The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a strong background in gymnastics, Anaiah Rolle made a transition to track and field, becoming the first Bahamian female competitor to compete in an international pole vault event.

The 16-year-old did it by joining the Leap of Faith Track Club headed by her uncle James Rolle this year and it was on to making history yet again for the Bahamas.

She got her introduction to the event between late May and early June. Under the guidance of coach Kenny Moxey, Rolle was able to make her successful debut at the Bahamas Association of Athletic Associations’ Nationals in July where she qualified for the Junior Pan American Games.

Having represented the Bahamas in various competitions in gymnastics as a member of the Bahamas Star Gymnastics under coach Tennille Thompson. Rolle said she decided to get into track and field where she was doing the long jump.

“At the end of May, I started practicing for the pole vault,” she said. “Because pole vault for under-20 women was not something that was being done in the Bahamas before, most meets didn’t have the event, so I had to wait for the Nationals.”

At the Nationals over the weekend of July 5-7 at the Thomas A Robinson Track and Field Stadium, Rolle cleared 8-feet, 10 1/4-inches or 2.70 metres. A month later at the Jr Pan Am Under-20 Championships at the Jose A. Figueroa Freire Stadium in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico on August 6, she improved her personal best to 9-4 1/4 (2.85m).

She would finish at the bottom of the eight-woman field, but noted that it was all about getting the exposure.

“Competing in my first international event in the pole vault was different because since there were no other young females doing pole vault in the Bahamas, I normally compete by myself,” she said.

“But when I went to Puerto Rico, I competed with eight other females, who were more experienced and who were older than me, but I learned a lot of new things from that experience,” she reflected.

The Americans took the top two spots at the Jr Pan Am with Kenna Stimmel clearing 14-1 1/4 (4.30m) for the gold and Ella Mritchie doing 13-11 1/4 (4.25m) for the silver.

The bronze went to Alyssa Mixon of Puerto Rico with 13-5 1/4 (4.10m).

Based on the little experience she had going into the event, Rolle said she was quite pleased with what she accomplished.

“I expected the competition to be hard and I expected to compete against girls who were more experienced in pole vault than me,” she insisted.

“The competition was great. I learned that I had to be patient because those girls were pole vaulting much longer than me. I just started in May, so I have to work on being patient and in God’s timing, everything will happen.”

Moxey, a former national team pole vaulter who also coaches his son Kenny Moxey Jr in the sport, was thrilled when he got the opportunity to work with Rolle.

“She seems to be very promising and as long as she continues to stay focused and put in the work, I think she will be able to do better things,” Moxey said.

“I’m looking forward to next season at the CARIFTA Games and moving forward. I think she will be someone to watch. She’s already made history as the first Bahamian female vaulter. She’s a very nice young lady, very educated, who caught on very quickly.”

Not only would coach Moxey like to continue to work with her, but he’s hoping that Rolle’s participation in the sport will inspire more females and even young men to come out and learn the event.

“I have one male vaulter in my son, but I’m hoping that we can get more so that we can continue to have a pool to represent the Bahamas and move on to college and beyond,” said coach Moxey, who heads the Panthers Track Club.

While there are two pole vaulters in Brenden Johnson, who is following in the footsteps of his father, national record holder Brent Vanderpool, along with Tyler Cash, who are both making their presence felt on the international scene, coach Moxey said he’s looking for more competitors to join the list.

And while they wait to expand the list, coach Rolle said it’s good that his niece has opened the door for the females. With her attitude towards competing in the event, coach Rolle said she is certainly on the right track.

“I was planning on letting her do the pole vault from the offseason, but she was sceptical about it,” he said. “So I decided to let her get into track first because she was great at gymnastics.

“So I know a lot of gymnastics people are good at pole vault, so when CARIFTA came around and they said they were having it, I asked her if she wanted to do it. She said no. Not yet.”

After CARIFTA, Rolle said he sat down with Rolle and they discussed it and we agreed to let her do it.

After consulting with coach Moxey, coach Rolle said the rest was history.

“In June, I sent her over to Kenny Moxey to help her. It only took her six weeks before the trials and she jumped 2.20m. That was a great improvement,” he said.

“She realised that it was the same thing as doing gymnastics and now I can’t get her out of it.

“So look for bigger and better things to happen next year.”

The 3.5 average senior student at Greenville Preparatory Academy on Tonique Williams-Darling Highway is the daughter of Shancola and Firstnell Rolle and she has an older brother Kaleb Rolle, who is not involved in sports.

“Anaiah is a very determined young lady and what she loves, she puts her mind to it and she excels in it,” said her mother Shancola, speaking on behalf of her husband, Firstnell.

“Coach Moxey was very impressed with her improvement, like we say, in such a short time. Of course, we believe a lot of her gymnastics background had a lot to do with her grasping the concept of being able to excel the way she did in such a short time.”

Her mother said her daughter is a very persistent young lady who rarely likes to miss practice and now as a family, along with her coaches, they are seeing the fruits of her labour. Not only did Rolle compete as a gymnast, but she was also involved in dance and performed with the Bahamas All-Star band.

Coach Rolle, however, was just proud to have introduced the multi-talented Rolle to coach Moxey to begin her historic journey as the first Bahamian female to compete in the event.

“I’m proud of her. I’m happy for her,” coach Rolle summed up. “History has made it. But this is just the beginning. She’s going to do some big things for the Bahamas.”

The Olympic Games in Paris, France might be a little out of her reach, but Rolle said her aim is to make every national team next year where there is pole vault for women.

She eventually wants to secure an athletic scholarship to attend college for the pole vault, an event she intends to continue to pursue now that she’s given up competing as a gymnast.