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Shawnee's O'Reilly shatters state mark in girls pole vault

Friday, January 16, 2004

BY JOE BATTAGLIA
For the Star-Ledger


After a disappointing showing at the Reno Pole Vault Summit in Nevada, Danielle O'Reilly of Shawnee was just looking to clear the bar this time out.



"This past weekend, I no-heighted," O'Reilly said. "I was just looking to do anything to get a height. I just tried to get that meet out of my head. If I walked away only clearing 11-6, it was going to feel good."



O'Reilly could not hide her elation after she cleared 12-10, breaking the state record with one of the best marks ever last night at the South Jersey Coaches Association pole vault and high jump championships at High Performance Athletics in Mount Laurel.







"This is just awesome," O'Reilly said. "To think that I'm the state record holder is very cool. I'm amazed."



O'Reilly's mark erased the state record of 12-0 set in 1999 by Lauren Contursi of Hunterdon Central and equaled by Olivia Kalinowska of Pinelands in 2002. The height is also the best in the nation this season, according to DyeStat, and the eighth best mark all-time on the national indoor list.



And it came as a total surprise.



When the senior cleared 12-0, she was unaware that she had tied the state record. She proceeded to the next height, 12-6, looking to equal her personal-best, achieved at a USATF meet during the fall. After clearing that height, she conservatively chose to up the bar to 12-7.



"I wasn't ever thinking about records," O'Reilly said. "After clearing 12-6, I just wanted to go a little higher to 12-7 because that would be a PR for me. I just kept going up."



O'Reilly said was so focused on her technique, that she forgot how many attempts it took her to clear the record height.



"I know I missed my first attempt, but I don't remember if I got it on my second or third," O'Reilly said. "I tried to stay focused on getting my technique down and not worry too much about the height."



O'Reilly missed all of her attempts at 13-0, but wasn't disappointed because, realistically, she had gone as high as she was going to holding a 12-3 pole. She said that clearing 13-0 is her goal for the rest of the season.



"I couldn't do much more with the pole I was holding," said O'Reilly, who is looking to attend Tennessee, Villanova, Georgia or Northeastern. "Clearing 13 is now the magic number for me. It's always something I wanted to do before finishing high school. I've seen other high school girls do it, so I know it's possible. I just need to go to the next pole. I'm on my way up there. I'm pretty confident that I can do it."

I got beat by her over the summer at one of the meets at Hipathletics. They have a video clip of her at www.hipathletics.com under the members section. It's not her record jump its her jumping 12'8 at a previous date.

I am, starting to think theres some funny things going on at Hi-Performance Athletics. This is one of a string of questionable heights posted at that facility. Athletes mysteriously jump 1-1 and a 1/2 feet higher there than anywhere else. A lot of these athletes cant even come close to their supposed PR’s outside of that facility. If there are infact illegit bars going on there, I think it’s a shame to make kids think they are jumping incredible heights when they in fact aren’t. Then when they go to a real meet with legit bars, they perform ‘poorly’ and are set up to be disappointed (like no-height). What happens in college?

If there is monkey business going on with bars at Hi-Performance athletics, those knowingly participating should know one thing: you cant fix every meet, and the true test will be to see if these athletes can make bars even close to their PRs away from the facility.

Danielle O’ Reilly is a talented jumper who may have been capable of 12-10. But consider the following: her best height outside of the facility is 12-0 as a sophomore at an AAU/USATF meet. Her second best performances are 11-6 last season. There has never been a 12-0 or higher vault out of her outside of Hi Pathletics. She has no-heighted at several major meets, with opening bars being 11-0 or less. Her performance at the NJ state meet was 11-6. There are people who keep track of athletes and know when something’s fishy. Lets see a height outside of Hi performance that comes close to 12-10 and Ill believe it, and the rest of the marks coming outta there…

If you have proof of something then fine make it public. But if you have something personal against someone this isn't the place for it.

I'm pretty sure its totaly legit. When I go there I jump what I normaly do at meets. Where do you jump your best? Usually its at you home facilities. Im pretty sure she goes there very often is like her home facility. Don't quote me on anything cause i am not positive. Hipathletics is also backed by earl bell if that counts for anything.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/ ... 28568.html

O'Reilly vaults to state mark
By TOM RIMBACK
Burlington County Times



Danielle O'Reilly keeps ex-tending the limits of what is possible for high school pole vaulters. The Shawnee senior celebrated the start of 2004 by shattering a state record then bettering her new mark twice before finally missing at an astounding 13 feet.

"I didn't really think about this today at all," O'Reilly said. "I just came out with it. I was coming off a "no height" last weekend so I was just concentrating on technique and not the height today. I didn't worry about how high it was, I just took my time and put my head in it."

Did she ever.

O'Reilly won the South Jersey Track Coaches Association Large Schools competition at HIP Athletics in Mount Laurel with a vault of 12-6, which established a state indoor record for high school girls. For good measure, she extended her mark with clears at 12-7 then at 12-10 where her record stands. For now.

"There's no limit to how high the poles can get," O'Reilly said. "I think I'm going to have to go up another pole now though. This pole - I've gotten almost all I can get out of this one."

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Her vault at 12-10 is a United States best this school year, one inch better than Tiffany Maskul-inski's (Iroquois High School, Buffalo, N.Y.) 12-9 vault on Dec. 27. She stands in a tie for eighth on the all-time United States indoor list.

O'Reilly broke the state indoor mark of 12-0 set by Lauren Contursi of Hunterdon Central in 1999.

O'Reilly, Contursi and Olivia Kalinowska of Pinelands share the state outdoor record at 12-0. Nationally, O'Reilly is chasing Fresno, Calif.'s Kira Costa of San Joachin High School. Costa holds national high school records of 13-81/2 outdoors and 13-41/2 indoors.

"The thought is always to go higher," O'Reilly said. "I want to go 13. I was close today. I think that's up and coming soon. Then I'll have to adjust my goals upward. Definitely."

Don Smith of Eastern won the boys SJTCA competition with a vault of 12-6. Shawnee's Jeremy Griffin was the top county finisher at 10-6 for fourth place.

[b] YEAH RIGHT SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT YOUR POST missing proof?

Your Comments are interestingly personal about the athletes? or the facility, or the owner?????

You may be correct there is something fishy LOL

Let me see if I have this correct, you say vaulters jump high at this facility over others?

I was looking at some stats and saw this:
1. Adam Sarafan jumped 16’0â€Â

Who hasn't no heighted? I personally know Danielle and she has been working out at HIP athletics for awhile now. This is a new year and I believe last year she had mono during the season that's why she didn't jump to her fullest potential. The meet that she jumped 12'10" at was officiated and the height was measured. If someone thinks there is something funny going on during the meets why don't they come out and watch a meet, to see for themselves. I also work out at HIP athletics and it's an awesome place to jump come and see! Go to www.hipathletics.com for directions and hours. It's a blast!!!

nOW THAT I HAVE ACTUALLY VISITED the hipathletics site, I find more interesting stuff...

First, if you visit the website, there are several claims such as "We provide the best Pole Vault Coaching in the Nation." and"USA's best indoor facility". I am sure that the coaching is excellent, especially with the likes of EARL Bell involved. But how can anyone say they are the best? The best coaches NEVER have to make bold and un-backed up statements such as this. Go visit earl's site, greg hull's site, jan johnson's site etc etc etc. How does one determine who is the best? How can one make a claim of "best facility in the nation" when it pales in comparison to the armory, the home depot center, and many others?

Lets take a look at the Historical Marks of Danielle O'Reilly:

basic information listed on Hipathletics.com about Danielle:
Meet of Champion 2003; 2 time NJ State Champion, 7th NY Nationals, 1St Eastern States, 1st in the Varsity Classic, USATF Mid-Atlantic Record holder 12' and 4th in Penn Relays

Note: summer of 2002, O'Reilly and her father touted a 12-6 personal best at several camps, but never mentioned a meet it was performed at.

NSIC 2002 11'00.75
Eastern States 2002 no pole-vault results listed in complete results
USATF 2002 Did not compete in regionals or nationals
Nike Indoor Champs 2003 NM (came in at opening 11-0)
Penn Relays 2003 (good weather) Did not go
NJ South Group 1 & 4 May 2003 11-06.00
NJSIAA GROUP 4 Champs May 31th 2003 11-00.00
NJ Meet of Champs Jun4 2003 11-06.00
USATF JO Region 2 June 15 2003 11-06.25

Pole Vault Summit No Height (came in at opening)

Hi-Performance Facility "USATF Santioned" meet results:

December xx, 2003 12-8
December xx, 2003 12-9
Jan 15, 2004 12-10


Interestingly enough, there is video of the 12-8 jump in question available on hipathletics.com (I particularly liked the 12-8 marker board in the background, as somehow legitimizing the jump as really 12-8). Take note of where the pole ends up, and where her handgrip is with relation to the bar. The vaultbox is sunk roughly 8 inches into the ground, making the pole she is using at least a 13-6 pole. Notice how the jump is a blow-thru and even, with the pole past vertical (and thus not showing its true hieght in relation to the bar) it still manages to be above the cross bar. Note, that in her recent articles, she talks about not being able to hold higher than 12-3 on her pole (making it seem as though she was using a 13-0 pole)....

Suspicious, yes, impossible? no.

A historical look at Michael Davis
basic information listed on Hipathletics.com about Mike: 1st in Haddonfield Invitational Meet, 1st in South Jersey Coaches Meet and 7th in the NJ Meet of Champions. Michael is entering his Senior year in High School with a personal best height of 15’10â€Â

If this matters all I dunno but Mike Davis hurt his ankle over the summer. At one of the meets i went to he was wearing a pretty big brace on it i think if i remember correctly.

This is mike davis
just for the record at reno i jumped 14'6 yes that is true but i was only running from 51 feet that is four lefts for me, so of course i am not going to be jumping near my PR. As far as my PR is concerned it is not official but there were people there that saw it. I am using a 15 foot pole holding about 14'6 give or take a few inches i don't remember. The idea behind the sign of the height in the background is so we can go back and it is easy for us to see what height it was instead of guessing when we are reveiwing the tapes. If you have a problem with Danielle's State Record Jump then take that up with the official that was there, he measured it. As far as me again i hurt my ankle and i have been out of jumping for the whole month of december and november, that's why i haven't been breaking my old PR. If you care about the sport why are you bashing the vaulters that go Hipathletics we just want to improve ourselves and help the sport become more reconized. And the Penn Relays the day that i jumped was not nice weather in fact it was a cold rainy day with a head-wind, that is one of the worst possible days to be jumping. High Performance Athletic Company isn't out to make kids think they are jumping higher than they really are, becuase that is not true the standards are not fixed. Our facility offers a sequence of ESSX poles that make it easy to go from one pole to the next, so jumping indoors without the worry of weather conditions and having a sequence of poles where there always is the next pole to go onto kids will be jumping higher heights.
Thank You,
Mike Davis
visit HiPAthletic.com cool site and a great place to jump

"If you care about the sport why are you bashing the vaulters that go Hipathletics "

No bashing here. Just some simple scrutiny, that all sports should be subject to. If you are going to set a record and expect it to count, people need to believe you. While I personally don’t know any of the vaulters involved, I feel they are truthful, hard-working athletes who probobly have no idea if illegit bars are going around.

Hi Performance does a good job, I have heard a lot of good things about it, and Mike Davis Sr (isnt that the owner?). Any facility in the north is better than none. ANY coaching in the North, especially with the likes of Earl Bell involved, is better than none.

I think a couple things:

1. PR's only occur IN SANCTIONED CERTIFIED MEETS. Not practice. There are too many people out there who say their PR is higher than it really is. There are lots of camps that tell kids things like "look! you jumped 15-6!" when they really were all over a bungee sagging 6" on a down hill runway with a box thats deeper than normal.

2. I find it very interesting that O Reilly's only good jumps are there. She hasnt even come CLOSE to within even a FOOT of 12-10 at any other meets. There were some comments in Reno as to why she was even jumping on HS pit #1, as though she didnt belong. Her best height besides the HIPath heights are a bunch of 11-6 vaults.

now for some scrutiny as far as your 15-10 practice jump. You say you were on a 15’ pole holding about 14-6. With the box approx 8 inches deep, the pole should be roughly a foot and a half below the cross bar, which clearly, according to the video, doesn’t look like it’s the case (even if you factor in a bad camera angle).

Readers: you be the judge…

http://www.hipathletics.com/html/michae ... __10_.html
And
http://www.hipathletics.com/html/daniel ... 2__8_.html