On August 27^th, 2002, Kevin Dare represented Penn State at the Big Ten men’s indoor track and field championship at the University of Minnesota. Tragedy struck during a pole-vaulting accident that ended up costing his life. Now, on the ten-year anniversary of Kevin’s accident, ten athletes will attempt to run 1,000 miles in his memory.The run, called the “Life Back on Track Relay,” will start at noon on August 27^th at the University of Minnesota, the site of Kevin’s death. It will end on August 31^st in State College, the place where Kevin grew up and eventually became a Penn State student athlete.The memorial will span six states, and amounts to exactly 1,000 daunting miles. The current world record for a 1,000-mile relay is 99 hours 3 minutes and 27 seconds and is held by a South African marathon team. The Kevin Dare Foundation, whose mission is to “provide university scholarships to high achieving high school athletes who have suffered a debilitating illness or injury,” is hoping to break that record. “We want to show people what the school is really about,” said Ryan Foster, one of the runners who is among the eight Penn State alumni running in the relay. Though none of the athletes have actually met Kevin, the inspiration for the run comes directly from him, “We want to carry on his legacy”.The company sponsors, including PFG, Garmin, New Balance, Oakley, and Tenthwave are making the relay possible, but it will not be short of challenges. “We jokingly say that bathroom breaks will be the most difficult part,” said Ryan when asked of possible obstacles   more

LONDON, July 30 (Reuters) – An aching Ashton Eaton felt like he had fallen out of a tree the day after setting the decathlon world record at the U.S. trials last month.His body was that beat up from the physically demanding 10-event two-day competition.Now comes a new challenge, the London Olympics where the 24-year-old Oregon native is hot favorite for gold in his first trip to the Games.His record-breaking 9,039 points in wet and cold conditions at the U.S. trials earned him the honor.But nothing will be taken for granted, Eaton told reporters after a U.S. news conference on Monday.“With multi-events there are a lot of things that can go wrong,” he said. “I don’t care if I had scored 11,000 points I would never feel I had it in the bag.”His quest for gold supersedes any thoughts of another record or even surpassing 9,000 points again, a mark only former Czech world record holder Roman Sebrle had previously achieved.“Getting a PB (personal best), I am definitely not going to try for that,” Eaton said. “I think it is unrealistic to think I am going to get another world record, especially at the Olympic Games.”Three times a world indoor heptathlon record-breaker, Eaton has always appeared on course to smash the decathlon mark although many, including himself, thought it would be a few years off.Competing  Continue reading →

LONDON — U.S. Olympic pole vaulter Jenn Suhr was minding her own business, working out in the weight room the other day, when she had a chance encounter with Kobe Bryant.Suhr, an upstate New York native who won silver in Beijing as Jenn Stuczynski before she married her trainer, said members of the U.S. basketball team were in the weight room while she was working out and Bryant took notice of her difficult exercise on a high bar above the weights. At one point, the basketball players were cheering on Suhr, who played college basketball at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester and is the school’s all-time leading scorer, in her workout, and then Bryant chatted with her for almost a half-hour.He just asked a lot about the event and he found out about her basketball background,’’ Suhr’s husband and coach Rick said. “Once he found out about that, he was really interested in women and women in sports. He talked about his daughters being athletes, starting to be athletes, and how he likes to influence them with role models. Then he asked for a picture with Jenn, which I thought was really cool.’’Jenn said, “It was exciting. He was talking a lot about individual events, how it is to compete individually versus a team. So we talked a little bit about that, too. There’s a huge dollar-sign  Continue reading →

Gardner, Kansas –Some of the area’s best pole vaulters will assemble Aug. 11 in the north end of the Gardner Elementary parking lot for the 3rd Annual Street vault.
Event organizer Thane Nonamaker said nearly 60 vaulters aged fourth grade to 40 will participate in the exhibition. Competition will run from 1 p.m. to approximately 8:30 p.m. A special showcase for vaulters clearing 14-0’ will run from 6:30 p.m. -8:30 pm.
Feature entries include former Gardner Edgerton High School standouts Casey Bowen , Kyle Wait and Ryan Weisenburger and high schoolers Emily Brigham of Mill Valley and Natalie Mitchell of GEHS.
No admission is required and bleacher seating will be available.