Los Gatos community gathers around Nico Weiler (CA)

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Los Gatos community gathers around German pole vaulter to help him excel

By Marianne Lucchesi Hamilton
For Bay Area News Group
Article Launched: 03/19/2008 03:14:18 PM PDT


In the past couple of years, Nico Weiler has done a lot of flying. He's hopped several planes between his homeland of Germany and California, and has visited New York, Idaho and various other states. But mostly he's flown on his own power - as a world-champion pole-vaulter and member of the Los Gatos High School track and field team.
Weiler is a senior, and in his second year as a student at LGHS. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Sasha, who also came from Germany to spend a year as a member of the Wildcats' pole-vaulting squad. How the Weiler brothers ended up in Los Gatos is a story in itself.
In 2003, LGHS track coach Brandon Vance was attending the National Pole-Vault Summit (Vance is also a former Wildcat,
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in 1994 posting the team's prior best mark of 16 feet, 4 inches, then vaulting 17 feet as a Fresno State student). At the summit, Vance heard his name being called over the public address system. "I went to a booth and saw the coach of the German national team, who were competing at the event," says Vance. "The coach and these two other guys started asking me all of these questions, and proceeded to grill me for an hour. Afterward I thought, 'Who were those guys?' "
Vance was later to learn that the German coach had guided the athletic career of the very first member of the country's pole-vaulting team - Sasha's and Nico's father. Hoping to send his sons to the United States to refine their English and athletic skills, the elder
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Weiler had asked the coaches to keep an eye out for a likely mentor. "You don't want to send your child just anywhere, because in pole-vaulting kids can get badly hurt," Vance says. "Mr. Weiler wanted to make sure Sasha and Nico were going someplace safe. I guess the coaches went home and told him I was a good guy."
Sasha arrived in the United States soon after, and trained with Vance. He also formed a close relationship with Los Gatos residents Jack and Suzanne Little, whose son Chris (now a freshman pole-vaulter at Brigham Young University) was his teammate at LGHS. "We sort of adopted Sasha; whenever Chris would go to a meet, we'd make sure Sasha came along, and he spent every holiday with us," says Jack. "Then Chris visited Europe the next summer. He stayed with the Weilers, and they took him all over."
When Nico was ready for his junior year, he e-mailed Chris to ask if the Littles would be willing to host him as a foreign exchange student. "We were just getting rid of the last of our four children," Jack laughs. "But we'd met Nico when his parents came to take Sasha home, and Nico seemed like a great kid; we told the Weilers we'd be happy to have him. And he's been amazing. Not only is he a wonderful person - humble, kind and generous - but unbeknownst to us he turned out to be this incredible pole-vaulter as well."
Nico arrived in the fall of 2006. Within weeks of his first appearance at the track, Vance sensed something very different about the new team member. "He's 6 feet tall and a ball of muscle," Vance says. "Plus, I knew that anyone who leaves home at 16 to pursue the rest of his life had to be very special. This kid works really hard."
Nico had a stellar junior year, a standout even on one of the strongest teams in the country. At the World Juniors Indoor Championships he soared 17 feet, 6 inches for a personal best - and the world record in his age group. At the same time he kept up an impressive GPA, and became a popular member of his class.
His popularity stretched beyond the school as well: As summer loomed, several college scouts came calling. All told Nico that if he graduated with the class of 2008, they would be ready to shower him with scholarships. Now the athlete faced a dilemma: whether to return to school in Germany or finish out his high school career in Los Gatos. Staying in his homeland meant Nico was committed to another three years of high school.
"Germany basically doesn't grant any credit for the year students spend on exchange, so he'd have to repeat that year, plus his senior year," Little explains. "Then Germany has a sort of 'hybrid' year, which includes more advanced high school courses and some college classes. We were pretty sure the scholarships wouldn't be waiting for Nico after three years."
Back in his hometown for the summer, Nico decided to graduate with his teammates and friends at LGHS. He returned to California last August, but was suffering from a back injury incurred while training. Vance said that didn't stop Nico from making a contribution to the team.
"Nico had to take six weeks off to heal, but he was still helping out the whole time. He's my best assistant coach; he really wants everyone to do well. He worked with and mentored a sophomore from France, and helped the girls out, too. He's always there for everyone."
Though his teammates, classmates, teachers and coaches celebrated Nico's return, he was still to face his biggest hurdle. And it wasn't on the track.
As a foreign exchange student, Nico was free to attend LGHS as a guest of the public school system for one year. But Department of Homeland Security regulations dictate that students who choose to remain in the U.S. beyond their first year must secure an F-1 student visa from their home country.
Also, they must demonstrate that they "have reimbursed the local education agency that administers the school for the full, unsubsidized per capita cost of providing education at the school for the period of the student's attendance." In other words, Nico's acceptance at LGHS for his senior year meant that his family was required to cover all costs associated with his education. At Los Gatos High School that comes to $10,747 annually, says Los Gatos-Saratoga High School District superintendent Cary Matsuoka.
"Every school district calculates how much they spend per student; it's a dollar amount that's available on the California Department of Education Web site," says Matsuoka. "They track all of the revenues for the school districts, and the number we use is what we spend per student." Matsuoka adds that school districts participating in such an arrangement must be identified as "sponsoring agencies," a designation Los Gatos High School did not have at the time.
"We checked it out, discovered that we had to go through a process with the federal government, and that it was do-able once we updated our board policies," says Matsuoka.
At the same time, Los Gatos Rotary Club member Don McCleve heard about Nico's plight. McCleve serves as the chairman of the Rotary's student exchange committee, which endeavors to place local students with host Rotary families around the world, and houses foreign students within the Los Gatos community. McCleve brought Nico to a meeting, explaining his predicament to the membership. "We had a unanimous vote to encourage the school board to help Nico get his visa," McCleve says. "And the board was marvelous. They realized this would entail some paperwork, but were willing to make it happen."
Adds Little, "The district bent over backward to help Nico. Jean Marashian, who's superintendent Matsuoka's administrative assistant, really jumped through hoops to help Nico get the visa, even meeting us on her day off to make sure he got all of the paperwork he needed. She and Cary have been wonderful, in terms of leading the charge to assist this kid who's so deserving."
Deserving is an apt description for Nico: Even as he has overcome significant challenges to remain in the United States, his performance in the pit continued to make headlines. During the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno last month he barely missed a jump of 17 feet, 7 inches, which would have cemented a new high school record. But at the Simplot Games in Idaho, Nico triumphed with a vault of 17 feet, 2 inches. He also came within a fraction of a inch of breaking the Olympic record of 17 feet, 7 inches, held for 22 years by American pole-vaulting legend Pat Manson. And at the National Indoor Championships in Germany in February, despite using borrowed poles (necessitated by recent FAA restrictions suggesting the shipment of poles may pose a security threat), Nico vaulted to a ninth-place finish.
Nico broke another record last weekend, clearing 17 feet, 3/4 inches at the National Scholastic Indoor Championship in New York City. Nico's vault was well above the meet's previous record of 16 feet 5 1/2 inches.
Vance has no doubt that Nico is headed for international acclaim. "Nico's definitely on the path to go to the Olympics; maybe not this year, but for sure in London in 2012," says Vance. "He already uses bigger poles than any high school kid I've ever seen. He told me that he was once measured on the track, and he's faster with a pole in his hand than without one. When he grabs hold of a pole, something magic happens."
At the beginning of March the U.S. Consulate advised Nico that his F-1 visa had been approved, easing the way for the completion of his studies. Soon it will be time to decide which of the nation's top colleges he'd like to attend; thus far Harvard, Cal and Brigham Young are on Nico's short list, and UCLA may also in the running.
Nico, who aims to get a degree in either biochemistry or economics, then earn an MBA before becoming an entrepreneur, spends nearly as much time in discussions with Little about his career plans as he does in training. Little, who has launched several high-tech start-ups, is pleased to play the role of mentor and share his business expertise.
"I think of Nico like a son now, as opposed to a foreign student," says Little. "But in this case, he's a son who actually listens to my advice."
Though Nico will soon be graduating, Vance is still facing a challenge of his own: how to keep Nico outfitted in the poles he'll need to keep scooping up national championships for the remainder of the season.
"Those things are expensive; they're about $600 a pole!" says Vance. "Last year we spent nearly $4,000 on poles alone for Nico, plus we now have to pay a bundle to ship the poles. And of course, we have to maintain the rest of our equipment to make sure all of our kids can train properly. Fortunately, Willie Harmatz and the Los Gatos Athletic Association have really stepped up to the plate to help us out. The community's support will benefit all of our athletes."
Asked to predict where his considerable talents will take him, Nico is as self-effacing as always. "My dream is to start a few businesses someday; I just have to figure out a way to get there," he says. "I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunities I've had here, and to have met the people I have. Los Gatos is amazing, the school is beautiful, and my teachers are great. And now I'm looking forward to the future. There are always new challenges, and new goals to reach."
And of course, new ways to take flight.
Tax-deductible contributions to support the LGHS pole-vaulting program can be made out to the Los Gatos Association, and sent to Pole Vault Fund, P.O. Box 1334, Los Gatos, Calif., 95031.