Daily Archives: September 19, 2011

Big 12 exodus could set the stage for Pac-16

by in News-USA | Permalink

Texas and the Pac-12 are close enough in discussions that a 16-team superconference that would also include Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech could be about to unfold.

And events are unstable enough that a repeat of June 2010, when a deal fell apart in 24 hours, remains possible.

Either extreme could happen. The picture might become clearer after the Texas and Oklahoma regents authorize their presidents today to oversee all matters related to conference alignment.

Texas Tech President Guy Bailey called the landscape “a particularly sensitive time in conference realignment discussions” while declining to comment further.

Big 12 school sources indicated that a deal for Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State to join an expanded Pac-12 could be achieved by the end of the week

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/18/SPH81L6AKV.DTL#ixzz1YS9um9Wq

USATF announces Pan Am Games roster

by in News-USA | Permalink

INDIANAPOLIS – Athletes with World Championships and Olympic experience, and a core group of young talent, will lead Team USA into the 2011 Pan American Games slated to be held October 24-29 in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Fourteen 2011 World Championships team members are on the 90-person Team USA roster for the Pan Am Games. The roster consists of 46 men and 44 women.

The men’s team for the Pan American Games includes five field-event athletes who made the trip to World Outdoors in Daegu, South Korea. It includes reigning USA Outdoor hammer throw champion Kibwe Johnson, who will be making his second appearance at the Pan Am Games and placed second in 2007; 2011 USA Outdoors discus champion and 2008 Olympic Trials champion Jarred Rome; 2011 USA hammer throw runner-up Michael Mai; two-time USA discus runner-up Jason Young; and 2009 USA Indoor pole vault champion Jeremy Scott. On the track, World Outdoor 4x400m gold medalist Michael Berry will compete in the open 400. In Daegu, Berry clocked a split of 43.83 in the first round of the relay. Although he did not compete in the final, Berry’s split was the fastest of the Championships for Team USA.

The women’s team is led by two-time (‘99, ‘03) Pan Am Games gold medalist and three-time Olympian Aretha Thurmond in the discus and 2008 Olympic Games silver medalist and 2008 World Indoor silver medalist Jenn Suhr in the pole vault. Suhr is the American indoor and outdoor record holder and currently owns five USA Outdoor and five USA Indoor titles.

Team USA Roster – 2011 Pan American Games

PV: Jeremy Scott, Nick Mossberg

PV: Jennifer Suhr, April Bennett

read more http://www.usatf.org/News/USATF-announces-Pan-Am-Games-roster.aspx

Soaring to New Heights: The Evolution of Pole Vaulting and Pole Materials: Part 1

by in Technique | Permalink
Pole vaulting is an incredibly dynamic and complex sport that requires high levels of athleticism, precision, and skill. The process of the vault involves the transfer of energy from the vaulter to the pole, and finally back to the vaulter as he is launched into the air. As a result, the vault relies heavily on the efficiency of energy transfer back and forth between the vaulter and the pole. Since the inception of competitive pole vaulting in the mid-19th century, the sport has seen dramatic changes in both technique and technology that address these efficiency concerns. Poles were originally constructed from hardwood, but soon changed to bamboo and finally fiber-glass, the material of poles used today. While these materials have revolutionized the vault and taken it to soaring new heights, there are some limitations for future advancements as we reach the peak of materials technology and boundaries of athletic performance.

Hunter Peress/Wikimedia Commons
Figure 1: Pole vaulter in action.

Imagine running at full speed carrying a 15 foot long pole. You approach a large foam mat and a high bar spanning across two rigid standards. Once you are a few feet away from the mat, you lower the front tip of the pole into a hole in the ground, raise your arms up towards the sky, and jump as high as you can. In less than a second, the pole bends and you swing your legs up above your head so that you are completely upside-down. Your body is launched upwards, and once the pole fully recoils, you let go and suddenly find yourself floating 17 feet above the ground. Just as quickly, you plummet back towards the earth and come to rest comfortably in the middle of the foam mat.

 

Robson up, up… and away to Pan Am Games

by in News-USA | Permalink

Winnipeg, Canada –As if bouncing off uneven bars, flying off vault boxes and balancing on beams weren’t enough, Vicky Robson now soars 4.20 meters and higher thanks to her coach and newlywed husband Scot Dressler.

The 4.20 mark was a personal best this summer for the gymnast turned pole vaulter and it garnered her top Canadian and second overall at the Victoria International Track Classic.

Last week, the member of the Winnipeg Optimists Athletic Club got a call from Athletics Canada, inviting her to participate in the Pan American Games Oct. 23-29 in Guadalajara, Mexico. She’ll be the lone Manitoban out of 17 track and field athletes at the Games.

Actually, her husband can’t take all the credit for her success. Her coaches at Panthers Gym Club, Robert Persechino and Helene Desmarais, actually pointed her toward the pole vault about five years ago.

“They suggested I try it because I was one of the more powerful gymnasts,” said Robson, taking a break from practice at the University of Manitoba. “I had a lot of power, a lot of pop, so they thought I would do well, being explosive and able to generate a lot of speed and power.”

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Lavillenie celebrated his 25th birthday

by in News-USA | Permalink

Nice, France – Christophe Lemaitre (10.12), Renaud Lavillenie (5.82m) and Eloyse Lesueur (6.91m) were the three individual French winners at the 7th edition of DecaNation held in Nice on Sunday (18), an international match won by USA, from Russia and Germany.

Lavillenie celebrated his 25th birthday in a fine manner, pole vaulting 5.82m. This won’t erase the disappointment of his third place in Daegu and second place in Brussels, but the Diamond League winner was satisfied with his last competition of 2011. Opening lower than usual with 5.30m, he needed three attempts to clear 5.50m. Now perfectly set with his marks, he had no problems at 5.67m and 5.82m. Rivals Dmitry Starodubtsev (RUS) and Malte Mohr (GER) cleared 5.60m but failed at 5.72m. The next bar for the Frenchman was 5.92m, in a bid against the World’s leading mark. “I lacked freshness for this height; I lacked energy and felt empty in my last try.”

LAVILLENIE Renaud FRANCE 063 AUV SEM/86 IA 9
  5m30(O) / 5m40(-) / 5m50(XXO) / 5m60(-) / 5m67(O) / 5m72(-) / 5m77(-) / 5m82(O) / 5m87(-) / 5m92(XXX)
2 5m60 STARODUBTSEV Dmitry (Rus) RUSSIE     SEM/ IB 7
  5m20(O) / 5m30(-) / 5m40(O) / 5m50(-) / 5m60(XXO) / 5m67(-) / 5m72(XXX)
3 5m60 MOHR Malte (Ger) ALLEMAGNE     SEM/ IB 6
  5m40(XO) / 5m50(-) / 5m60(XXO) / 5m67(-) / 5m72(XXX)
4 5m30 YANG Yansheng (Chn) CHINE     SEM/ N2 5
  5m30(O) / 5m40(-) / 5m50(XXX)
5 5m20 MILES Derek (Usa) ETATS UNIS     SEM/ N2 4
  5m20(O) / 5m30(-) / 5m40(XXX)
- NC BURGER Jf (Rsa) AFRIQUE DU SUD     SEM/    
  4m80(XXX)
- NC BYCHKOV Igor (Esp) ESPAGNE     SEM/

read more http://www.iaaf.org/news/newsid=62581.html

European Circuit Results

by in Results | Permalink

 

ROVERETO

 

Rovereto, Italy, September 13—

PV: 1. Otto (Ger) 18-6. (5.66); 2.

Starodubtsev (Rus) 18-2. (5.56);… nh—Chiaraviglio (Arg);… nh—esnil (Fra), Ecker

(Ger), Gibilisco (Ita).

 

Dubnica nad Vahom, Slovakia,

September 15—

 

PV: 1. Ptacnikova (CzR) 14-9 (4.50); 2.

 

Silva (Cub) 14-5. (4.40); 3. Kiryashova

 

(Rus) 14-5. (4.40).

 

 

DÉCANATION

Nice, France, September 18—

PV: 1. Lavillenie (Fra) 19-1 (5.82); 2.

Starodubtsev (Rus) 18-4. (5.60); 3. Mohr

(Ger) 18-4.; 4. Yang (Chn) 17-4. (5.30);

5. Miles (US) 17-. (5.20);… nh—ychkov

(Spa), Burgers (SA).

 

 

 

Brussels Diamond League Results

by in Results | Permalink

 

PV: 1. Filippidis (Gre) 18-9. (5.72) (17‑9., 18-1. [2], 18-5., 18-9. [2], 18‑11 [xxx]) (5.42, 5.52 [2], 5.62, 5.72 [2], 5.77 [xxx]);

 

2. ¶Lavillenie (Fra) 18-9. (18‑5., 18‑9. [3], 19-1 [xxx]) (5.62, 5.72 [3], 5.82 [xxx]);

 

3. Mohr (Ger) 18-5. (5.62);

 4. Starodubtsev (Rus) 18-5.; 5. Didenkow (Pol) 18-1. (5.52);

 

6. Mesnil (Fra) 17-9. (5.42);

 

7. Otto (Ger) 17-9.;

 8. Michalski (Pol) 17-9. (5.42);…

 nh—oossens (Bel), Rans (Bel), Holzdeppe (Ger).