SUMNER – Aleksandr Salfetnikov was facing a bar he didn’t believe he could clear.
The pole vault used to be so effortless for the Prairie High School senior. Just one year ago, he was among a handful of Washington athletes to have cleared 14 feet, 3 inches.
But as the track and field season began in March, Salfetnikov could barely get down the runway leading to the mat. The hamstring he had torn the previous season hadn’t healed.
So Salfetnikov silently said goodbye to the sport.
“I guess I came to the acceptance that I couldn’t vault again,” he said. “It had been a year and I still wasn’t healed.”
That made Saturday all the more remarkable at the Class 3A bi-district meet in Sumner. Salfetnikov cleared 13 feet to finish third and qualify for the state meet in Tacoma.
It had been a mad rush to get there. Salfetnikov barely participated in the required 10 practices before Prairie’s final dual meet on May 5. There, he cleared 11 feet to qualify for districts, where he qualified for bi-districts.
But Salfetnikov’s story is not just about an athlete who bounced back. It’s about a coach who wouldn’t give up on his athlete.
Frank Schmidt, who coaches Prairie’s jumpers, couldn’t accept the ending that was being written for Salfetnikov’s pole vaulting career.
“To see all the skill he brought to the event and watch him walk away injured, I just couldn’t do that,” Schmidt said.
After re-aggravating his injury, Salfetnikov stopped coming to practice. He was becoming a stranger to the track team, and Schmidt could sense the void.
“I told him ‘you come back.’ Schmidt said. “‘I don’t care if you never vault again, but I won’t let you walk away without being healed at some level.'”
There was prayer. There was also an unconventional treatment that Schmidt sought out called Frequency Specific Microcurrent, which uses electric charges to promote muscle healing.
Still, the day before that final dual meet, Salfetnikov still had doubts.
“The day before that meet, I just told myself I’m not going to do it anymore,” he said. “My hamstring is still hurting. But for some reason, I went out the next day and it all came together. For some reason, I’m still here.”
And Salfetnikov is here with a newfound appreciation for being able to compete. Win or lose later this week in Tacoma, he’s going to soak it in and enjoy competing in the state’s biggest high school meet.
“Before, it was kinda like, ‘I can vault and that’s cool,'” Salfetnikov said. “But now, I can see that I have a special talent. I’ve got to be able to use it to the fullest.”
