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AUGUST 2019 21 BY GREG WATERS A CHANGE IN SPORTS PROVED very beneficial for Bridget Guy. The Pittsburgh area native started training to do hand- springs and scissor leaps as a gymnast at an early age, competing from the fourth grade until her freshman year in high school. "In seventh grade there were two older gymnasts that I looked up to that also did pole vaulting and the coaches said, 'You've got to try it,'" Guy recalled. "Gymnasts normally make good pole vaulters because of body awareness and upper body strength. They were my role models in the sport when I was just starting out because they were experiencing a lot of success in the vault." As a prep senior, Guy won the Pennsyl- vania state championship in the pole vault. Her success in the event continued at UVA. In 2018, she became the first UVA female All-American in the event, after tying for fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Champion- ships. She followed that up this past year by earning All-America honors in the event in both the indoor (placing fifth) and outdoor (taking fourth) NCAA Championships. At the 2018 ACC Outdoor Champion- ships, she captured UVA's first female con- ference crown in the event and repeated as the league's best this year. On May 1 at the Hoos Choice Awards at John Paul Jones Arena, Guy received the IMP Award as UVA's top female athlete for the 2018-19 academic year. Her impact at Virginia started immedi- ately and continued throughout her career. In 2015, she set the indoor school re- cord in the pole vault by clearing 13 feet, 0.25 inches at the ACC Championships and broke her own record several more times before finishing with a 14-5.5 mark. She also set the outdoor school record as a first-year and surpassed it on multiple occasions before finishing with a record of 14-7.5. Guy was a four-time All-ACC selec- tion in the outdoor pole vault. Asked why she picked UVA, Guy noted: "What really sold me was Coach [Mario] Wilson. I really bought into his philosophy on how he trained the vault and what he saw in the future for the program. "Looking back, having a coach that is super passionate about what they do, that sees the potential in you and believes in you as an athlete is the juice behind everything. When you have a coach that believes in you and you know that, you can't go wrong. "He sealed the deal for me, but track aside, I couldn't pick a better school from an academic standpoint and the opportuni- ties that I knew could open up were just something I couldn't pass up." To close out the summer, Guy partici- pated at the World University Games in the Napoli, Italy, clearing a height of 14-1.75 to place third in the event and earn a bronze medal for the United States. Guy called her first trip to an international competition "eye-opening." "Competing in a field with girls from all over the world was amazing," Guy noted. "Even outside of track, just getting to know people that are doing your sport and enjoy- ing it as much as you do was special. I'm grateful to have been a part of it and to come home with a bronze medal." Having earned her undergraduate degree in French, Guy earned a masters degree in higher education from the Curry School during the 2019 season. As part of the pro- gram, she completed an internship working with the Curry School Foundation, the fun- draising arm of the school. She says her time at Curry altered her future career path just like pole vaulting changed her athletic goals. "I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do career wise coming out of school. I thought maybe business or marketing or something along those lines," Guy admitted. "But hearing insights on why people donate, what motivates them and how important our university is and how important the student experience is changed my perspective. "Having this culture and focus on this mission, creating impact, was something as a student-athlete, or as a student in general, you don't really understand how it worked. My experience at Curry has solidified that my goal is to work with donors in some capacity." But that will have to wait. Guy has begun training to make the U.S. team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. "My focus right now is staying healthy, buckling down on technique and honing in on those things that I need to get there," she explained. BEST OF THE REST Fourth-year field track and field athlete Bridget Guy was named UVA's top female athlete at the Hoos Choice Awards May 1. Here are five more that excelled during 2018-19: Maggie Jackson, lacrosse — The fourth-year midfielder was a second-team All- American and a first-team All-ACC pick. She was second on the team with 71 points on 34 goals and 37 assists, and she tallied 94 draw controls to finish as the school's all-time leader in that category with 301. Meghan Kelley, tennis — The fourth-year earned All-ACC first-team honors for the first time in her career and was named the ITA Atlantic Region Senior Player of the Year and Most Improved Senior Player after posting a 24-15 record that included a 10-4 mark at the top of the lineup in ACC play. Heidi Long, rowing — The fourth-year was named a second-team All-American after helping UVA's varsity eight boat to a 12th-place finish at this year's NCAA Championships. She was also tabbed first-team All-ACC and was part of the ACC Crew of the Year following the Cavaliers' 10th consecutive league championship. Paige Madden, swimming — The second-year finished second at the NCAA Cham- pionships in the 500-yard freestyle with the second-fastest time in school history at 4:32.98. She also placed fifth in the 200-yard freestyle to earn first-team All-America honors, in addition to finishing 10th in the 200-yard backstroke and ninth with the 800-yard freestyle relay to earn second-team honors. Kelly McKee, track & field — The fourth-year earned first-team All-America honors with the best triple jump finish in program history at the NCAA Outdoor Champion- ships. Her leap of 44 feet and four inches resulted in a fifth-place finish, which was the first-ever top-five placement in that event in the national outdoor meet for UVA. — Steve Downey Guy was a three-time All-American and two-time ACC champ in the pole vault for the Cavaliers. PHOTO COURTESY UVA FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR BRIDGET GUY "Looking back, having a coach that is super passionate about what they do, that sees the potential in you and believes in you as an athlete is the juice behind everything." GUY ON ASSISTANT COACH MARIO WILSON