Daily Archives: June 20, 2012

USATF Arizona Association Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships

Pole Vault Young Men
   1 Hiett, Nathan                Arizona Pole                      4.40m   14-05.25
  2 Marshall, Scott              Ultimate Hig           4.72m     J4.40m   14-05.25
  3 Tobin, Justin                Unattached             4.40m      4.10m   13-05.25
  4 Giles, Jon                   Ultimate Hig           4.42m      3.95m   12-11.50
  5 Alme, Jake                   Ultimate Hig           3.96m      3.80m   12-05.50
  6 Marshall, Craig              Ultimate Hig           3.96m      3.65m   11-11.75
  6 Haught, Kevin                Raise The Ba           3.66m      3.65m   11-11.75
  8 Lemons, Derrick              Raise The Ba           3.81m      3.50m   11-05.75
  9 Pimentel, Nicholas           Arizona Must                      3.35m   10-11.75

Pole Vault Intermediate Boys
  1 Duckworth, Timothy           Phoenix Bobc           4.34m      4.25m   13-11.25
  2 Wenig, John                  Risen Track Club                  3.50m   11-05.75
  3 Jennison, Connor             Unattached             3.81m      3.35m   10-11.75

Pole Vault Young Women   Continue reading →

A Conversation with Idaho State Head Track & Field Coach Dave Nielsen

POCATELLO, Idaho – “I’ve always had an interest in track and field,” said Head Track and Field Coach Dave Nielsen. “I really liked the high jump then I really liked the pole vault because I could go higher than I could in the high jump.”
Nielsen has used that passion to build a strong tradition of track and field athletes at Idaho State University in his 27 years as the head track and field coach. In fact, he finds it impossible to pinpoint a proudest accomplishment in his coaching career.
“I don’t know if I have a proudest moment,” said Nielsen. “Obviously I have some very notable performances such as coaching the first Olympic champion in the women’s pole vault Stacey Dragila or Amber Welty winning the NCAA championship [in the women's high jump].
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Idaho State Sends vaulter to US Olympic Trials

POCATELLO, Idaho - Last winter, Mike Arnold won his third straight Big Sky Championship in the men’s pole vault with a season-best height of 17’4.5″ in Flagstaff, Ariz. After red-shirting the outdoor season, Arnold hit another milestone:his personal-best height of 18’1.75″that sends him to the United States Olympic Trials.
 To qualify for the pole vault trials, athletes must either hit the ‘A’ standard of 18’7″ (5.70m) or the ‘B’ standard of 18’0.5″ (5.50m). The top 24 of all qualifiers go to the trials. more

Robinson leaps into EB record

MNH robinson

ICARD, NC–Recent East Burke High graduate Kailey Robinson started the spring by breaking the school’s girls pole vault record of 10 feet, six inches at the EBHS Invit moreational, a mark which also tied the 2A girls state record. After a 2A West Regional title in the event and a strong fourth-place showing at state despite an ankle injury, Robinson finishes the spring by being named EB’s 2011-12 female athlete of the year. “She is the true meaning of a student-athlete,” said East Burke track and field coach Odell Williams. “Kailey is definitely the athlete of the year based on athletic and academic performances; she blends both of them well together.” more

Holliday ranks fourth in the nation

Oregon City, Oregon –Clackamas Community College graduate Becky Holliday will be in the running for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team when she competes in the pole vault at the Olympics Trials at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field on June 24.Holliday currently ranks fourth in the U.S. with a vault of 15-0 in a May meet in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Holliday set the current NWAACC women’s record of 14-4 at the 2001 conference championship meet. She went on to compete for the University of Oregon, clearing a then-collegiate record of 14-8 at the NCAA West Regionals at Stanford in 2003.  source

Virginia Tech Pole Vaulter Mentoring Others After Experiencing Life Change

Hunter Hall VTU“I put sport on a pedestal,” admits Hunter Hall. “Pole vaulting was everything to me. It was where I gained success from, where I gained approval from, where I looked for love, respect, adoration. It was what provided all those things for me.” Temporarily, the All-American vaulter from Virginia Tech University found those things. But he soon figured out it wouldn’t last long. Fortunately, Hall found a place to gain the acceptance he sought more permanently: in a relationship with Jesus Christ. “It didn’t matter whether I was an All American or whether I was nothing, I was accepted as I am because God loves me and sent His Son to die for me,” says Hall, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind. Hall, who graduated from VTU in March 2011, is in graduate school finishing out his last semester of eligibility with the track and field team. He is currently serving with Athletes in Action in a part-time capacity with campus director Tom Williams and seeing the opportunity to pour his life into other students who need to learn the same lessons Hall once learned  more

Cheerleader Hopes to Vault Into Olympics

Georgia –Rookie Falcons cheerleader Kat M. will be spending her summer doing more than just learning choreography for the upcoming season. This week, she’ll be traveling to Eugene, Ore., to hopeful fulfill what has been a lifelong dream of hers. Kat is participating in the USA Track and Field Olympic Team Trials this week at the University of Oregon and is hoping to earn a spot on Team USA for the Summer Games in London later this summer. A pole vaulter with just three years of experience in the event, Kat is one of the best in the country and primed to make a run at a Team USA spot. “It has been a dream of mine to go to the Olympics since I was little, but I just never thought that my best chance at that would be in pole vault,” Kat said. “I wanted to be an Olympic gymnast since I started at age 4. It wasnt until I transfered to UGA and qualified for the NCAA National championships that I realized it was a possibility in track and field. I know that this week the odds of me finishing top three are slim since I am far less experienced than any other girl out there.” The top three finishers in the event will get that coveted spot on the team for the London games, and Kat is currently ranked in the late teens. Not bad for just a handful of years experience.  more

Darren Niedermeyer looks to vault to London

Darren Niedermeyer is aiming to make the 2012It will take nine perfect motions to land Darren Niedermeyer a spot in the Olympics. The grip, approach, plant, take-off, swing, row, extension, turn and fly-away. The nine motions make up the perfect pole vault, what Niedermeyer is in search of leading up to the 2012 Games. An Olympic hopeful, Niedermeyer, a USANA athlete, has been in this spot before. In 2008, the Wisconsin alum fell short of qualifying for the Olympics, failing to advance past the trial rounds. But Niedermeyer feels he made the necessary changes to make this year different. “I didn’t make the last [trial] finals, so recently I switched coaches,” Niedermeyer said. “It was time for a change. “I came back to Illinois where I grew up, and I just changed technique a bit, and my lifting. My technical abilities have gotten much better, and my strength is much better.” He attributes the improvement to his new coach, saying he “has helped me a lot in the weakest parts of my jump.” Niedermeyer also sticks to a strict nutritional regimen, ensuring he stays in top shape for pole vaulting events.  Continue reading →

San Diego State Recruits Vaulters

Kristen Brown(Owings Mills, Md./Virginia Tech) is another college transfer who will add to San Diego State’s dominance in the pole vault. Brown, who will have three years of outdoor eligibility and two years of indoor eligibility left after transferring from Virginia Tech, owns pole vault personal-best marks of 13-05.75 in indoor (would be No. 5 all-time at SDSU) and 12-09.50 in outdoor (would be No. 10 all-time at SDSU).  presence.”

Lauren Graham(Lancaster, Calif./Univ. of Colorado Springs) brings her talents in the pole vault to the Aztecs after spending two years at Division II power University of Colorado Springs. While with the Mountain Lions, Graham was a three-time participant at the NCAA Championships, including a runner-up finisher at the 2011 indoor meet. A three-time conference pole vault champion, who redshirted the entire 2011-12 campaign, Graham owns personal-best marks of 13-03.75 in the indoor pole vault  and 13-03.50 in the outdoor event 

Karen Snapper (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS) is another pole vaulter that could score right away for San Diego State. Snapper won five times in the pole vault this past spring, including a personal-best mark of 12-00.00 on March 22 in a dual meet. Snapper cleared 11-00 in 10 of the 13 meets she competed in. Over her three outdoor seasons, Snapper improved from 10-09.00 in 2010 to 11-03.00 in 2011 to 12-00.00 this past year.   more

Vaulter advances to World Junior Championships

Kansas –Casey Bowen, a freshman from Gardner, finished second in the pole vault at the USA Junior Championships last Friday afternoon. The championship was held at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. According to the University of Kansas Athletics Department, Bowen’s runner-up position earned him a spot on Team USA, which travels to Barcelona, Spain for the 2012 World Junior Championships from July 10-15. He is one of two Americans representing the U.S. in the pole vault, which take place July 10. During his first season at KU, Bowen was one of the most consistent pole vaulters, competing in both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 Championships. He came in seventh place at the outdoor league meet and qualified his way into the NCAA West Preliminary Meet, where he tied for 41st  more

Barber walks on to UCLA

Colin Barber, pole vault, San Ramon Valley, Sr. — Barber, who will walk on at UCLA, had the state’s top mark in the high school season when he cleared 16 feet, 7 inches. He took first at the North Coast Section Meet of Champions and reached the finals at the California Interscholastic Federation state meet  more

Girls Track Athlete of the Year: Taylore Jaques

California –Taylore Jaques picked a perfect time to establish a new personal best. The pole vaulter from Presentation High cleared 13 feet, 41/4 inches at Buchanan High-Clovis on June 2 to win the state championship. “At the beginning of the season I didn’t know if it was attainable,” Jaques said. “After I cleared 13 feet (earlier in the season) I started hoping.” Five vaulters cleared 13 feet at the state meet. It was the first time that ever occurred in the girls pole vault at a U.S. high school meet, according to longtime South Bay pole vault coach Bob Slover. Jaques, though, separated herself from the group by being the only one to clear 13-41/4, a nice way to conclude her sophomore year and her second year of competitive pole vaulting. Now Jaques, the Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year, has set a goal in the 13-10 to 14-0 range for next year, which is getting close to the national record of 14-1 set by Castilleja’s Tori Anthony in 2007. “We need to get her physically stronger,” Slover said. “In the pole vault you’re never strong enough or fast enough. Your technique is never perfect. “But she does a lot of things really right. She is a Level 9 gymnast. She already has better upper-body strength than any freshman or sophomore boy, unless they came out of gymnastics. “What she cleared at state, that’s a good mark for a sophomore boy to jump.”  more

Arkansas Native Hopes to Vault His Way to London

An award winning Hog is aiming high, hoping for a trip to the Summer Olympic Games.The pole vault is a sport that sends you soaring to the stars, only to bring you right back down to earth.Razorback freshman, and Mount Ida Arkansas native, Andrew Irwin said, “Yes, I believe you do have to be a little bit crazy to do it.”At 19 years old, Irwin is quickly becoming one of the best vaulters around. During his first season with the University of Arkansas track and field team, Irwin won two conference titles, and was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman Field Athlete of the Year, and the overall Field Athlete of the Year. But Irwin is hoping for the ultimate honor, a trip to the Olympics in London.Next week Irwin will compete in Eugene, Oregon at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials.  more