Lacy Janson soars back into limelight

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 002/SPORTS

Janson soars back into limelight
FSU pole vaulter rebounds from fall
By Jack Corcoran
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

A sprained ankle was already bothering Lacy Janson when she arrived at the U.S. track and field championships three years ago. An energy-sapping stomach virus greeted her in Palo Alto, Calif.

Janson, Florida State's NCAA champion pole vaulter, decided to compete anyway.

"I have really good body awareness," Janson said. "If a jump doesn't feel good, I'll bail out. I did it before and I've done it since."

But she didn't do it on Angell Field at Stanford.

Janson crashed into the vault box and wound up strapped to a spine board on her way to the emergency room. She injured her lower back and damaged her confidence.

"The next time you stand on the end of the runway, that flashes in your mind," FSU assistant coach Dennis Nobles said.

Although she's reluctant to blame the fall, Janson suffered through a two-year slump that included a disappointing performance at the U.S. Olympic trials. She has returned to form as a fifth-year senior.

"She has really come back like a tiger," FSU coach Bob Braman said.

Janson finished second at the NCAA indoor championships in March and smashed her own FSU outdoor record last weekend, clearing 14 feet, 7 1/4 inches to take over the No. 1 ranking in the nation.

"To have two years of nothing really working to coming back and then things working like that," Janson said with a snap of her fingers, "it's really been a relief. I had gotten better over the two years. Even though I hadn't cleared high heights, I had gotten better technically.

"I'm doing those things in my vaults now."

Janson won the NCAA indoor title her sophomore season and then earned All-America honors for the fourth time in the outdoor season. But then came the fall and the slump that she still can't explain.

Janson was unable to make an impact at the outdoor championships in 2004 and then ran through three attempts without getting off the ground at the Olympic trials.

"She fought through it admirably," Nobles said. "I know it's been monumentally frustrating for her. But she has kept a far, far better attitude and demeanor than anyone has a right to expect. She stayed focus and she stayed dedicated and committed to getting better."

Improved takeoffs have allowed Janson to go up to bigger poles and test new grips. She threatened to break the magical 15-foot barrier at the NCAA indoor championships, topping her own record with a vault of 14 feet, 9 inches. UCLA's Chelsea Johnson won the title at the same height by virtue of fewer missed jumps. Johnson is second in the outdoor rankings.

Even when she hasn't been at her best, Janson has still ruled the ACC. She won four indoor league championships and will try to claim her fourth outdoor title next week in Winston-Salem, N.C.

''I think she's one of the best five in the world,'' Nobles said. ''I think she can jump as high as anybody.''

Janson's resurgence has improved her stock for the Beijing Games in 2008.

''It's definitely on my mind,'' Janson said. ''The better this season goes, it increases my hopes. The picture comes into focus, I guess.''

Her family has never left the picture. Janson's record-setting career at FSU has given her the chance to spend plenty of time with sisters Brittany and Kristin Janson, who also vault for the Seminoles.

Freshman Brittany Janson said her sister stayed positive.

''I think the hardest thing for her was just not being able to get off the ground," she said. ''I know from my experience that you just have those days where you cannot get off the ground and it's so frustrating because you want to do it so bad.''

Janson doesn't regret the slump now.

''I'm almost kind of grateful for it,'' Janson said. ''It was the most frustrating two years I've ever been through because pole vaulting is my life. It's what I love more than anything. It's what I'm good at. It's what I do. I had no idea why I couldn't do it and why things wouldn't happen.''

[izzystikchik]

Very Inspiring for us injured kids