A fresh(man) face at state, By JOE KRAUSE, Sports Editor

In high school sports, it is not very often that the words freshman and champion can be used in the same sentence. But for the Falls High girls’ track and field team, there is one such athlete that the sentence applies.
Freshman Alicia Hendrickson is the Section 7A pole vault champion and will be making her first trip to the State Track and Field Meet later this week.
“I didn’t really expect to be champion. I thought I would do good, but not that good,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson is only the second Falls High girl to compete in the pole vault at the State Meet. The first was 2004 graduate Sarah Zika.
Broncos assistant coach Dan Zika has been coaching pole vaulters for nearly 30 years and will be coaching two vaulters in the meet for the first time. Senior Raphy Gelo will compete if the boys’ pole vault on Friday and Hendrickson in the girls’ event on Saturday.
“Alicia is only the second girl that has made it to state and that is really exciting,” Zika said. “Alicia has really had a great year. She’s got a good work ethic. She works hard every day and really works at it. I think she is going to keep improving the older she gets.”
Head coach Jen Erickson has coached Hendrickson since she was a seventh-grader and has watched her develop into one of the top vaulters in the section.
“She’s been doing this for three years now and patiently waiting,” Erickson said. “She’s looked at as young because she is a ninth-grader, but this is her third year on varsity.”
Hendrickson will start her competition on Saturday afternoon at Hamlin University in St. Paul.
“I’m kind of nervous, but I am going to try and do everything that Zika taught me and everything that Raphy tells me and hope it works,” Hendrickson said.