches.

“Originally when I started out in track, I did the sprint events,” he said. “I tried a few other events and then the pole vault coach said that I had good body control, which is being able to coordinate the different parts of my body at different times of the vault.”

Rethy also excels in the classroom with a 4.28 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. He’s a member of the National Honor Society and the Ignation Society at DeSmet.

This coming fall, Rethy plans on attending the Missouri University of Science and Technology, where he plans on majoring in mechanical engineering. He also plans on taking on the pole vault events for the Miners’ track and field team.

“I went down there last summer for an engineering camp and met the track and field coach,” Rethy said. “So I’m set up to do track in the fall down there.”

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