STAMFORD — For the better part of 90 minutes, Meg Van Name was lying around on the job. She had her Ipod. She had her thoughts. And, as we all found out, she had destiny waiting on her to get up and do her thing.

One of the great things about this job is you never know what's going to happen on any given day. You could go to a baseball game and witness a no-hitter. You can take in a basketball game and see a thrilling last-second, game-winning shot.

Or, you could go to a track meet, on a gorgeous Monday afternoon, and you could watch a young lady fly higher than he has ever flown before.

Back in February, in these very same pages, you were introduced to Meg Van Name, the Westhill High School senior who had embraced the pole vault in spring of 2007.

Van Name's Monday had actually began with AP test.

Already mentally drained from that, that day's track meet started 30 minutes later than usual and Fairfield Warde, which joined Brien McMahon as Westhill's visiting opponents, showed up with a handful of pole vaulters who competed at far lower heights, pushing the event back even further.

"We were just waiting and waiting and waiting," said Van Name, whose only other event was slated to be the 4x400 relay, the last event of the day.

She passed the time hanging around the pole vault area, chatting it up with friends and watching teammate Ashley Daniel set her own personal best.

Then, as the height slowly climbed toward eight feet — Van Name's starting height — she turned on her Ipod and started to focus.

"I had it on shuffle and a little of Hannah Montana came on," Van Name said, laughing at her choice of psyche-up music.

Finally, it was time for her to lace up her spikes and grab her pole.

During the indoor season, Van Name — who will attend Providence College next fall — had gotten her personal best up to 8-6, which also established Westhill's indoor mark.

This spring, she had matched that height — establishing another school record — during three straight meets. Finally, last week, she squeezed over a bar that stood 8-8 off the ground to break her own school record.

On Monday, she easily cleared eight feet and followed that up by clearing 8-6 yet again. After each successful jump, Van Name would run across the track and get a drink of water. She wasn't about to change her routine.

Destiny was still waiting. And the bar was moved up to nine feet.

"In practice I'm usually good about keeping everything together (form-wise)," said Van Name, "but when the bar goes up, my mind just goes crazy. I always end up having to adjust and bend in not-natural positions to get over."

She started her run-up the same as she had all the others. She focused, getting her grip just right on her pole. She cradled it skyward and rocked onto her tippy toes before beginning her sprint down the runway.

She planted her pole, she drove her knees up and there it was — the sky — in front of her. She arched her back and legs over the bar, brushing it ever so slightly, and pushed her pole harmlessly away, before letting gravity take over.

As she fell into the pit below her, the bar stayed put.

Van Name had broken her own record. Again. The record breaker had become a broken record.

Officially, it was measured at nine feet, one and a half inches.

Van Name's infectious grin summed up her feelings as she high-fived coach Neal Perry and a loyal group of friends and teammates who were hanging around, watching her fly.

The best part, though, was the fact Van Name wasn't done.

The bar was raised to 9-3 and she cleared that, as well, on her very next jump, improving her personal best and school record by seven inches in one day.

"That was good," Van Name said, still radiating the excitement of what she had done. "I've never done it (broken the record) twice in one day and that was so awesome. That second jump was a nice jump. It was so excited for that."

She missed all three of her attempts at 9-5. None were close.

Destiny, it seemed, finally had another place to be.

Following the meet, Van Name — who at the end of the indoor season said her goal was to clear 10 feet — admitted she might have been embellishing a bit during our earlier interview.

"Actually, I didn't mean to say that," said Van Name. "I was like 'Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that.' Now, I guess I'll just have to go do it."

It's within reach. Seven more inches away. All Van Name has to do is wait for the next meet to soar even higher.

Ten feet is coming. I can feel it. I just hope I'm there to see it.

John Nash is The Stamford Times sports editor. He can be reached at 354-1051, or by e-mail at johnnash@

thestamfordtimes.com.