Beaver's Emma Pavelek earns PIAA high jump silver wearing borrowed shoes

May 29—Emma Pavelek didn't walk a mile in someone else's shoes but she did high jump in someone else's sneakers.

Rain forced the high jump indoors Saturday at the PIAA track and field championships, meaning the Beaver senior couldn't wear her spikes. Pavelek didn't have any suitable indoor shoes, so she borrowed a pair from a teammate's mother and finished second in the state, clearing 5 feet, 4 inches.

"You're going to get curveballs thrown at you, but you don't really expect a curveball to be thrown at you at a state meet," she said. "We walked in the gym and I have spikes and an old pair of shoes I could not have worn. So, I wore someone's mom's shoes."

Pavelek finished an inch short of Pottsville's Payton Kleckner, who cleared 5-5. Both jumpers entered the meet seeded at 5-5.

"Under the circumstances, I can be happy that I did what did," Pavelek said. "But obviously, I didn't jump my best today."

The boys and girls high jump and pole vault were moved to Heiges Field House to compete on a rubberized floor.

"I've never jumped on a floor like that," Pavelek said. "Most girls didn't have shoes. I think a lot of us would have preferred to be outside."

Pavelek had her pick of footwear, but the problem was finding the right size.

"I had like six or seven people offer me shoes," Pavelek said. "I'm like, I need a 7 1/2 . Anyone have a 7 1/2 ? I ended up finding them. They worked all right. I would have rather had my spikes on and been outside, but you've got to adapt."

The shoes belonged to the mother of a teammate who'd come to Shippensburg to watch.

"She said just wear these ones," Pavelek said. "I tied them up real tight. I said, let's just make them work."

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review Staff Writer. You can contact Chris by email at charlan@triblive.com or via Twitter .