Katie Heaton Article

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http://www.tribnet.com/sports/story/500 ... 7812c.html

Less thinking, better vaulting

COREY BROCK; The News Tribune

Very rarely does Katie Heaton have trouble clearing the bar.
It's the clearing her head part that sometimes leaves the University of Puget Sound pole vaulter a little perplexed.

This isn't always easily detectable, considering Heaton's a two-time Northwest Conference champion who already has two top-five finishes at the NCAA Division III national meet.

Maybe that's why it's so easy to presume that all of this comes so easily to Heaton, a junior from Eastlake High in Sammamish.

But between the ears Heaton is still a work in progress.

A biology major whose mind works in analytical ways, Heaton has an inclination to ask the what, why and how.

This occasionally gets Heaton in trouble during a meet, especially when pole vault coach Ed Boitano is nearby.

"Katie has a tendency to think more than she needs to," Boitano said. "I try to tell her she knows everything she needs to know. She just needs to run down and vault."

This might be where Heaton has made her biggest leap this spring - an improvement that's not measured in inches, although it's every bit as vital to her success.

"I don't think," Heaton said, flatly. "I try to think about anything but pole vaulting. That's my coach's job. He's the one that does all of the thinking. I go out and vault."

Heaton is hoping a clear head will lead to big things at the Northwest Conference meet, a two-day event that starts today at 2 p.m. at Baker Stadium on the UPS campus.

The women's pole vault is actually the first event of the meet. Heaton's top jump of the season - 11 feet, 5 1/4 inches - is nearly six inches better than the second-best mark in the conference.

And there's good reason to think Heaton's best is still to come. In her first two years, Heaton has had an knack for landing a big leap when it has mattered most.

Last spring, she won the conference meet with a leap of 11-1. A month later at nationals, Heaton was fifth with a mark of 12-0 3/4.

It was a six-inch increase over Heaton's personal best. That just doesn't happen very often, said Loggers coach Mike Orechia.

"She is hard core about what she's doing," Orechia said. "She's shown the ability to focus at the right time so she does well. Katie rises to the occasion at the big meets."

Hard core. That's not just Orechia's way of describing Heaton's approach to the sport. It also happens to be her nickname, a moniker she first earned as a freshman.

"She's so focused at practice," said Liz Kajko, a junior pole vaulter. "And she knows more about pole vaulting than any of us. It's like Katie just has this passion for it."

It wasn't always this way. Heaton concentrated mostly on soccer and gymnastics when she was younger. She started competing in the pole vault her junior year at Eastlake. Success didn't exactly come easily for her.

"I no-heighted the entire season until the last meet," she said. "But I was still having fun and I was learning a lot."

That much was obvious one year later when she placed second in the Class 4A finals at Star Track. In one year, Heaton went from essentially clearing nothing to coming within a few inches of capturing the state championship.

But Heaton said biggest gains have come while at UPS, where she's worked entirely with Boitano. Boitano has developed several successful pole vaulters - including Amy Wells, who won the NAIA national title in 1998.

"He's been fabulous," Heaton said. "He's a great coach. He works his schedule around mine, which is hard with all my labs. And he will stay until 7 or 8 if he needs to."

Usually, Boitano ends up doing just that. Heaton's busy schedule includes multiple labs and has her on the run.

This summer, Heaton will stay on campus to conduct a research project on the brains of bumble bees. For now, though, Heaton's project remains clear - no thinking allowed.

"Last year, she had a problem overanalyzing herself, like when things didn't go right," Kajko said. "But when she got more focused and relaxed ... she was good to go."