PoleVaultPower.com

Word from Sacramento is that it's a gusting cross wind.

Jeff Hartwig, Tommy Skipper, Eric Eshbach, Bubba McLean, and Jim Davis are out. Tye Harvey and Daniel Ryland made finals. That's all I know!

Oh yeah I heard Jeff got called on a time foul and is protesting.

All I can say is wow!

U.S. Pole Vault Champ to Miss Olympics
By ROB GLOSTER, AP



AP
Jeff Hartwig argues after being disqualified in the pole vault during the Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif., Friday, July 9, 2004. Hartwig passed on his first height, missed his first two attempts on his second height, and then was given a time foul after failing to start his third and final attempt on time and was therefore disqualified. After protesting Hartwig was given one more chance to jump and failed to clear the bar. Hartwig came into the event a favorite and the American record holder, but has failed to make the Olympics again after also missing the 2000 Olympics. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Jeff Hartwig is the American record-holder in the men's pole vault and a four-time national champion. But bad things seem to happen to Hartwig when the Olympics approach.

Hartwig missed out on a chance for this summer's Athens Games when he failed to clear any of his attempts Friday in the preliminary round at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. He also failed to make it out of the qualifying round at the Olympic trials in 2000.

There was a bit of controversy this time.

After missing his first two attempts at 18 feet, 1/2 inch, Hartwig stopped on the runway on his third attempt because of strong winds. While returning for another attempt, he asked an official how much time he had left and was told he had 12 seconds. Competitors at that stage of the competition are allowed 1 minute to attempt a jump.

But before he could begin another attempt, officials told him he had run out of time. He protested and, about 20 minutes later, won the right to jump again. He missed, and complained that the rules say he should have been allowed another jump immediately after he filed the protest.

"I said after 2000 I'll never let myself be that disappointed again," said Hartwig, who finished 11th at the 1996 Olympics. "This is par for the course for me at these kinds of meets."

Also failing to qualify for Sunday's final was Lawrence Johnson, the reigning Olympic silver medalist. Reaching the final were Toby Stevenson, who has the best vault in the world this year, and defending Olympic champion Nick Hysong.

so who is movin on?

So far all we know is Toby Stevenson, Nick Hysong, Daniel Ryland, and Tye Harvey...there should be 8 more....

Men Pole Vault
==========================================================================
Auto Q 5.70 or best 12 after tiebreakers
Progression: 5.40, 5.50, 5.60, 5.65, 5.70
Name Year Team Prelims
==========================================================================
Flight 1
1 Tye Harvey New Balance 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
1 Derek Miles Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Jacob Pauli XL Sports Ac 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
1 Daniel Ryland Bell Athletics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O XXO
1 Justin Norberg Shore Athlet 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O O
6 Jim Davis Unattached J5.40mq 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XO XXX
6 Robert Mclean Unattached J5.40mq 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XO XXX
6 Kurt Hanna Unattached 5.40m 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XXO XXX
6 Tommy Skipper Oregon J5.40m 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XXO XXX
-- Daniel Trosclair Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Jonathan Takahashi Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Eric Eshbach Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
Flight 2
1 Brad Walker Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O O
1 Timothy Mack Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Keenan King Sky Athletics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O XO
1 Toby Stevenson Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Nicholas Hysong Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
1 Russ Buller Asics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XXO
-- Jeff Hartwig Nike NH
5.40 5.50
PPP XXX
-- Matt Phillips Willamette Striders NH
5.40
XXX
-- Jeremy Scott Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Adam Keul Sky Athletics NH
5.40
XXX
-- Lawrence Johnson adidas NH
5.40 5.50
PPP XXX
-- Patrick Manson Indiana Invaders NH
5.40
XXX
==========================================================================
Name Year Team Prelims
==========================================================================
Preliminaries
1 Brad Walker Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O O
1 Daniel Ryland Bell Athletics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O XXO
1 Timothy Mack Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Keenan King Sky Athletics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O XO
1 Tye Harvey New Balance 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
1 Derek Miles Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Jacob Pauli XL Sports Ac 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
1 Justin Norberg Shore Athlet 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
O O
1 Russ Buller Asics 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XXO
1 Toby Stevenson Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP O
1 Nicholas Hysong Nike 5.50mq 18-00.50
5.40 5.50
PPP XO
6 Robert Mclean Unattached J5.40mq 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XO XXX
6 Jim Davis Unattached J5.40mq 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XO XXX
8 Tommy Skipper Oregon J5.40m 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XXO XXX
12 Kurt Hanna Unattached 5.40m 17-08.50
5.40 5.50
XXO XXX
-- Jonathan Takahashi Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Daniel Trosclair Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Adam Keul Sky Athletics NH
5.40
XXX
-- Eric Eshbach Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Jeff Hartwig Nike NH
5.40 5.50
PPP XXX
-- Jeremy Scott Unattached NH
5.40
XXX
-- Matt Phillips Willamette Striders NH
5.40
XXX
-- Patrick Manson Indiana Invaders NH
5.40
XXX
-- Lawrence Johnson adidas NH
5.40 5.50
PPP XXX


Looks like maybe 11 are advancing to finals???? Everyone marked #1?????

from the USATF
http://usatf.org/events/2004/OlympicTri ... s/day1.asp

MEN'S POLE VAULT QUALIFYING

TOBY STEVENSON

Re: Jeff Hartwig -- "My heart goes out to him; he's a great
competitor. Am I relieved that he's out? Yeah."

"You never know what can happen in track & field. I made the finals;
that's all you can ask for." -

"Every time we go out there it's a level playing field. I'm going out
there Sunday like I'm a nobody."

"I'm super confident that I'm making the team-but I say that very
humbly."

JEFF HARTWIG

"Oh boy, I'll tell this story a lot I guess. On my third attempt I
stopped short of taking off because the wind hit me. As I started to
go back down the runaway to restart my run, I asked how much time I
had and was told 12 seconds. I ran to the back of the runway and
grabbed a different pole because I was tired. As I picked the pole up
the official at the pit raised the red flag. It takes you out of your
rhythm. I didn't even know whether they were going to count it (the
final jump)."

"The pole vault is so much about timing and focus, and when something
happens to distract you like that, it's really hard to deal with. And
I've never been the best at dealing with things like that in the
past."

"I said after 2000, 'I'll never let myself be that disappointed
again.' This is par for the course for me at these kinds of meets.
I'm absolutely in shock."

"This is what I do for a living and the Olympics are a very small
part of that. It's something that happens once every four years. I
believe that maybe there's a little bit of luck-or, in my case, bad
luck-that sort of comes with that. I was fortunate to go to the
Olympics once and I'll cherish that forever. But I'm obviously
disappointed."

Re: Will he compete again in four years - "Absolutely not-no chance."

Bob Podkaminer, Meet Referee

Protests were brought by Jeff Hartwig and Kurt Hanna claiming that
the red timeout flag was raised too soon prior to their third
attempts.

Both athletes were provided provisional attempts. Hartwig missed and
Hannah cleared. Two referees interviewed five officials who all
claimed that Hannah began his attempt after the yellow timeout flag
was lowered, followed by the red flag being raised to indicate that a
foul occurred.

Hartwig's protest was denied. Hannah's appeal was denied. The
Referee's Ruling was upheld.

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/tr ... 5651c.html

Record holder falls short in pole vault
By Eric Brazil -- Special to the Bee
Published 6:17 pm PDT Friday, July 9, 2004
Afforded a second chance to clear the qualifying height after winning a protest over an official's disqualification, American pole vault record holder Jeff Hartwig failed on his third and final try at 18 1/2 feet and lost what is probably his final shot at winning an Olympic medal.
Hartwig, of Jonesboro, Ark., who was among the favorites in to qualify for the U.S. team at the Olympic Trials, which began today at Hornet Stadium at Sacramento State University, was red flagged by an official for taking too long to make his third attempt to clear the qualifying height. He protested that the marks he had placed to mark his runway route had been moved -- and the protest was upheld.

"On my third attempt I stopped short because the wind hit me," Hartwig said. "As I started to go back down the runway to restart my run, I asked how much time I had and was told 12 seconds I ran back to the end of the runway and grabbed a different pole because I was tired. As I picked the pole up the official at the pit raised the red flag. It takes you out of your rhythm and I didn’t even know whether they were going to count it (the final jump)."

Obviously rattled, Hartwig knocked over the bar on his last attempt. Eleven vaulters cleared 18-feet, one-half inch and will compete in the finals scheduled for 1:15 p.m., Sunday. Among those competitors will be Bella Vista High School alum Derek Miles and Sonora High grad Tye Harvey. Toby Stevenson, who has cleared 19-8 1/4 this year, also qualified. Four other vaulters tied for 12th with vaults of 17-8 1/2 inches and will also compete in the finals.

"My heart goes out to him," Stevenson said of Hartwig. "He's a great competitor. But am I relieved he’s out? Yeah."

The failure to qualify was doubly disappointing for Hartwig, whose American record is 19 feet 9.25 inches. He no heighted at the 2000 Olylmpic trials, also held in Sacramento. At age 36, he is among the oldest active pole vaulters, and he may have missed his last chance.

Although we would all have liked to see him make the team, there is no way hartwig should have been awarded a fourth attempt. He pulled out of his third at absolutely the last moment, and got the yellow flag on his SLOW trot to the back of the runway. He then proceeded to take his sweet time in selecting a smaller pole even though he KNEW he only had 15 seconds left. by the time he got to the back of the runway there was no way he would have still had the 15 seconds. I don't know if he thought he was special when it came to the rules, or if he just was nervous and wasn't thinking, but he definately ran out of his time. He wasn't even on the runway yet when the official put up the red flag.

Shitty as it may be, but everybody has to play by the same rules. AR holder or not, he only gets one minute. He also bailed out on his first attempt which only worresened the situation. Him not making finals is nobodys fault but his own. Officials made the right calls. The only thing i disagree with was them even letting him take a provisional fourth attempt at the height. Luckily he missed this and avoided more controversy to the subject.

vaultguru6 wrote:Although we would all have liked to see him make the team, there is no way hartwig should have been awarded a fourth attempt. He pulled out of his third at absolutely the last moment, and got the yellow flag on his SLOW trot to the back of the runway. He then proceeded to take his sweet time in selecting a smaller pole even though he KNEW he only had 15 seconds left. by the time he got to the back of the runway there was no way he would have still had the 15 seconds. I don't know if he thought he was special when it came to the rules, or if he just was nervous and wasn't thinking, but he definately ran out of his time. He wasn't even on the runway yet when the official put up the red flag.

I only saw it on TV, but it looked like he grabbed the other pole very quickly. He may or may not have exceeded the time limit, but I think they should have given him the provisional jump right away, then waited for the appeals process to go through to see if it would count.

I thought Jeff took too long also put the real story is why at the trials don't you have a clock that everybody can see and there is no doubt. Luckily they fixed the problem with a clock in the finals but it should have been there during qualifying too. Maybe USATF couldn't afford one for each runway.

When the protest was filed, they had to give him the fourth jump just in case he won the protest. That is actually in the rules. As it may be, his protest was denied and the jump would he have made it, would not have counted. Just relax and understand that the fourth jump was part of the rules that you want us to follow. LON