Texas pole vaulter Reese Watson, who won the state 5A title last year (16 feet, 9 inches), will be featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd in its upcoming issue.

 Watson cleared 17 feet, 6 inches to win the men’s open division at the Pole Vault Expo Explosion III indoor meet Dec. 31 in Belton. That gave him the No. 1 high school mark this season, the third-highest indoor mark of all time. The clip also mentions his win at the Great Southwest Classic outdoor meet in June (Watson cleared 17-3).

 The two-time state qualifier finished third in 2010 before winning it all last year

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tina Sutej, senior pole vault standout for the University of Arkansas women’s track and field team, appears on the 2012 Bowerman Preseason Watch List as released Thursday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA). She is one of 10 student-athletes named to the preseason list. Now in its fourth season, The Bowerman is awarded to the most outstanding collegiate track and field athletes in the nation.

Sutej was a finalist for the 2011 Bowerman after an outstanding season that included an indoor NCAA title, two SEC crowns and collegiate indoor (4.54m/14-10.75) and outdoor (4.61m/15-1.5) records. Among a list of accomplishments, Sutej won 13 of 14 competitions last season and was named the USTFCCCA Outdoor National Field Athlete of the Year. Continue reading →

 CNN) — Nate Ball, an MIT-trained mechanical engineer, wants to find out how things work — even when they’re inside his throat.

A two-time NCAA All-American pole-vaulter, former host of a PBS show, entrepreneur and co-founder of a company — Atlas Devices, which creates powered rope ascenders — Ball is also a beatboxer.

He manipulates his voice to make deep, baritone sounds and robotic noises. He fluctuates from quick staccato beats and deep bass to buzzes and record-scratching sounds.

“Beatboxing is one of the most natural things I can imagine a person doing,” he said. “We’re rhythmic beings through and through. We walk in rhythm, our hearts beat in rhythm.” Continue reading →

The 2010 European Athletics Championships pole vault gold medallist Renaud Lavillenie has said that he is still two weeks away from resuming training with a pole as he recovers from surgery on his fractured left hand.

Lavillenie, who came second behind sprinter Christophe Lemaitre in the 2011 French Athlete of the Year poll last month after his exploits last year which included winning the European indoor title with a French record of 6.03m, was operated on two days after a training accident on 5 December.

“After examining the X-ray, the surgeon was happy with the ongoing knitting of the fracture but you could still see the fracture line,” commented Lavillenie on Wednesday. Continue reading →

TAMPA: The Istanbul 2020 bid received solid backing from the Turkish government and is gaining strength as their top level team arrives in Innsbruck for the 2012 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

 Turkey’s Minister of Sport, Suat Kılıç, said, “The Prime Minister of Turkey Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made the Olympic Games a personal priority and a national imperative. Turkey’s bid to bring the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games to Istanbul is a mission that has the full support of the government; it is a mission that should also be embraced by all political parties and indeed by the entire nation”.
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TAMPA: The Rome 2020 top level team paid a visit to Palazzo Chigi to see Prime Minister Mario Monti and present the Rome 2020 Economic Impact Study drawn up by Fortis Commission together with a public opinion poll.

This 2020 bid makes the Eternal City’s second campaign to host the summer Games after losing to Athens for 2004.

The city and especially the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) sports compound maintains a strong legacy of the 1960 Games hosted there.

The economic impact study analyzes the benefits for the Italian economy and what the bid to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games could mean for Rome. Continue reading →

HIGH FLYER: Curtis junior Dylan Duvio cleared 16 feet to win the boys pole vault competition in the LSU Classic Saturday at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse in Baton Rouge. Duvio’s height was 11 inches higher than the 15-1 vault by runner-up Jacques Dugas of St. Thomas More. Duvio was unsuccessful in three subsequent attempts to clear 16-6.5 and break the Maddox Fieldhouse composite prep record of 16-6.25. Duvio earned the Tiger Trophy as the meet’s outstanding field athlete and his 16-foot vault ranks No. 2 nationally in 2012. The two-day LSU Classic was the first qualifying meet for the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships scheduled for Feb. 18 at LSU.

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 While we’ve all enjoyed the chance to put our feet up over the Christmas break and very happily indulged in a few too many mince pies, Sheffield’s top track and field athletes have been hard at it in training in a race against time to get fit for the coming indoor season and beyond that the London Olympic Games.

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Warrior gymnast, diver and pole vaulter has been to the State Finals in gymnastics and diving. She hopes to get there as a pole vaulter as well.

By Steve Sadin

Deerfield, Illinois –A three-sport high school athlete is a rare breed today.

A three-sport high school athlete who competes in three state meets is even rarer.

Deerfield High School gymnast, diver and pole vaulter Christine Stitcher, a junior, is on her way to achieving that rare status.

“I want to go to State in three sports,” Stitcher said. She has made the grade in two—diving and gymnastics—and just missed in the third last spring as a sophomore.

In November, Stitcher competed in the State Finals in diving finishing 18th. Last February, she was 16th in the all around competition at the State Meet in gymnastics. In May, she barely missed making the grade as a pole vaulter.

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