Sarah Ross put in a request for her favorite band while making her last attempt at the Windy City Pole Vault Summit Saturday in Rolling Meadows.

While the Rolling Meadows fieldhouse pulsated to "Down with Sickness" by Disturbed, Ross took a shot at 11-7, but brushed the bar. She was hoping to break her own school record of 11-6 set last month during a meet at Bloom.

She didn't leave completely empty-handed. In her summit debut, Ross cleared 11-feet-3 to take first place. The Jacobs senior beat Wheaton Warrenville South's Alicia Zimmerman, who finished second in 11-0.

While the atmosphere was fun, the pole vaulting was serious.

The indoor meet featured nearly 30 of the state's top boys and girls pole vaulters. It's one part X-Games, another part IHSA State Meet, as rock and rap music blasts throughout the day and each of the top three boys and girls finishers are presented a folding green sports chair.

Last year Ross skipped the invite to compete in a Jacobs dual meet.

"Actually, I was invited last year but I didn't know about the meet," Ross said.

"Actually, I was invited last year but I didn't know about the meet," Ross said.

Ross hopes to qualify for State for the fourth time this spring. She's made back-to-back appearances in the pole vault and wants to advance to the finals for the first time after vaulting 9-6 at the 2007 State Meet and 10-3 in '06.

She is one of those rare vaulters who also compete in other events. Ross signed on Feb. 28 with Western Michigan, where she plans on running relays in addition to competing in pole vault.

"I like the team. I went to visit the school and I liked the environment," Ross said. "Some of it was in the city and some of it was, like, nowhere. (Kalamazoo) was like a mid-sized city."

She attended offseason camps at Maine South and the University of Wisconsin to prepare for this season and has been working out at Bloom every Sunday during the winter with coach Tim Johnson.

"I'm going for 12-0," Ross said. "If I clear 11-6 consistently, by midseason I hope to go for 12-6, and then I'll go from there."

Ross tops the Illinois Prep Top Times leader board in pole vault and will compete in the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor meet in March.

Previous experience in kickboxing helped her quickly acclimate to pole vaulting as a freshman. Last summer she cut back on her kickboxing schedule to participate in more pole vaulting camps.

An internationally ranked amateur kickboxer, she holds eight titles and is ranked No. 1 in North America and No. 3 in the world in her weight class. But she's decided to hang up her gloves and put her fighting career on hold.

"I'm excited. This will just motivate me this year," Ross said. "We'll start things off with a confidence booster."