NJ pole vaulters forced to fly solo

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 50348/1013

Pole vaulters forced to fly solo
BY BRENDAN KUTY
DAILY RECORD
Friday, January 25, 2008

Post Comment
Morristown's Megan O'Shea won't have any of her usual friends or teammates to cheer for her when she goes for the sectional high school pole vaulting championship on Feb. 8.
She's one of hundreds of North Jersey athletes who are caught in a dispute between championship organizers and a popular indoor arena. As a result, O'Shea and other pole vaulters must travel to Toms River, without most of their teammates, to compete on a separate date.

Morris County school officials say the problem will boost the cost of competing and will also mean students forced to go to Toms River will have to miss a day of school.

With the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association forced to separate and reschedule the upcoming state sectional pole vault dates, dozens of Morris area high schools will be greatly inconvenienced.

The Jersey City Armory, which was to host the event as part of the indoor track state sectional championships, notified the NJSIAA last week that it could not store the pole vault equipment, forcing the state's governing body for high school athletics to find a new venue and reschedule that single event.

The extra date, slated for Feb. 8 at the Bennett Indoor Athletic Complex, also means extra costs. Each school will have to make special travel arrangements, shelling out more cash for drivers and vehicles than first planned, whether transporting just one vaulter, like Roxbury will do with senior Kyle Chowhan, or several.

"It's definitely going to be a logistical hassle for everyone," Morristown head coach Paul Buccino said.

"It's always something."

The NJSIAA had booked the Armory for the state relays, held Jan. 11-13, the state sectionals, to be held on Feb. 7, 11, 12 and 13 and group championships, to be held Feb. 16, for a cost of $45,000, according to Assistant Director of Track Championships Lou Fraulo.

"They told us the last day (of the state relays), hours before we were about to clean up," Fraulo said. "It's total crap."

The main reason for the switch, according to NJSIAA Assistant Director Don Danser, is that the Armory denied the association permission to store its pole vault equipment over the championship season, despite initial endorsement from the Jersey City Board of Recreation, which leases the building from the Department of Veterans and Military Affairs.

"We were under the impression that we would be able to store the pole vault equipment at the Armory until the next sectional meet," Danser said. "The Armory said, 'No, you can't do that. ...And I listened. They have guns, I don't!'"

The entire pole vault set -- consisting of 15 200-pound sections of raised runway, runway grip, standards and mats -- weighs approximately 3,000 pounds, making it impossible to store at the Armory over the necessary time span, according to Robert Hurley, Jersey City's recreation director.

"Unless they made provisions to store it someplace, it would be disruptive to the regular recreation programs," Hurley said. "On any given day, we'll get anywhere from 500 to 1,000 kids practicing track, basketball and other things. ... Every inch of floor space is used for recreation."

Due to its sheer size, the equipment is a nightmare task to assemble and disassemble, even with multiple paid workers,

Said Danser, "It's just not logistically possible."

Local high schools have taken the change in stride.

Morris Hills Athletic Director Rob Haraka understands the NJSIAA's plight, but hopes it doesn't become a recurring theme.

"We will do what we have to do to get the kids to compete," said Haraka, who expects to send seniors Sasha Killeen, Kevin Southward and Taran Singh to Toms River. "I think their (the NJSIAA's) hands are tied. ... I certainly hope that it is (an anomaly)."

Added Randolph Athletic Director Damion Macioci, "Anytime you have to take kids out of school for events, it can become problematic. We'll just have to go where the event is, or just not compete. That's the only option."

This all comes on the heels of the pole vault fiasco at the state relays, when official Victor Hurley incorrectly measured the heights at the girls' Group II meet. After receiving numerous complaints from athletes and coaches about unusually high marks, Danser found that Hurley, who had experience as a pole vault official, incorrectly measured from the bottom of the raised runway to the crossbar instead of from the top. Once the scores were tallied, each girl's height was dropped eight inches to correct the mistake.

During the second day of competition that same weekend, the association needed to suspend the Group IV boys pole vault after the only two crossbars at the Armory snapped. At the time, Trenton was ahead by eight points over second-place Hillsborough. A team champion was never crowned.

The change was a hot-button issue at Wednesday's Morris County Championships. Coaches, parents and athletes wondered aloud if the NJSIAA had taken the best course of action.

Drew University, the site of all Morris County indoor track meets, would have been an ideal location because of its proximity to North 1 and North 2 schools. But one Drew official, although never formally contacted by the NJSIAA, shot down the idea.

"It would be impossible," Drew University Athletic Director Dr. Connee Zotos said. "All of our teams practice indoors when they get back (from winter break). The whole facility is used. We would not have any space."

Hunterdon Central Regional High School was another option. It has an indoor facility capable of housing the pole vault. However, it may not have the parking space necessary for an event of this magnitude -- especially on a weekday.

"I don't like to go to a site I haven't seen," Danser said. "I know what Bennett (Indoor Athletic Complex) can handle. I don't know what Hunterdon Central can handle."

But most athletes agreed in one area.

"I'm kind of happy I'm getting out of school," Randolph sophomore Sean Pham said.