With “Yoda” by his side, Shawn Barber will be pole vaulting on Friday in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for a berth on the Canadian Olympic Track and Field team that will compete in the upcoming London Olympics.
The recent graduate of Kingwood Park (Kingwood, Texas) has cleared a 2012 USA national-best 17 feet, 9 inches, which makes him the No. 2 seed behind one older vaulter who has gone over 18 feet. He has been “grandfathered” into the Canadian program because his father, George “Yoda” Barber, is a native of Canada and was its national pole vault champion in 1983. His career-best height was 17-10 3/4. George Barber has been nicknamed in honor of the Star Wars character due to his wisdom and knowledge of the event and the ability to coach his son to great heights. He coached high school and college track for 20 years. In fact, he still vaults and at age 51 recently cleared 14 feet in the sanctioned San Marcos (Texas) River Vault – the same day that Shawn leaped his career-best 17-9. That added one inch to his season-long national No. 1 height of 17-8.
Shawn told MaxPreps that having his father beside him at every meet “makes a world of difference. Some coaches are similar, but the attitude he has makes it a lot easier to get along. I’m definitely going to keep this father-son relationship going (in the future).” more
Daily Archives: June 27, 2012
High flyer Holly Bleasdale jumping for joy
Holly Bleasdale broke the British pole vault record at the Aviva Olympic Trials and then declared: “I feel I can go so much higher.”
Bleasdale, one vault away from early disaster, recovered superbly to sail over 4.71 metres to confirm her place in Britain’s track and field squad for London.
“It’s the first time I have been able to put my new technique in place,” said the Sportcity-trained athlete after dominating the event at Birmingham’s Alexander Stadium.
“So, I will be so much more confident going into the next competition.”
Bleasdale, who also holds the indoor record with 4.87 metres, is now one of the main contenders for gold in London.
“It’s amazing to think I am going to the Olympics,” said the 19-year-old Lancastrian, who competes second claim for Trafford AC.
“When London was announced as host city, I wasn’t even in the sport and didn’t know anything about pole vault.”
Bleasdale relegated former British record holder, Kate Dennison, into second place after the Sale Harrier led early on with a clearance of 4.26m. Continue reading
Men’s Pole Vault – Only 11 clear a bar
Rainbowgirl –My wrap-up and thoughts on yesterday’s competition:
Yesterday was fairly miserable most of the day. Many were speculating that the men’s prelims would be cancelled and they would go to a straight final like the women did.
But in the hours leading up to the pole vault, it wasn’t _that_ bad. Raining off and on but never that hard. I think when the guys were first on the field and warmups were getting underway 90 minutes before the event, the sun even came out briefly.
That changed as warmups were winding down. It started raining harder. By the end of warmups, almost every jump was a run-through or a bail. One athlete told me how he worked hard to keep his pole dry, but he carries with an open top hand, and in the time it took him to get down the runway, that top grip was completely wet.
Should they have delayed the competition at that point? Continue reading
Northern Ireland: Zoe poles apart
RAHENY pole vaulter Zoe Brown proved the star of the show at the Northern Ireland Team Championships thanks to a new personal best of 4.20m (13-7). That puts Brown, previously the Irish record holder, second behind US-based Tori Pena on 4.52m. At the Woodie’s DIY National Junior and U23 Championships in Tullamore, Kate Veale from West Waterford, who will lead the Irish team at the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, won the junior 3,000m walk comfortably. more
Hollis advances to pole vaulting finals
EUGENE, Ore. — All that for one jump.
Mark Hollis moved on to the finals of the pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials after clearing his opening bar amidst pouring rain.
Hollis only needed to clear the one bar as only 11 vaulters move on to Thursday’s finals. Luckily for the former Olivet Nazarene University star, the rain subsided when he got on the runway for his attempt, and clear of 17 feet, 8 1/2 inches. more
Eaton sets PR in pole vault
EUGENE – With the Hayward Field crowd roaring, Ashton Eaton set a personal record by clearing 17-4 1/2 in the pole vault in the decathlon.
Binghamton U. grad Quiller vaults into finals
EUGENE, Ore. — Rory Quiller, a former NCAA pole vault champion and 2008 Binghamton University graduate, advanced to the pole vault finals in the Olympic trials at Hayward Field. Quiller will compete in the finals on Thursday at 8:05 p.m. EST. Fellow BU graduate Erik van Ingen will run in a 1,500 preliminary race at 7:20 p.m..Quiller was one of 11 vaulters to clear 17-4 1/2 in the preliminary round on Monday night. The top three finishers in Thursday’s finals will qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team, provided they have cleared the Olympic standard height of 18-9 1/4. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games will be held in London from July 27-August 12. Four years ago, Quiller did not advance beyond the preliminary round.”It’s great to have made it this far,” Quiller said. “The best part is that now I get to hang around later in the week and see Erik run his first race. It will be great to see he and (assistant coach) Annette (Acuff) again.”From 2004-08, Quiller was a five-time NCAA qualifier and three-time All-American at Binghamton. After placing second in the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships and fourth in the outdoor meet, he captured the 2008 NCAA indoor championship in his final collegiate meet. more
Experience pays off for Becky Holliday in Olympic berth
On New Year’s Eve, Becky Holliday made a pact with herself: no adult beverages until after her Olympic experience.The pole vaulter had been to the U.S. Track & Field Trials in 2004 and 2008, and both times had failed to make the three-woman team. This year, there would be no other meets, just trials. Her focus was squarely on the Summer Games in London and about 170 days of dedicated training. She would turn 32 before the trials, and this might be her last opportunity.So, when it came time to celebrate on a cool, misty Sunday night, she stayed true to her word. An Olympic berth secured — and having realized a dream that was 15 years in the making — the 1998 Reed High graduate watched the people important to her celebrate through the orange glow of a bonfire in the backyard of the Eugene, Ore., home being rented by her coach.“It was the perfect night,” the former Oregon Duck said Tuesday, two days after she took second with a vault of 14-feet, 11-inches at Oregon’s Hayward Field, joining medalist Jenn Suhr (15-1) and Lacy Janson (14-9) on the U.S. Olympic team. “Just a few friends, my coaches, trainers, everybody that’s been a part of this. more
Q&A with pole vaulter Derek Miles
It was a hobbled Derek Miles who got through the qualifying round of the men’s pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on Monday, but a happy one, too.
The 39-year-old assistant University of South Dakota track coach, trying to make his third consecutive Olympic team, will compete in the finals Thursday afternoon with hopes that a sore Achilles will, somewhat miraculously, quiet down enough to permit him to seriously compete for a trip to London.
Q. Judging from the lower qualifying heights (Miles jumped 17 feet, 4.5 inches), the conditions must have been tough Monday. How did that figure in the competition?
A. It got pretty tricky out there. They called off the women’s preliminary competition for conditions that were actually better than they were for ours. It was raining pretty hard and the vaulters were complaining. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to be doing at that point. Then we got a headwind in the rain and it looked like the whole field might no-height. I didn’t think it was going to take a big height to get into the finals. I thought about passing at 17-4, but after watching how the field was dealing with the conditions, I thought it was better to be safe than sorry.
Q. How does the Achilles feel now? Continue reading
Inflamation and Omega-3
Question: I was wondering how much fish oil I should take to help with inflammation? My body tends to break down during the end of a football season and I was told I should take high doses of fish oil to combat inflammation. On the other hand I hear that inflammation is needed to have my body adapt to heavy training or recovery. What is a good idea to help here?
Answer: Inflammation is beyond simple nutrition but it’s a good idea to use fish oil, unless you have a medical reason not to. Fish oil is very popular with patients with rheumatoid arthritis, since omega 3 fatty acids from actual fish is not enough to make an impact with pain and other symptoms. One thing to remember is that inflammation from stress or injury is not the same as training. Continue reading
