Pole Vault Making a Comeback at Lake Roosevelt

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http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?news ... 7706&rfi=6

Pole vaulting to make a comeback






By: Crysta Parkinson
03/23/2005






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For two years, any Raider who wanted to pole vault has had to practice in Wilbur after the school board declined then to fund up to $9,500 in equipment upgrade costs mandated by a new federal law.

That just changed.

Rob Williams, working with Lake Roosevelt High School students through the 21st Century program, saw the need and decided to look into grant funding.

"I knew they didn't have one (a pole vaulting pit)," Williams said.

Williams had a special interest in track because he competed as a student at Lake Roosevelt High School and coached the junior high team last year. He wanted to see an end to students having to drive to Wilbur to compete in the sport.

His success came earlier this year when a grant to fund a new pole vault pit was awarded by a Seattle foundation.

The $25,853 grant was awarded by the Charlotte Martin Foundation. The foundation is dedicated to enriching the lives of youth in the areas of athletics, culture, and education and also to preserving and protecting wildlife and habitat.

"We wouldn't be having it if we didn't have that grant," Darlene Bott, School Board Chair, said at the March special meeting. "I think it's great."

The materials for the pole vaulting pit arrived Friday, and the track team should be putting it to good use any time, Williams said.