Local pole vaulter gets a send-off celebration before the Paris Olympics

Officials at Roberts Wesleyan University threw a party on Thursday for a student-athlete who is headed to the Olympics in Paris later this month.

Brynn King is a pole vaulter who just made the U.S. team a few weeks ago, and her coaches — Jenn and Rick Suhr — already have a lot of experience with those games.

Jenn Suhr won a gold medal in the 2012 Olympics in the pole vault, and King appreciates the coaching she is getting.

“Having such a well-equipped and experience coaching staff, it's really helpful because this is all brand new for me,” King said. “This level as a whole, I was nowhere near this last year. So being able to have people kind of be able to walk me through things before they even happen. I feel like it almost gives me an experience not quite like I've already been there before, but at least gives me a step towards that direction, which is really helpful.”

Jenn Suhr said she and her husband are just trying to keep King on an even keel as she gets ready for the Olympics.

“I think it's a balance between keeping the stress low and having fun, enjoying the moments,” said Jenn Suhr. “This is something that she can look back on. But it's also stressful for her to be in a room right now talking about it. So she's got to learn to enjoy that, but also focus on her training.”

King, who is from Texas, said she appreciates the way the local community has embraced her in her path to the Olympics.

“I totally feel like I've been like adopted into a little family," King said. "Everywhere I go, I can't go anywhere now without someone recognizing me, coming up, telling me how supportive they are, that they're praying for me, that they're so excited to watch me on this journey.

“And it's really nice to see this apart from not only Roberts, but like the whole community of Rochester.”

Whatever happens at the Olympics, Rick Suhr said King has a lot to be proud of.

“She’s in a no-lose situation,” he said. “If the season ends in three jumps there, she still probably put together the greatest college season of any college athlete in the history of pole vault that I know of, at least statistically. So far, things are looking good.”