Beaver’s Emma Pavelek earns PIAA high jump silver wearing borrowed shoes

By: Chris Harlan
Saturday, May 29, 2021 | 3:15 PM

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SHIPPENSBURG — Emma Pavelek didn’t walk a mile in someone else’s shoes but she did high jump in someone else’s sneakers.

Rain forced the high jump indoors Saturday at the PIAA track and field championships, meaning the Beaver senior couldn’t wear her spikes. Pavelek didn’t have any suitable indoor shoes, so she borrowed a pair from a teammate’s mother and finished second in the state, clearing 5 feet, 4 inches.

“You’re going to get curveballs thrown at you, but you don’t really expect a curveball to be thrown at you at a state meet,” she said. “We walked in the gym and I have spikes and an old pair of shoes I could not have worn. So, I wore someone’s mom’s shoes.”

Pavelek finished an inch short of Pottsville’s Payton Kleckner, who cleared 5-5 to win the title. Both jumpers entered the meet seeded at 5-5.

“Under the circumstances, I can be happy that I did what I did,” Pavelek said. “But obviously, I didn’t jump my best today.”

The boys and girls high jump and pole vault were moved to Heiges Field House to compete on a rubberized floor.

“I’ve never jumped on a floor like that,” Pavelek said. “Most girls didn’t have shoes. I think a lot of us would have preferred to be outside.”

Pavelek had her pick of footwear, but the problem was finding the right size.

“I had like six or seven people offer me shoes,” she said. “I’m like, I need a 7½. Anyone have a 7½? I ended up finding them. They worked all right. I would have rather had my spikes on and been outside, but you’ve got to adapt.”

The shoes belonged to the mother of a teammate who’d come to Shippensburg to watch.

“She said just wear these ones,” Pavelek said. “I tied them up real tight. I said, let’s just make them work.”

WPIAL athletes claimed five gold medals and nine silvers Saturday led by Moon runner Mia Cochran, who won two individual events (1,600, 3,200).

Also winning gold were West Mifflin’s Dontae Lewis (300 hurdles), Hempfield’s Dan Norris (discus) and the South Fayette girls 400-meter relay.

Lewis in the 110-meter hurdles and Norris in the shot put also earned silver medals Saturday. The WPIAL’s list of state runners-up included Pavelek, Hempfield’s Belle Gera (shot put, discus), Seneca Valley’s Tyler Yurich (100 meters), Butler’s Guinness Brown (400) and Tristan McGarrah (pole vault), and the Central Valley girls 400-meter relay.

Pavelek wanted gold but appreciated her silver after battling separate foot and ankle injuries in the weeks leading up to the WPIAL and PIAA meets.

“If you’d told me that a month or a month and a half ago, I wouldn’t have thought I’d be able to walk here (let alone jump),” she said. “Making it here, I’m happy with that side of it. But then again, I’m never satisfied with myself. I always feel I could have done better.

“I definitely could have jumped better but I did try my hardest and I left it out there,” she added. “So I can’t be upset with my effort.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.

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