Observer-Reporter Athlete of the Week
Name: David Duffey
School: Canon-McMillan
Year: Senior
Sport: Track & Field
Duffey’s week: With the Big Macs aiming for another Class AAA team title at the Washington-Greene County Coaches Track & Field Championships, Duffey earned his team 15 points.
He took first place with a personal best of 13 feet in the pole vault and placed fourth in the javelin with a throw of 131 feet.
When individual awards were announced following the event, Duffey earned Field MVP honors for the boys. When his name was announced, Duffey looked on in disbelief.
“I was mostly shocked. I forgot they gave out those awards and I didn’t think I’d come close,” Duffey said. “I was really shocked when I heard I reached 13 feet. I’ve been stuck trying to get there and I was excited.”
Walk away: When Duffey was a 5-3 freshman, he approached Canon-McMillan throws coach Lance Vallee about participating in the javelin. Unfortunately, the spear was larger than Duffey. His first throw was about 80 feet.
Vallee had to break the news to Duffey that he needed to find another event. That’s when he switched to the pole vault.
It was a struggle for two years. Duffey admits he was not good enough to compete in invitationals as the Big Macs already had four vaulters with better heights. He began to train during the summer with teammates Jacob and Paul Higgins. The results began showing last year, and now Duffey’s performance in the pole vault could lift Canon-McMillan to its first WPIAL team title since 2009.
“He’s taken that moment his freshman year and developed himself into an elite pole vaulter,” Vallee said. “He’s actually put himself in the category of being very good. He’s a kid who has worked hard. How many people can hang upside down and flip over a bar?”
During indoor track season, Duffey reached 11-6 and in eight days, he improved his height by almost two feet with a personal best of 12-6. He finally broke 13 feet Saturday against the area’s best.
“It motivated me to do better in pole vaulting,” Duffey said of his freshman tryout in the javelin. “They said, ‘Hey, you’re bad at throwing, so go pole vault.’ I thought I’d try that and I stuck with it.”
Senior success: The pole vault is often the last event to end at invitationals, leaving athletes to compete in front of just a handful of people.
Unlike track events, practicing in inclement weather is out of the question. Slipping can cause severe injury. With this spring’s seemingly endless rainfall, Duffey had little practice leading up to Saturday’s meet at Peters Township.
It did not matter.
“He’s a kid who has outworked people and has become a scorer,” Vallee said. “When that MVP was announced, I think the person in the stadium who was most shocked was him. That’s something he would have never envisioned himself winning and that’s what was so cool about it.”
Duffey fell in love with the pole vault as a freshman and did not allow shortcomings to deter him. He’s now among the WPIAL’s best.
“The first time I went up, I thought it was the most fun thing I’ve ever done,” Duffey said. “Once you start getting higher and higher, there’s nothing better. I’m glad I’m helping our team.”
Compiled by Lance Lysowski