ATASCADERO, CA — At the age of 70, Nels Siverson has earned an easy chair and a good book. Instead, he’s working as hard as he ever did in his quest for athletic excellence. Case in point: he has attended every All-Comers meet so far this year to pole vault. And he’s not just pole vaulting for fun. He’s trying to meet or beat the world record.
In 2002, Englishman Robert Brown set the record for men aged 70 at 3.31 meters or 10 feet 9 inches.
“I made 10 feet 6 inches tonight,” Siverson said. “I did 10 last week, so it’s pretty pathetic. Still, it’s just for fun.”
Siverson’s worked hard to get this achievement. He weighs less now than he did in college, but he said he’d like to get a little lighter still, the easier to heave himself almost 11 feet into the air on a pole. Besides, keeping his weight down helps him “feel more athletic.” That Siverson seems to think that pole vaulting 10 feet 6 inches, only four inches shy of the world record, at the age of 70 is pathetic, it just goes to show what kind of an attitude he’s got toward sports. You see, in 2009, he was doing some work on his roof and the fumes from the chemicals in use made him pass out. He fell 23 feet to the pavement, where he landed on concrete .    more

Taking advantage of the high speed shooting capabilities of the NEX, these were some of my pole vault attempts… the composites are a bit experimental (which is my way of saying please don’t be too critical of technique as I’m on a learning curve with it All taken with the Hexanon 200 at around f4.0 more

Pole vaulter Derek Miles, the former University of South Dakota standout who is now a coach at his alma mater, won’t be heading across the “big pond’’ until next Thursday. Miles is busy in Jonesboro, Ark., making final preparations with his technique coach, Earl Bell, one of just two other Americans to pole vault in three Olympics THIRD TIME: The native of Fair Oaks, Calif., has been to Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) since losing out to close friend Chad Harting in a jump-off for the third spot on the U.S. team in 2000. Still, the trip to London makes him just the third American pole vaulter ever to make it to three Olympics.CAREER BESTS: Miles has twice cleared 19 feet, 2½ inches, most recently at an outdoor meet in Berlin in 2008. He finished seventh in the ’04 Olympics and was fourth in ’08. The world outdoor champ in 2008, when he was also the U.S. Olympic Trials winner, he was the 2011 U.S. outdoor champ. TICKET TO RIDE: Because he had surpassed the Olympic ‘A’ standard of 18-9 during the qualifying period dating back to May 1, 2011, Miles made the three-member American entry as the fourth-place finisher at the U.S. Trials since third-place Scott Roth had not met the standard. Both men cleared 18 feet, 4½ inches. STORYLINE: After committing the last four years to another Olympic bid, even though he’ll turn 40 on Sept. 28, Miles surprised even himself by making it after battling a persistent Achilles injury in his right (non-takeoff) foot. He has scaled back his workouts to keep the injury from becoming too inflamed. WHAT HE SAYS: “I still feel like there’s one good day left in my body and that’s what kind of fuels me. I feel like if I can put it together on the right day, I can jump up near or even past my P.R. If I didn’t feel like I had that left, then I don’t know if I’d be making this trip.’’ THE SCHEDULE: The men’s pole vault prelims are 4 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, Aug. 8. Finals are 1 p.m. CDT on Friday, Aug. 10.  more

Two athletes with ties to McDowell will compete in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympic National Championships at Morgan State University in Baltimore this weekend. Chad Ackerman, the 2012 District 10 AAA pole vault champion, will compete Sunday in the Young Men’s Division. Ackerman qualified as the Three Rivers District champion June 23 with a vault of 13 feet 6 inches and as the runner-up at the Region 2 championships July 7 at the University of Delaware. Caleb Sanford, who will be a freshman at McDowell, was also the Three Rivers District champ in the Intermediate Boys division with a vault of 11-6. Sanford will compete Saturday   more

NORFOLK, Neb. (KTIV/US92) – As a Siouxland native gets set to represent the U.S. Olympic team as a Pole Vaulter in London, folks in his hometown are reflecting on the journey that got him to the heights he’s reached today. For the first time ever, Norfolk, Nebraska can lay claim to an Olympic athlete, as 1999 Norfolk High graduate Jeremy Scott has qualified to represent the United States on its Track and Field team. Injuries derailed Scott’s first two attempts to make the team in 2004 and 2008, but this past month in Eugene, Oregon, the third time was the charm. Jeremy’s father, Henry, says it’s still hasn’t quite sunk in that his son is an Olympian. “I guess I just cannot imagine in my own heart, when I first watched him in high school doing his first jumps, that he would ever have gotten to this point,” said Henry Scott.  more