Chase Cooper was born to vault (CO)

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Pole vaulter turns two years at Alpha into state, national titles


National and two-time state pole vault champion gets a workout on the rings May 27 at Alpha Gymnastics in Parker before heading to vault for the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs this fall. Photo by Benn Farrell


By Benn Farrell
Published: 06.10.09
Chase Cooper was born to vault, and it has treated him well.

Especially when he found the right training facility.

Cooper finished his senior high school track and field season with his second consecutive Class 5A state championship in the boys pole vault event. The second state gold medal follows a national indoor title, which he won last March in Boston, and precedes the opportunity to vault for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

As a sophomore at Smoky Hill High School, Cooper was the 5A state runner-up behind ThunderRidge’s Parker Smith.

Smith graduated, leaving the field open for the Buffalo junior and eventual senior to dominate the event. As a senior, he took the state title with a 17-foot vault, 2 feet higher than second-place Todd Palcurich of Standley Lake and 3 inches higher than his title vault the year before.

It was about his sophomore season as a state runner-up that an assistant track coach with the Chaparral Wolverines told Cooper about Alpha Gymnastics in Parker.

Cooper visited the facility and made it his home.

“The workouts [there] have helped me with my balance and coordination, and definitely with my core strength,” Cooper said. “It’s helped me get a little ahead of the competition.”

The training he received over the past two years with Alpha Gymnastics helped him turn the corner to gold-medal status, Cooper said. That, and a constant determination.

Cooper has been vaulting since the eighth grade. He was exposed to the task at an early age, given his grandfather is pole vault world record holder Don Cooper. His father Mark Cooper and his older brother also vaulted.

Even though his grandfather was in the U.S. Navy, Cooper said he doesn’t feel like he comes from a military family, but it didn’t keep him from wanting to continue his track and field career at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

“It’s more about being a part of something bigger than yourself and giving back to your country and the people who have given you so much,” he said. “The decision was more mutual. They sought me out during my junior year, and I’ve always wanted to go there.”

With two state titles and a national title and breaking school records, heading to vault for the Falcons makes his senior season picture perfect, Cooper said.

“I get to do everything I want to do,” he said. “Living the dream I guess. It’s going to be hard. It’s a lot different than high school. You’ll be training a lot longer, so it’s a lot longer season. It’ll be hard, but I’m excited.”

Cooper’s aspirations at this point don’t go beyond the AFA. He said working toward a shot at the Olympics could be in his future, as well as being an Air Force pilot. It’s up in the air right now, he said.

Although he doesn’t consider himself superstitious, Cooper does have one thing he must do while on the runway before every vault.

“I tap my heels,” he said. “I just have to do it. Whether there is dirt on them or they are perfectly clean, I just have to knock them together. It’s what I do. It’s my only thing.”

Without a doubt, Cooper’s family legacy in the pole vault has proven to be a successful “track” well chosen.

“Track has been pretty good to me,” Cooper said.