NJ article

[njvaulter]

Heres an article about some vaulters in NJ mostly about northern NJ.

N.J. vaulters raise the bar

Thursday, May 20, 2004

By GREGORY SCHUTTA
STAFF WRITER



Pole vaulters typically compete in the infield, within sight of just about every spectator and participant at a track meet, but far enough away from the chaos of the finish line and jumping pits to qualify as their own little community.

But all eyes tend to turn to the pole vault pit as the bar reaches higher and higher into the sky. And this year, the bar has been reaching dizzying heights in New Jersey.

"I can remember as a sophomore watching Tom McCormick [of Don Bosco] win the Bergen Meet of Champions at 12-6 and being amazed as he went for 13 feet," said Ridgewood senior Gabe Knutson, one of two Bergen County athletes to clear 14 feet, 6 inches this year. "Now, you clear 13 feet and that only gets you into the top six."

"The other day I was looking at Web sites to see what other people were jumping, and the heights are definitely going up," Clifton's Karen Langner said.

Langner, who cleared 10-6 to set the Passaic County girls' record at the Passaic Championships last week; Knutson; and Pascack Valley's Adam Sacher are part of a resurgence in pole vaulting this year in which New Jersey athletes have pushed the limits of their event.

Adam Serafian of Ocean City set the standard Saturday when he cleared 17-4½ at the Shore Conference Championships, smashing the State record of 16-6 set by Bill Lange of Bridgewater-Raritan in 1980 and posting the best vault in the nation this year and 20th best ever.

Shawnee's Danielle O'Reilly set the girls' national record when she cleared 13-5 indoors this winter.

"It's gotten a lot harder and a lot more competitive," said Sacher, who cleared 14-6 last week to win the Group B title at the Bergen County Championships and set a meet record. "Last year, 13 feet was the highest."

This year, seven boys cleared 13 feet at the Bergen County championships, four of them in Group A alone.

"You have a lot more kids coming out and putting time and effort into the event," said Clifton's Andy Piotrowsky, who has coached the likes of Lauren Dutch and 14-footer Kenny Stoute in his five years with the Mustangs. "The competition is greater and they're pushing each other to greater heights."

The spike is most obvious on the girls' side, where the event has been contested in major meets for the last three years and in dual meets for the first time this year.

"Coaches are putting more of an emphasis on the vault because the sport is so new," Piotrowsky said. "You find a kid with just a little bit of talent and you can get a major amount of points."

"For girls, the sport is so new," said Langner, who has cleared 11 feet in practice and has designs on 11-6 this year in competition. "A lot of the boys have gymnastics backgrounds, and they understand the sport a lot more."

Serafian and Knutson have gymnastics backgrounds, Knutson training with Ridgewood's gymnastics team in the fall.

That training produced instant results during the winter when Knutson cleared 15 feet indoors and 14-6 outdoors at the Penn Relays.

"Fifteen feet was my goal over the winter," said Knutson, who is shooting for the Bergen County outdoor record of 15-3. "It was a surprise when I did it. My best before that was 13-8. But the fact that I did it two more times gives me confidence. I know that I didn't just have a good day."

Fifteen feet also is on Sacher's mind.

"I definitely think I can do it," said Scaher, whose school record sits at 14-7½. "I seemed to have a mental block at 14 feet, but I felt that 14-6 was coming. Now, I definitely think I can do 15 feet. It would feel so great because it would mean that I would be remembered at the school because I would have this record."
www.bergen.com

[Peepers PV]

awe! They spelled Adam's name wrong. You'd think that they would check on stuff like that when it comes to the national leader...

[saraf]

and its ocean township (not ocean city, ocean city is WAY south jersey, i m in the middle of the state)

[LancerVaulter07]

i'm from passaic county in NJ and last summer between my freshman and sophomore year i went to camp at Clifton with coach Piotrowki and he knows his stuff. i went in with a PR of 9'6'' and cleared the bar at roughly 10'9'' in 4 days! Karen was there also, it was the week before nationals in Oregon, she did 11 but also hurt her ankle....for an 11 footer who's hips are in the air at almost 12 feet...you wouldn't think she'd be afraid of heights. anyway i just read the article and recorgnized some names i know....