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From number one in the nation to Kent State: Leah Pasqualetti makes her mark

Related Topics: Kent State University

When Leah Pasqualetti was in fifth grade, she was a committed gymnast running in her school’s spring field day for fun.

That day would change her life.

The Orchard Park High School track coach was there, and a big idea struck him:

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Pasqualetti certainly had speed, he saw. He knew that as a gymnast, she had great body control.

And those things, he thought, could make her a great pole vaulter.

By seventh grade, she tried it for the first time, and she was competing on the high school varsity team.