Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month: RV's Eva Moran's unlikely background leads to honors

CALEDONIA — Eva Moran is not a former gymnast like so many of her fellow competitors. She's not a thrill seeker. In fact, she's scared of heights.

Nevertheless, the River Valley junior is one of the state's top female pole vaulters in track and field.

More from the state track meet this year RV athletes put careers in perspective following the D-II state track meet

Check out track stars at the next level: College Notebook: Juliette Laracuente-Huebner makes All-America for Cincinnati

"Looking back six years, I wouldn’t even know what pole vault was," she said with a laugh. "I’d never heard of it. I grew up playing basketball. If you would have asked me, I would have been like I’m going to college to play basketball. Now it’s pole vault."

Indeed, it is.

Why pole vaulting?

Moran gave up basketball after her sophomore year and decided against giving soccer a whirl later this fall. While she runs some sprints and relays, her primary focus is on track and field's most extreme event. It's her year-round passion.

"It was awkward at first, but I fell in love with it once I started getting more confident. I think that’s what a lot of pole vault is," Moran said.

The one instilling that confidence is Marion County's pole vaulting Pied Piper. Kevin Keller, a vaulting legend in the Buckeye state as a state champion from Elgin and a three-time All-Big Ten vaulter at Ohio State, has been coaching at RV most of his adult life.

For Moran, she related to Keller in the beginning because he was a former basketball player and coach, too.

"He would use terms that were similar to basketball. He would be like this is similar to what a layup would feel like," she said.

Keller noticed she had the traits needed to succeed in the event. She had athletic gifts of speed, natural strength and flexibility, but more so, she was coachable.

"I start every vaulter in seventh or eighth grade," he said. "I start in the middle school gym, and we spend time going over the fundamentals of pole vault ever before we get outside on the runway and get to the point where we start jumping. When she started as a seventh grader, she was one of those right from the start that she had that it (factor) with what was needed. She picked things up very naturally."

Her mother Alena played college basketball and her father Derrek played college football, and both talked her into trying junior high track to help with her athleticism and conditioning for hoops.

"The joke in the family is ... they had a ball in front of her all the time, thinking that was where it’s at. Here comes Coach Keller saying, ‘No, she’s going to be a pole vaulter.’ I said let this take its path and see what happens," Keller said. "Lo and behold, she’s going to be a senior and the only thing she’s doing pretty much year around is pole vaulting at this point. It’s going to be her future, and hopefully she’ll be the next RV girl that gets a full scholarship to college to pole vault."

Former Vikes Carrie Burggraf and Savannah Amato both went on to compete in the pole vault at NCAA Division I Austin Peay.

"She is going to a camp in South Carolina this summer, trying to get exposure plus additional coaching," Keller said. "There’s no secret in the offseason when she’s not with me, she’s at Buckeye Pole Vault (Academy in Sunbury). They do a great job with all their vaulters in the offseason.

"That’s been the ticket for the districts and regionals and state in this area. If you’re going to do anything, in the offseason you’ve got to jump. Buckeye Pole Vaulters have been tremendous in helping our kids."

What's next for Moran?

Moran is already a three-time state qualifier and a two-time All-Ohioan in Division II girls pole vaulting. She also owns the RV school record and Mid Ohio Athletic Conference record, going 12 feet and 1/2 inch. Along with three straight district crowns, she is also a two-time Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month winning it for June among Marion County girls.

"She’s capable of being a state champion. I think that’s her goal right now," Keller said as she finished fifth at this year's state meet at 11-4.

To put it in perspective, if she matches her personal record, she's already a state champ. The winning height this year in D-II was 12 feet by John Glenn junior Brayden Snider.

"I think I’m there," Moran said. "What I’ve seen every year is that it does get higher. I’ve got to work harder to obviously get there. It starts now in the offseason. I’m excited and working hard."

According to Keller, she loves plans. She embraces the breakdown of all the components of a successful vault, and she is exceptional at putting it all together again. So this offseason, Moran has more plans for the pole vault.

"I’ve got to start working for sure, getting stronger and faster and working on techniques," she said. "At Buckeye, we’re going back to the basics, which I think is really good. It’s taking full jumps the whole time and working on the intricate, small details that all go together to make a beautiful jump.

"For me, it’s a lot of repetition and a lot of jumps. For me, it’s muscle memory, so by getting these good jumps in the summer, eventually I’ll start seeing them more and more and seeing what I need to get to to go higher."

Nurturing confidence is key.

"The mental aspect is getting in the zone and knowing I’m confident in what I’m doing because I’ve already done it a bazillion times," she said. "Obviously, it’s trusting in God because He’s got my back. I know that. It’s having someone I can trust coaching me. That’s 100 percent Coach Keller. I know he knows his stuff, and he wouldn’t steer me wrong. I put everything in him. I listen to whatever he says because I know he knows his stuff."

He knew enough five years ago to put a pole in her hands instead of a ball.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

419-610-0998

X @McMotorsport

Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star

Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month

● June girls nominees:

● Winner: Eva Moran, junior, River Valley track and field.

● Kameron Biederman, junior, Marion Harding softball.

● Maddie McKenzie, freshman, Ridgedale track and field.

● Hannah Miller, senior, Pleasant softball.

● Julia Kuba, sophomore, Elgin track and field.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Fahey Bank Athlete of the Month: RV's Eva Moran's unlikely background leads to honors