South Fayette senior vaulting to record heights
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Melana Schumaker clears 12 feet, 3 inches during the South Fayette Invitational.
By Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Melana Schumaker takes the handoff from Dea Monz during the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay at the South Fayette Invitational. Schumaker helped the Lady Lions to victory in the event with a time of 49.13. Schumaker also won the pole vault event in the meet.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Melana Schumaker
Melana Schumaker’s expectations are as lofty as her pole vaults. Twelve feet high and higher.
“I really want to be in the Olympics,” said the South Fayette High School senior. “It’s my dream to do that,”
Scott Litwinovich doesn’t doubt Schumaker will succeed especially once she enrolls at Youngstown State University in the fall. As a member of the Penguins’ track team, she will have a dedicated pole vault coach.
Currently, Litwinovich serves as the boys’ and girls’ track coach at South Fayette. Schumaker’s father, Mike, moves the bar up for Schumaker as she soars higher while Tim Sullivan tweaks her technique at the Steel City Pole Vault Club in Zelienople.
“I can only imagine that Melana will improve literally by leaps and bounds,” Litwinovich said. “What she has been able to do without a true position coach is amazing.”
Schumaker has won every invitational in which she has participated this spring, including the prestigious Baldwin Invitational held May 6. At the South Fayette Invitational a week prior, she won the pole vault with a personal record of 12 feet, 3 inches.
Additionally, she was the field MVP at the Butler Invitational, winning with a meet record 12 feet, 1 inch. She also was the Tri-State Track and Field Coaches Association champion.
“Not too many people do it,” Schumaker said of the event. “I’m the only vaulter here at South Fayette. So it’s pretty cool.”
Before she entered seventh grade, Schumaker did neat things like gymnastics and cheerleading. She also golfed.
“I wasn’t very good at it,” she admitted.
“Gymnastics got to be a lot for me,” she added. “It was going to be 14 hours a week and that was going to be too much once I started middle school.”
Schumaker took to running though. She ran track and cross country.
“Track was a different sport for me and I wanted to try it. When I did, I loved it so much that I dropped everything else,” she explained. “I was becoming good, too, so I focused on track.”
Litwinovich noticed her natural abilities immediately.
“Melana is one of the most athletic kids that I have ever coached,” he said. “She literally could excel at anything. She would try every event if we let her.”
Litwinovich allowed Schumaker to pole vault because he knew she would earn points for the team.
Initially she was reluctant.
“I just didn’t want to do it,” she said. “I wanted to do the other events like running and long jump. I really didn’t know much about it.
“To be honest, I didn’t like it at first but once I started practicing and getting good at it, I enjoyed it a lot. People also kept telling me I would be good at it, so I thought I would stick with it.”
Through practice, Schumaker has improved from being a fifth-place finisher in the district last year to being the favorite to win the WPIAL title when the championships are held May 18 at Slippery Rock University. Top qualifiers advance to the PIAA Championships set for May 27-28 at Shippensburg University.
In addition to her normal school workouts, Schumaker attends pole vault practices twice a week. She focuses on her approaches and her turn, which she says is the hardest part of vaulting, especially since she doesn’t twist like she should.
Nevertheless, Litwinovich has high hopes for her.
“Our expectations for her are to win a WPIAL title and then place in the top three at the state meet,” he said. “Melanie is really in a good spot right now and I expect that she will continue to vault even higher.”
Schumaker has used her talents in other ways to take the Lady Lions to new heights. Her jumping and relay legs have helped South Fayette win a section crown as well as participate in the WPIAL team championships for the second consecutive year.
Schumaker won the long jump at the Baldwin Invitational with a leap of 17 feet, 5 inches. Her P.R. however is 18 feet, 3 inches. She was the silver medalist at the SF Invitational but ran the second leg on the winning 4×100 relay unit that included Dea Monz, Amanda Marquis and Olivia Renk.
Schumaker, who has also run a personal best time of 25.69 in the 200-meter dash this spring, was a member of SF’s 2021 WPIAL and PIAA championship 4×100 relay unit that included Amy Allen, who is now at Duquesne University. The group also competed at the national outdoor championships held last summer in Oregon.
“We had some big shoes to fill with Amy graduating but I feel good about our relay. We’ve run well this year but we have some things to tweak.
“The hope is to win the WPIALs. That is the goal. We have a good chance and then obviously try for a state title. It’s a good unit. We are all pretty fast and we are close friends that work well together.”
Schumaker leans on her leadership skills to captain the Lady Lions. She credits gymnastics for cementing her self assurance.
“Sports has taught me a lot, especially to be confident. In gymnastics you have to get in front of a lot of people on a balance beam or another apparatus and perform. It seems to come natural for me. Besides I love making new friends and talking to coaches and creating new relationships.”
Schumaker’s impact on the track team is not lost on Litwinovich. He predicts her school records with last “quite a few years” but other intangibles have benefited the squad.
“Melana loves to compete and she has been a great leader, ambassador and role model for our program,” he said. “We will have some big holes to fill when she graduates but will enjoy having her around for these next few weeks and celebrate her accomplishments.
“Her competitiveness drive her. She is unselfish from a team standpoint and clearly is one of our hardest workers. When you combine that with natural athleticism, it can be fun to be around.”
Schumaker can’t wait to be around collegiate academia and athletics. She selected Youngstown over Robert Morris University, Kent State and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Schumaker plans to major in health and physical education with the hopes of becoming a gym teacher and a coach. Vaulting for the Penguins though will help her reach her ultimate aim.
“YSU had everything I wanted. Indoor facility and pole vault-specific coach,” she said. “I would love to go to the Olympics and I think I can get there from here. It will be an adjustment at first but once I have adapted I think I will be fine. I think I will do well. I’m excited to see where this takes me.”
Who is she: South Fayette senior track standout who holds school records in pole vault and 4×100 relay.
Parents: Mike and Dawn. Both were standout scholastic athletes. Mike played football and baseball and competed in golf and track in New York while Dawn played volleyball and softball at Baldwin.
Siblings: Delaney. She is an eight-grade track star, competing in hurdles and the 400-meter dash. With a P.R. of 1:04, she has already beaten her sister’s best time.
College choice: Youngstown State
Major: Health and physical education
Activities: Yearbook, MiniThon and honors business.
Favorite athlete: Emma Coburn
Color: Pink. “I just like pastel colors.”
Food: Pasta
Guilty pleasure: A banana-flavored treat from Wu’s Shaved Ice before a meet.
TV series: Selling Sunset or Grey’s Anatomy
Dream vacation: Going to the beach
Dream destination: Bora Bora or Europe
With whom would you like to have dinner: American-born Swedish pole vaulter Armand Gustav “Mondo” Duplantis. “He’s the world record holder. Just to talk to him would be cool.”
In 15 years I will: “hopefully be teaching and coaching somewhere.”