Connor Gregston has no fear when he pole vaults, even though he has witnessed gruesome injuries.
"I've seen people break their ankle, to the point where you don't want to look at it or you are going to throw up," the Keller Fossil Ridge senior said. "I've seen people land off the mat and they had to be carted off by an ambulance."
Gregston ranks among the best high school pole vaulters in the nation, having cleared 16 feet, 1 inch, and the Texas A&M signee will compete at this week's UIL state meet in Austin. He isn't fazed by statistics that highlight the sport's dangers, such as there was an average of nearly one catastrophic pole vault injury per year from July 1997 to June 2017, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.