Mary Saxer, a professional pole vaulter from Buffalo, New York is chasing her Olympic dream. 
Currently ranked as a top 20 female pole vaulter in the world with a personal best vault of 4.60 meters (15' 1"), Mary trains in South Bend, Indiana at the University of Notre Dame under her personal coach Danny Wilkerson. Her goal is to represent the United States at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Mary's road to the Olympics began in her hometown of Lancaster, NY where she attended Lancaster High School. 
Competing on the indoor and outdoor track and field teams, Mary specialized in sprints and long jump, becoming a 4-time state long jump champion. While attending a long jump camp, Coach Rick Suhr suggested that she try pole vaulting. It quickly became obvious that Mary was a natural. She excelled at the event under Rick and Lancaster head coach Kevin Carriero, clearing 12'5" and placing second at Indoor Nationals during her first year in the event. During her senior year, Mary became the first high school girl to clear 14'. She broke the high school girls' national record 7 times while at Lancaster, broke the National Junior Record (for the 19 years old and under age group), was a three-time National High School Champion in the vault, and still holds the New York state record. 
She graduated from high school with a personal best jump of 14'2". There was no doubt that Mary had a future in pole vaulting after high school.
Mary received a full scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame. There she became the school record holder, a three-time Big East Conference Pole Vault Champion, a two-time NCAA All-American, and placed 3rd at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor National Championships under coach Jim Garnham, a fellow Buffalo native. She graduated from the prestigious university in 2009 with a degree in Marketing.
Mary chose to continue vaulting in pursuit of her Olympic dreams after graduation. 
Her first year of post-collegiate competition under Coach Wilkerson demonstrated that her talent would allow her to compete at the highest level of the sport. That year she vaulted a personal best of 4.50 meters (14'9") and placed 3rd at the 2010 Outdoor U.S. National Championships.
Mary burst onto the world scene in 2011, breaking the 15' barrier with a personal best vault of 4.60 meters (15' 1"). 
She competed in her first Diamond League meet in Shanghai where she placed 3rd. The Diamond League is the most prestigious series of track meets in the world, drawing the world's best talent. Mary followed that performance with a 2nd place finish at the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championships, as well as placing first at both the Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver, Canada and a top European meet in Luzern, Switzerland. Mary's pole vaulting talents also took her to competitions in Ukraine, China, South Korea, Belgium, Germany and Italy. While stateside, Mary placed 3rd at the Drake Relays and 5th at the Outdoor U.S. National Championships.
With a top 20 world ranking, Mary has recently begun training for the upcoming Olympic year. Clearly focused on earning a position on the United States Olympic team, Mary works to improve on her personal best mark of 4.60 meters (15' 1"). Key meets for the 2012 season include the Indoor U.S. National Championships in February and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in late June, where the top three finishers earn the opportunity to represent the United States in the 2012 Olympics in London.
As Mary pursues her Olympic dream, she feels truly blessed to have such an amazing support system in her friends and family, especially her parents Ann and Don Saxer and fiancé Justin Sibears who have been at her side throughout her journey.
