Tiffany Chang Article

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http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cct ... 836507.htm

Put it in the vault: Campo's Chang is real deal

By Phil Jensen

CONTRA COSTA TIMES

Campolindo High School track and field star Tiffany Chang started pole vaulting as a joke.

"I thought I would scare my mom on the first day of practice, coming home as a pole vaulter," Chang said.

Chang's mother probably is not scared anymore, but Chang has continued to soar into the sky and has become the best girls pole vaulter in region history. The senior broke her own regional record this season with a jump of 11 feet, 8 inches. She has won the North Coast Section Meet of Champions title in the pole vault the past two seasons. She set a NCS Meet of Champions record in the event this year (11-6).

"There's never been a female pole vaulter around here anything like Tiffany," Campolindo co-coach Scott Brady-Smith said. "She has so much speed."

Chang will compete in the California Interscholastic Federation state track and field trials today at Hughes Stadium in Sacramento. The field event trials start at 2 p.m. with the girls pole vault. Running event trials begin at 5 p.m. with the boys 400 relay. On Saturday, field event finals start at 3 p.m. and running event finals begin at 5 p.m.

When she was a youngster, Chang showed an affinity for heights. She would climb 30 to 40 feet on her neighbor's pine tree.

"I really liked monkey bars and rings and climbing on things when I was younger," Chang said.

In high school, she quickly became proficient in the pole vault.

"She had an aptitude for it right away. She cleared 9-0 as a freshman, which is a really good mark for a first-year vaulter," Brady-Smith said.

Chang had a best of 10-6 as a sophomore, then cleared 11-6 last year, at that point the best mark in region history.

One reason for Chang's success in the pole vault is that she has also practiced her speed in events such as the long jump, triple jump and 400 relay.

"All the work that (co-head coach) Dino Petrocco has done with her in the long jump and triple jump has helped her in the pole vault," Brady-Smith said. He also said that she uses 13-foot poles in warm-ups and a 13-7 pole for serious attempts.

"Most girls use 11- to 12-foot poles," Brady-Smith said.

Chang, who will participate in track and field for Brown University next season, has consistently vaulted over 11 feet this postseason and won three meets. In addition to her Meet of Champions victory, she placed first in the Diablo Foothill Athletic League championships (11-8) and the NCS Tri-Valley championships (11-6).

"I actually had a pretty frustrating season up until our dual meet with Acalanes. I think that's when (the marks) really started to be consistently over 11," said Chang, who vaulted 11-6 on April 21 against Acalanes and Concord.

Now Chang is aiming for the 12-foot mark. Only four athletes have marks over 12-0 in state qualifying meets, but seven athletes have qualifying marks of 11-9.

"She is not intimidated by 12-0," Brady-Smith said.

"I really like the pole vault as an event because you can do a lot of things to improve. You can focus on one thing and improve. You don't really peak," Chang said.