Granite Falls senior soars past the competition

Published 1:30 am Saturday, May 26, 2018

TACOMA — A few years ago, injuries ended Kelsey Bassett’s decade-long gymnastics career, ripping away her longtime passion and leaving behind a massive void.

Little did she know, her athletic career was just taking off.

The Granite Falls senior is now an individual state champion in two different sports — for two separate high schools.

Less than seven months after capturing a diving state crown, Bassett cleared 12 feet, 6 inches to claim the Class 2A girls pole vault title Saturday during the track and field state championships at Mount Tahoma High School.

“As soon as I stopped doing gymnastics, I didn’t even really think that I was going to pick up another sport or be a super-competitive athlete again,” she said. “But really I was just broken down and needed something to do.

“You can’t take the athlete out of a person. You can take the sport away, but you can’t take the athlete away.”

After taking up pole vaulting two years ago and earning a sixth-place state medal in her first season, Bassett fell just shy of the state title last year in a heartbreaking second-place finish. Both she and Fife’s Madison Licari cleared 11-9, but Licari was awarded the state crown by virtue of a tiebreaker.

Bassett soared past the competition this time, vaulting a foot higher than her nearest competitor.

“It feels really good,” she said. “I’m super proud of how far I’ve come this season. This season started out super rough, but we got there in the end.”

Earlier this season, Bassett was hampered by lower-back pain stemming from the three stress fractures that ended her gymnastics career.

“I was doing half of the normal workout and (wasn’t) even able to jump at the end — and then going home, laying down and not being able to get up,” she said.

But as the season progressed, the pain subsided and her marks increased.

Saturday was the fifth time in the past month Bassett has cleared at least 12 feet. She vaulted a personal-best 12-7 in last week’s district meet, which was tied for 52nd in the nation among high school girls as of Saturday evening.

“She’s an awesome athlete,” Granite Falls pole vault coach Paul Sheppard said. “And that’s not just her physical ability. It’s her ability to focus, it’s her attitude toward what she’s doing, it’s her work ethic. It’s all those things. I feel like it wouldn’t matter really what sport she’s in, she (would) be in the top tier no matter what.”

Bassett, who plans to continue pole vaulting at Carroll College in Montana, showcased her elite overall athleticism this year while accomplishing the rare feat of a multi-sport individual state champion.

She captured the 2A state diving title in dominant fashion for Archbishop Murphy this past November, just two months after taking up the sport. She dove for the Wildcats because Granite Falls doesn’t have a swim and dive program.

“It’s kind of crazy to think about how far I’ve come in my high school career,” Bassett said. “I’m kind of sad that this is my last meet, but it’s just been a wild ride.”