Pole-vaulter Sarah Wignall has set the bar, well, rather high this season.

The Weedsport senior broke the school record as a junior, and broken her own record twice already this season.

But 9 feet, 6 inches isn't good enough for the 18-year-old.

“My goal is to clear a height of anywhere from 10-6 to 11-6,” she said. “I want to improve the school record so it's untouchable for at least 10 years.”

Wignall is a three-sport athlete for the Warriors (track and field, swimming, cross country) and has had success every season.

Her 16th-place finish at the state cross country meet was good enough for third-team, all-state honors in Class D. Competing on the boys swimming team, Wignall finished in ninth place in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:11.89) at the 2007 Section III Class B meet where Weedsport was runner-up. Last year she was the Section III, Class D pole-vaulting champion.

While she excels at all three sports, Wignall will be swimming at Cortland in the fall.

And she hopes, pole-vaulting.

“It's the one thing about track that I don't think that I can let go of,” she said. “Hopefully at SUNY Cortland I will be pole-vaulting.”

Wignall will swim the breaststroke for the Red Dragons. She has already had to swim against some tough competition - the Section III boys teams.

“Working out with the guys you have a totally different mindset,” said the future physical education major. “You kind of get into it and get a little bit of that drive for yourself.”

She believes that competing with the boys will only help her at Cortland.

“It makes me strive to be successful because there's just a certain feeling about beating the guys,” she said. “It's so much more exciting that beating the girls.”

Until graduation, Wignall will concentrate on track and field. Besides the pole vault, she also competes at 400 meters, 800, long jump, 4x800 relay and the 4x400 relay.

Warrior coach Val Panna has been impressed with Wignall's resourcefulness this season.

“If it's a tough meet I can say, 'Go run in this event and compete in this field event,' and she can get us five points in each event,” Panna said.

“One of the reasons she's so versatile is that she's able to recover so quickly from each event that she does. Some athletes are only able to run one event and do a field [event], but if I needed her to run four events for me she'd recover and be able to do it.”

Panna is confident Wignall will be successful at Cortland.

“I think she'll do great,” Panna said. “She's one of her worst critics and she's very competitive. She's willing to put in the work and the extra effort to compete at the high school level now. I think that she'll do just fine in college if she puts in the time and dedication that she needs to to succeed.”

Cortland captured the 2007 SUNYAC track and field championship last weekend. If Wignall is able to continue her track and field career for the Red Dragons, she will have a talented mentor.

Liverpool graduate Sarah Kimball won the individual SUNYAC pole vault championship with a vault of 10-6. She set the school record of 11-8.5 earlier this year.

Wignall has taken steps to keep improving. She's been breaking her vaults down and concentrating on her form, as well as visiting a pole-vaulting clinic at SUNY Brockport and looking into private lessons - all of which will prepare her for a track and field future at Cortland.

“I've heard that they have and outstanding program and they're always looking to expand with girls that are successful in high school,” Wignall said. “Hopefully they'll look at me and think I have some potential.”