Courtesy of FHSU Athletics
BY NICOLE SHERRILL
Life can change in a matter of moments. One second you’re achieving a dream set for yourself, and another second all of your hopes are put on the line. For two Fort Hays State track athletes, this was the case. However, it’s not the dilemma that sets you back, it’s how you respond that fuels your comeback.
Madison Wolf and Sam Dreiling both compete in field events the Tigers. Dreiling finds his success in pole vaulting, while Wolf captivates her skills in the javelin. Both have had success in their events, but both have suffered difficulties on their road to that success. Dreiling was involved in an ATV accident, just over nine months ago which resulted in a broken neck and multiple broken vertebrae. For Wolf, her injury came from constant throwing as she tore her elbow at the MIAA meet. Both were serious, but both gave the athletes motivation to get back to where they were.
Growing Up Vaulting
Sam Dreiling grew up just outside of Hays in Gorham, Kan. From a young age, pole vaulting was instilled in his blood as his father passed down his passion to his youngest child. After his dad brought home a gift from the local high school, Dreiling took it upon himself to learn the sport, while also initiating competition against his family members.
“That evening, my two older brothers and I set the pits up, dug a hole in the ground, found a piece of PVC and I started attempting to vault. Then, once we started to bend the PVC, dad decided we need a pole so he bought us one, and himself one. He started vaulting with us and competition between all of us really started to spark. That is what got me started and hooked on it,” said Dreiling.
Many nights spent outside at home working on his form and testing his limits against his brother and dad captivated Dreiling. In middle school, he was one of the best at every meet. His drive pushed him to want to be the best and he knew close enough wasn’t good enough.
“Being better than everyone was pretty thrilling experience and being just shy of getting school records made me determined to get better. Every day after practice I would come home and uncover the pit and go find dad so I could practice more. I just could not get enough of it,” he said.
Once his domination in middle school sent him to the high school ranks, Dreiling realized the change was not as easy as he expected. He had to get used to not being the “top dog anymore” and focus on getting better each day. He even spent time at his club’s facilities in the Tail Wind Pole Vault Club, but that wasn’t enough. Dreiling began getting frustrated that he wasn’t able to perform how he wanted, but that was not an excuse to always strive for more.
“I was really frustrated when I would come home from practice dad would drag me out and we would do drill work until I figured out what frustrated me,” he said.
That extra work helped Dreiling during his sophomore year. He was back to being one of the top performers in the state, while also hitting his goal of jumping higher than his dad in high school. By the time his junior year rolled around and his brother had graduated and was no longer with him at practice, something changed.
“Junior year was a little different because I didn’t have my brother there any more. I had a problem of getting too serious and he would always joke around with me and help me relax. That was one thing that I had to learn how to overcome. It did turn out to be my best year. I took second in state and did very well at all of the meets,” he said.
When it came time to start looking at colleges, Dreiling knew he wanted to find one that would let him continue his dream of pole vaulting, while also giving him the chance to study engineering. After a hint from his mom to check out FHSU, Dreiling was granted a scholarship by coach Dennis Weber at his current height to become a Tiger.
“I had a meeting with Coach Weber and he mentioned that I could get a scholarship with my current height. I was sold the minute I heard those words. I was guaranteed three more years of pole vault and it was close to home which was an added bonus. After that day I was pretty much done looking other places,” said Dreiling.
When his time to start competing as a Tiger arrived, Dreiling found the transition to be somewhat rough. The classes were harder, pole vaulting became more frustrating and he realized his attitude needed to change.
“I can remember after every indoor meet calling my dad and complaining because I was still vaulting high school heights. It was a reality check for me, and was needed in my opinion. It made me realize that I had to change something in my vault if I wanted to improve,” he said.
Dreiling took the time between indoor and outdoor seasons to work harder than he had before. Him and his dad broke the basics of pole vaulting down, and started him back up until he was comfortable again.
“In that one day I added a foot to my height, and from then on it got better. I started doing well at the meets and was finally starting to see the results I was wanting,” he said. The arrival of new coach Jason McCullough offered a new start for Dreiling.
“He and I clicked right away. The training he had us do and the communication that we had just helped me to improve greatly. Roughly 16 feet became a consistent height for me. That year I learned probably the most I ever had,” he said. Then came the ATV accident. Dreiling’s 20th birthday consisted of him and his friends going out on an ATV ride. On the way back to his friend’s house, Dreiling decided he had enough of being the one in the back, so he sped his way up to the front of the pack. It wasn’t until Dreiling got too close to his brother that everything changed.
“When we landed, I landed on my left shoulder/ side of head/ back. The second we hit the ditch I felt my neck break. There is no way to describe the feeling of your bone pop in your neck. This entire time I still had my passenger in a bare hug. Once her weight hit me I felt several vertebra in my back break,” he said.
This started the too long of road for recovery for Dreiling. Through doctor limitations and the wearing of a neck brace, the recovery started to take a toll on Dreiling. He was not allowed to do much more than watch Netflix and stay at home. After a certain amount of time, he was given the green light to swim or bike, but those became boring for Dreiling.
“I found out really fast that I am not a person who can swim for training. So I went to the bike. I found out how fast riding a stationary bike gets boring. About 4 weeks into those 8 I had enough,” he said.
When it finally got past the eight-week mark, Dreiling was released and removed of any restrictions, and it did not take long for that competitive spirit to drive him to get back into vaulting.
“I got released on the 29th of September and I vaulted on October 1st. It was kind of like riding a bike. I didn’t forget how to do it, I just had to convince myself that it wasn’t going to hurt and that I was going to be okay. Once I actually went through with a full vault, you can’t describe it. Everything rushed over me at once. I hit the pit and there was just this huge smile on my face. I was actually shaking so bad from the adrenaline rush that I couldn’t stand up. I just laid there and laughed. Eventually I stood up, looked at my coach and said, “I’m back baby!”” he said.
Dreiling was injured on June 10th, and exactly nine months later, he was standing on a podium receiving his plaque for being named an NCAA Division II Indoor All-American. Behind his 16 feet, 6 ¾ inches vault, Dreiling placed eighth at the national competition. After battling all season and achieving multiple provisional heights, the junior was back to where he wanted to be. Dreiling currently sits in the No. 9 ranking in Division II after achieving a 16 feet, 4 ¾ inches vault at the Emporia Spring Invite.
“Getting to where I’m at now was not easy. It took a lot of hard work, frustration, arguments, more frustration, then some understanding,” said Dreiling. “And a whole lot of confidence.”
Putting in Patience
After battling pneumonia during her senior year of basketball, Madison Wolf knew she needed to pick up another event to keep her in her full potential. Enter javelin throwing. The Bennington, Kan., native only participated in the event for her senior year, but she was able to be more than successful in that short amount of time.
“Because of my late start, I started out throwing about 90 feet at the first meet I competed in. But by the time I threw at state, I threw 137 feet, 9 inches to win state,” said Wolf.
That number turned heads of college scouts who all wanted Wolf to be on their roster. Even though she never really imagined herself being a collegiate javelin thrower, Wolf took all the offers into consideration, but ultimately stuck with her first choice. Wolf was going to become a Tiger.
“I was already going to come to FHSU before I was signed to do javelin. After state, I was unsure about where I wanted to go because of all the colleges offering and my performance there. I was determined to go to Fort Hays State because I had heard the coach was very knowledgeable and had a lot of success with previous athletes,” said Wolf.
With not much experience beforehand with the ins and outs of training for javelin, Wolf did not have much adjusting to do once she got to Fort Hays State.
“With only doing javelin my senior year, I had a lot to learn when I got here. I had to learn all of the basics of javelin and really work on increasing my strength through weightlifting,” she said.
Although Wolf was still considered new to the sport, she quickly made her name known in MIAA standings. During her freshman MIAA championships, Wolf boasted a 155-feet, 1-inch throw to capture first in the event. At the national meet a few weeks later, Wolf’s second throw was good for her best distance as she claimed sixth place in Division II with a 153 feet, 7 inches throw.
During her sophomore year, Wolf missed the MIAA championship by a little under three feet as she threw for 158 feet, 2 inches. At nationals that season, Wolf increased her previous All-American status by two places, finishing fourth at 161 feet, 4 inches. Finally, in 2016, Wolf finished in second at the MIAA championships for a second-straight year, while falling back to sixth place at the NCAA Division II National Championships. However, all of this wear and tare of her arm would eventually catch up to Wolf as injury was right around the corner for her.
“I had been having trouble with my elbow for about two years. The day it happened, I could tell it felt different, even more vulnerable than usual. On my second attempt at conference, I felt a pop in my elbow and I could tell it had probably torn,” said Wolf.
The diagnosis of her elbow took three months as Wolf was unable to see a doctor until August. Once she finally was face-to-face with one, the news was broken to her that she did in fact need surgery.
“About two weeks after that appointment, I had the surgery and started my 11-month recovery,” said Wolf.
With the long road ahead, Wolf took a red-shirt season during for her senior year. Through that time off, she was able to rebuild strength in her elbow, and get back to the basics of her event.
“With my rehab process, I slowly started integrating light throws from a ball, then a football, then a turbo javelin, then finally an actual javelin. Throwing the actual javelin was about 11 months after the date of the surgery,” she said.
After successfully getting through rehab and building the strength back to throw the javelin how she hoped, it was time for Wolf to finish out her final season as a Tiger. However, it wasn’t just her skill and experience that helped her get back to normal.
“My coach plays a huge role in where I am now. He is very knowledgeable and I trust his system of workouts, weight training and throwing regimens. I have also pushed myself to be a tough competitor when the time calls for it. At nationals my junior year, I was throwing on a torn elbow so I knew that my first throw had to be my best because I was going to be in a lot of pain after that and I managed to throw my second best throw ever on that single attempt,” said Wolf.
In just one outdoor meet back, Wolf has already claimed an automatic berth to the national championships as she currently holds the top distance in Division II at 167 feet, 3 inches. This would also be good for the 12th-best Division I throw. Now, the three-time All-American has a chance to capture her fourth honor as she heads into her final season at Fort Hays State. If it would not have been for this injury, Wolf may not have ever realized how important having patience is.
“Working through an injury is all about patience. You have to put in the work to get yourself better again and not take things too fast where you can’t really let yourself fully heal,” she said. “Getting myself back to normal was really important to make sure I can compete to my full potential.”
Dreiling, Wolf and the rest of the Tigers will be in action this Friday (March 30) as Fort Hays State plays host to the Alex Francis Classic. The field events start rolling at noon, with running events taking place at 3 p.m. Come out and see for yourself what patience and perseverance can do.