EUGENE, Ore. - Brad Walker climbed aboard the Team USA plane to London today, winning the pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Trials and returning to his sport’s biggest stage for the second time. The former Husky won his fourth U.S. Outdoor Championship and first since 2009, and can no compete for the one thing missing from his trophy case, an Olympic medal. Walker has World Championship gold and owns the American record in the pole vault, but his previous Olympic experience in Beijing in 2008 ended in heartbreak as he no-heighted. A string of injuries then hampered him the past few years, but over the past year Walker showed he was returning to form. He won the U.S. Indoor title earlier this year and then won bronze at the World Indoor Championships in Turkey. Today, in less than stellar vaulting conditions at Oregon’s Hayward Field, Walker was the only competitor to clear 18-feet, 7.25-inches. Fellow Husky NCAA Champion Scott Roth was battling for a spot as well, and his Olympic chances were on his own pole, so to speak. Roth was one of just five vaulters to make 18-4 ½, and he then passed up to 18-9 ¼, which is the Olympic “A” standard that all competitors need to make it to London.  more

Jeremy Scott woke up Friday morning an Olympian. The 31-year-old pole vaulter, born and raised in Norfolk, Neb., earned his spot Thursday night at the U.S. Track and Field Trials in Eugene, Ore. But it wasn’t until after a night of tossing and turning that it sank in. “I woke up at 4:30 this morning and I started realizing, ‘Holy cow, we finally did it,’” he said. “It’s kind of cool, especially being a small-town kid from Norfolk. I’m still kind of at a loss for words.” Scott finished second with a mark of 18 feet, 4½ inches. Brad Walker was first, and Scott’s good buddy Derek Miles, an assistant coach at South Dakota, earned the third berth. That made it even more special, Scott said. The two of them first had to sit and watch a nerve-racking 10 minutes or so as two other jumpers tried to beat the Olympic A qualifying standard of 18-9 three times and failed. Now it’s on to the Olympics, where they’ll compete in the preliminaries Aug. 8 and possibly the finals Aug. 10. Scott said it’s a defining moment, making the struggle to earn a living as a pole vaulter worthwhile. “I think it kind of validates my whole career,” he said. “If I would go the whole time and never make the Olympics, people would say I’m just another pole vaulter. Now I can say I’m an Olympian.” A very tall Olympian — Scott stands nearly 6-foot-10. He grew four inches in college after winning the all-class gold medal in the pole vault for Norfolk High School at the 1999 state meet. Scott also played football and basketball and planned to play at South Dakota before following Coyotes offensive coordinator Blair Hrovat to Allegheny College in Pennsylvania. He was a big target at wide receiver, and he played for two years before a broken foot ended his football career — he couldn’t make lateral cuts any more. Continue reading →

Philadelphia –OH BOY, here we go again. The former Drexel University student with a penchant for Olympic pole-vaulting tales and romantic horseback rides on the beach — yes, Jocelyn Kirsch — was arrested this month in California for shoplifting and other crimes, law-enforcement authorities said Thursday. What could have possibly led to her alleged relapse? A handbag, label unknown, police said. Kirsch’s June 17 felony arrest at a Walnut Creek mall also violates her federal probation, and she again may have to face a federal judge and possibly go back to jail. It’s unclear which jurisdiction — Northern California or Philadelphia — would hold that hearing and when it would be held. Still, it’s possible that Kirsch, half of the infamous “Bonnie and Clyde” identity-theft duo, could return to the scene of the pair’s crimes.    Jocelyn Kirsch supposedly told everyone that she qualified for 2004 Athens olympics as a vaulter. She even posted a muddled facebook picture of her scaling an olympic height, when the person clearly wasn’t her.  more

USD alum qualifies for U.S. team a third time despite injury.  University of South Dakota assistant track coach Derek Miles will be an Olympian for the third time after qualifying for the U.S. team in the pole vault on Thursday night in Eugene, Ore. as a 39-year-old.Miles, a California native and USD graduate who lives in Tea, was participating in his fourth U.S. Olympic Trials this week.After finishing fourth at the 2000 Trials and just missing out on making the team, he competed for the U.S. at the 2004 Games in Athens, finishing seventh, and the 2008 Games in Beijing, finishing fourth. He is the third three-time member of the U.S. Olympic team in the pole vault in history, joining Bob Richards (1948, ’52 and ’56) and Earl Bell (1976, ’84, ’88).“This didn’t happen the way I would have wanted it to happen,” Miles said. “But given the circumstances and the conditions, I’ll take it.”After clearing 17-8.5 in his first attempt, he needed three attempts to clear 18-0.5. He then cleared 18-4.5 on his second attempt. Three other vaulters also cleared that height and, like Miles, failed to go higher.Scott Roth, who would have been given third place in a conventional pole vault competition, did not have “A” qualifying heights entering the Trials. Miles, by virtue of a leap of 18-9.25 in Germany last July that gave him “A” status, finished ahead of Roth and Mark Hollis and joined Trials winner Brad Walker, the lone vaulter to clear 18-7.25, and second-place Jeremy Scott, from Norfolk, Neb., on the team.  more

NEW BRAUNFELS, TEXAS– If Superman can do it, so can I. At least that’s what I’m telling myself as I stand, muscles quivering, halfway down a track that leads to what looks vaguely like a stadium goalpost in a barn outside of New Braunfels. Happily, a fluffy pad the size of my living room is ready to receive me when I soar over the crossbars. If I somehow overshoot the pad, which I doubt is even possible, a cozy looking cornfield, all tender green husks and cushy stalks, lies beyond. I squeeze my eyes shut for a nanosecond, rock back on my right foot and blast down the runway, pushing a 10-foot pole along the rubber-coated pathway in front of me. As it slips into a metal-lined box in the ground, I rock hard against it and — sproing! — catapult myself into the air and over the bar. It feels like I’ve flown to the clouds and back, but I’ve only cleared 5 feet 6 inches. Considering the adrenaline rush it gives me, I can’t imagine how legendary Ukrainian vaulter Sergei Bubka felt when he pole-vaulted 20 feet 2 inches in 1985, a record that still stands. Pole vaulting got its start from farmers and ranchers looking for a quick way to cross canals or irrigation ditches without getting wet. In 1896 it became part of the Olympic Games, and with the London Olympics looming, I’ve caught the pole-vaulting bug, too. Here at Lone Star Pole Vaulting, beginners share space with elite athletes ages 8 to 88, under the tutelage of head coach and owner Kris Allison. I asked Allison if he could teach me to leap tall   more

Men’s Pole Vault

Derek Miles, 3rd place, finals
On his health…
“The therapy has been really good. It has gotten me back to running on the runway which I wasn’t sure I could even do. You can always grind through some pain, but when it keeps getting worse you can’t do anything about it.”

Jeremy Scott, 2nd place, finals
On competition…
“You want to make the top three. I’ve been coming off some injuries. I wanted to squeak through and make the team.”
On his accomplishment…
“Right now I don’t know if I realize what is going on here quite yet. You have these goals set up. It’s really about the next four or five weeks.”
Who he shared the experience with…
“My wife and mom and dad were out here so it was great sharing this with them.”

Scott Roth, 3^rd place, Finals (No “A” Standard)
Post-competition reflection:
“I came into this meet knowing that I didn’t have the A standard, so it was disappointing to not have the standard and not make the team. But, at the same time, it was nice to get third place and run a victory lap around Hayward Field.”

Brad Walker, 1^st Place pole vault
On his thoughts of the competition…
“You got to place top 3. I’m not happy with the height, but I’m happy with the win, and the win is more important than the height.”
On his vaults in Beijing…
“I definitely wasn’t happy with what happened in Beijing. I can put it behind me in a healthy way and use it as motivation. I won’t completely forget about it, but it’ll be safely out of the way.”       more

Iowa –United States Olympian Jeremy Scott, a 1999 Norfolk High School graduate, is believed to be the tallest world class pole vaulter in history.The 6-foot-9 Scott was a three-sport letterman (football, basketball, track) at Norfolk and enrolled at Allegheny College to play football. A broken foot as a sophomore caused him to focus more on pole vaulting and he enrolled at one of National Track and Field Hall of Famer Earl Bell’s pole vault camps in the summer of 2001.In only the third meet of the 2002 season, Scott cleared 17 feet for the first time. The following week he went 17-7 and by the end of that indoor season he had cleared 18 feet and won an NCAA Division III national championship.Scott enrolled in a graduate program at the University of Arkansas for his final year of collegiate eligibility.His breakthrough season came in 2009 with his win at the USA Indoor Championships. That year, Scott also broke the 19-foot barrier for the first time, clearing 19-1 ¼.  more