Pole Vaulting in VA

[rainbowgirl28]

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008 ... 008/370939

High risk, but high rewards when vaulters take to the air TRACK & FIELD >> Pole vaulting in high school



King George High School pole vaulter Lisa Ames tries to clear the 8-foot mark during a tri-meet at Caroline High School on Wednesday. The points Ames scores give a big advantage to the Foxes' track team.
PETER CIHELKA/THE FREE LANCE-STAR



Ames won the Battlefield District title in the event and placed fourth in Region I.
PETER CIHELKA/THE FREE LANCE-STAR


Pole vault can be costly, time-consuming

Date published: 4/12/2008

By TAFT COGHILL JR.

Anthony Bramlett watched anxiously as his James Monroe girls track and field team built a 63-34 lead over powerful Courtland at the Region I meet last May.

Despite the lead, JM's head coach knew there wasn't much the Yellow Jackets could do to pad their margin.

Courtland still had the top pole vaulter remaining in then-senior Allison Russell, and the Yellow Jackets didn't have anyone in the event.

"It's like not having a field-goal kicker," Bramlett said. "You can't go for 2 every time. Eventually you need the extra point."

The Yellow Jackets escaped with a region title that day as they held off the Cougars 67-66, but Bramlett knows that won't always be the case.

And there's nothing he can do about it.

James Monroe's administration doesn't allow its athletes to participate in the pole vault, partly because of the risk of injury and the cost of the event.

It's not a concern that's uncommon among Fredericksburg-area schools.

The pole vault may not be a glamour track and field event, but area coaches said it requires the biggest time and financial commitment.

"You've got to have somebody full time to coach the vault," Mountain View head coach Dave Davis said. "You can't just turn kids loose with it. Liability-wise, somebody has to be with them at all times. You have to be careful."

Bramlett said he has pleaded with Yellow Jackets athletic director Rich Serbay and the school's principal to allow the event, but to no avail. The Yellow Jackets will have to go without it as they participate in the Wolverine Invitational today at North Stafford High School.

"They said it's a liability and they don't want it there," Bramlett said of JM's administrators.

In the pole vault, athletes use a long, flexible stick to leap over a bar set at certain heights.

Every school in Stafford County has the equipment and coaches to handle the event. Riverbend and Courtland are the only Spotsylvania County schools that have the equipment for it.

King George and Caroline high schools allow its athletes to participate in it.

Other area coaches recognize the level of commitment the event requires.

"It's a huge financial thing," King George girls head coach Rudy Pekarek said. "For us, we had to go to the School Board and they had to go into the Capital Improvement Plan with the Board of Supervisors to get us $8,000 worth of equipment. They did it because we have a number of kids that do the pole vault and do it well."

Lisa Ames is one of those kids. The King George senior won the Battlefield District title in the event, and placed fourth in Region I and sixth in the state this past winter season.

For teams that excel in the pole vault, it provides a major advantage.

The pole vault helped King George's boys win seven straight outdoor district titles from 1999 to 2005. Riverbend's boys took five of the top six spots in the event en route to winning the Battlefield District title last year.

Ames, who set a school record in the event, admitted the pole vault can be dangerous, but said it's also "really fun to do."

"It's something not many people do," Ames said. "You just feel special that you're up there doing this and you get to go really, really high."

Sometimes athletes go high, and then fall.

That's what happened to Louisa standout Tyler Jackson at a recent practice. "The pole shot me to the side and I landed in the dirt," Jackson said.

Louisa's Phillip Hughes said he recently "went up and sort of froze and stayed on the pole. I came straight back down on the runway. I'm still learning."

Some athletes completely shy away from the event.

"I have never tried it and I doubt I will ever try it," Caroline senior sprinter Jabrel Mines said. "Anybody who can do that, I respect more than anybody else on this track, because that's the only event where you go 14, 15 feet in the air."

Davis said the pole vault is also costly because as an athlete's ability, strength or weight increases, a new pole, which can cost as much as $450, is needed.

A full-time paid coach is also good to have.

Davis coaches his pole vaulters, but King George hired a coach specifically for it in Michael George, who came on board from Pittsburgh six years ago. George said the key ingredient for a good pole vaulter is the ability to forget mistakes quickly. He's also in charge of coaching the technical aspect of the event, which is significant.

"You have to know what you're doing when you're coaching pole vault," Pekarek said. "You can just put out a hurdle and say, 'Hurdle.' But with the pole vault, you have to have expertise in the area. It's a very technical sport."