[portfolio_slideshow id=7257]<\/p>\n
She has left behind\u00a0loved ones and moved from home to pursue a dream others believed she could not accomplish\u00a0as a young Puerto Rican woman.<\/p>\n
Diamara\u00a0Planell Cruz, 20, a human physiology major with a minor in psychology, has broken records since she started at Los Altos High School as a junior.<\/p>\n
Joining the track and field team in Los Altos, Cruz broke the 2005 Los Altos girl\u2019s pole vaulting record of 7\u20196.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now at San Jose City College, she has broken the women\u2019s pole vaulting record in Northern California State Championship jumping 12\u20197\u2019\u2019 and breaking the State record with 12\u20199\u2019\u2019 at Stanford.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe pretty much defines the sport right now in junior college in the state of California,\u201d pole vaulting coach Brandon Vance said.<\/p>\n
During the summer of 2012, Cruz represented Puerto Rico in the Junior Central American and Caribbean Championship in El Salvador.<\/p>\n
Once there, Cruz won the gold medal in the CACC Junior Division which qualified her to compete in the Junior World Championship in Barcelona, Spain.<\/p>\n
Standing on the podium in El Salvador, it was an amazing experience to watch her flag and hear her national anthem play, Cruz said.<\/p>\n
Though her hard work is paying off, negative correspondence from coaches in Puerto Rico continues to circulate on the fact that she is a young, female pole vaulter who could not possibly do what she does today.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is hard to hear that, but it drove me more to prove them wrong,\u201d Cruz said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was flabbergasted when I got some of these emails,” Vance said. “She is as strong as any man I have ever met in my entire life,” referring to last year\u2019s state incident in which Cruz broke a pole going 150 miles per hour during warm-ups and that left a contusion on her knee the size of a golf ball.<\/p>\n
Despite the injury, Cruz went on to win the state title.<\/p>\n
As a female pole vaulter, Cruz has not only broken records, but broken barriers and status quos that tried to thwart her efforts in being a pole vaulter in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey start jumping later in life. They start in college because it is not available in high school,\u201d Cruz said as she recalls her efforts to find a college pole vaulting coach in Puerto Rico.<\/p>\n
Her goal to change the way female pole vaulters\u00a0are seen\u00a0and treated is a passion of hers. She said she wishes to one day make it to the Olympics to represent her country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know she definitely has the goal of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio to compete for Puerto Rico,\u201d said friend and fellow pole vaulter\u00a0Emily Soley, 19, biomedical engineering major.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to inspire some kind of change,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cI want to show the girls that it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[portfolio_slideshow id=7257] She has left behind\u00a0loved ones and moved from home to pursue a dream others believed she could not accomplish\u00a0as a young Puerto Rican woman. Diamara\u00a0Planell Cruz, 20, a human physiology major with a minor in psychology, has broken records since she started at Los Altos High School as a junior. Joining the track…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"staff_name":[616],"class_list":["post-7257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","staff_name-astrid-caballero"],"yoast_head":"\n