Wright State Insider: Heckman hangs another school record

Inspired by her older brother Steve’s pole vaulting career 17 years earlier, Maria Heckman set out to follow his path at Minster High School.

“He had the school record at my high school, and hearing all the stories about him made me want to try it,” Heckman said. “I started in seventh grade, and my mom was a little worried and somewhat against it at first.”

Heckman struggled with the sport for five years before breaking through as a junior and making back-to-back trips to the state meet. She wasn’t able to match Steve as a school record holder at Minster, but after last weekend’s performance at the Cedarville Invitational, she owns both the indoor and outdoor records at Wright State.

A sophomore finance and accounting major, Heckman cleared 3.66 meters (12 feet) at Cedarville to break the WSU indoor record of 3.65, and last year she set the outdoor mark at 3.64.

“My goal is to clear 12-6 this year and finish in the top two at the Horizon League meet,” Heckman said. “My long-term goal is 13 feet by the end of my career.”

Heckman has taken a couple of spills after breaking two of her poles, but it hasn’t deterred her from pushing harder to go higher.

“Both times I landed pretty close to the box and in a very upside down position, but I both times I landed on the mat so I was fine” she said. “I just really like the thrill of it. It’s pretty fun falling from that high. You’re always working against yourself to go to new heights, so I love that challenging aspect of it.”

Next up for Heckman and the Raiders will be the Marshall Invitational on Feb. 10-11, with the HL championships looming at the end of the month.

The outdoor season begins March 18 in Indianapolis at the Stan Lyons Invitational.

“It’s going to take a lot of work to get to 13 (feet), but I really feel like I can get there,” Heckman said.

Blackout bash: The men's and women's basketball teams will be play their first home doubleheader in nearly a month Saturday afternoon, and the athletic department is celebrating the occasion with a blackout as both teams take on Northern Kentucky.

Fans are encouraged to wear black, and the first 500 through the gate for the women’s game and first 5,000 for the men will receive free black t-shirts with a gray outline of the Wright State logo.

The women’s game tips at 4:30 p.m., followed by the men at 7.

The women, who have won eight in a row are are 9-1 the Nutter Center, are one game out first place in the HL, while the men are are a half game out of second place.

Fans also are encouraged to bring unopened boxes of crayons for the We Serve You Crayon Drive. Each crayon donation will be rewarded with a free popcorn at the games.

Softball starting: Four days after the mass exodus from Houston for Super Bowl LI, the Raiders will be headed there to open their first season under coach Justine Wichman.

WSU begins play in the Houston Hilton Plaza Invitational on Friday against Wichita State. The Raiders are slated to play five games over the weekend, two of which will be against the host Cougars, along with one each versus Boston College and UC Santa Barbara.

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