http://www.dailyitem.com/archive/2005/0 ... sports.htm
Shikellamy pole
vaulter Driscoll
aiming for record height
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By Harold Raker
The Daily Item
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After his older brother talked him into going out for the track and field team as a sophomore, Scott Driscoll still didn’t know what events he wanted to try.
Shikellamy coach Jim Bell approached him and asked him if he was crazy.
"I said ‘I think so’ and he said ‘OK, you’re pole vaulting,’ ’’ Driscoll recalls.
Not only was Driscoll crazy enough to try the pole vault, but Friday afternoon, the Braves senior will be the favorite to win his second consecutive District 4 Class AAA pole vault title.
In Saturday’s Susquehanna Valley Conference meet at Montoursville High School, Driscoll won with a career-best vault of 14 feet, 3 inches.
He is even crazy enough to talk about breaking the school record of 15-1 set in 1998 by Nick Fegley, who went on to a great career at Penn State.
Driscoll, the son of Mike and Donna Driscoll and a student at Sun Area Career and Technology Center, will continue his career at Lock Haven University. And he knows he has only two more chances at the record.
But he is not giving up.
"I was hoping to break the school record by the end of the year,’’ he said, adding that he had been working on improving in 3-inch increments.
Before Saturday, his best had been 14 feet. However, he has just the district meet at Montoursville and, assuming he qualifies, the state meet in Shippensburg the following weekend, to achieve his goal.
With a lack of competition in the area, Driscoll is not pushed by anything other than his desire to go higher.
"It’s not like vaulting against a person. It’s just a number I am shooting for,’’ said Driscoll, who would like not just to tie Fegley’s mark, but to hit 15-2.
Driscoll and teammate Greg Dodge, who also did a personal best to finish second in the SVC meet at 13 feet, also have a disadvantage in not getting to work with a pole vaulting coach.
Former Braves pole vaulter Josh Krebs, a student at Bloomsburg University, has been able to work the vaulters twice this season, Driscoll said.
Driscoll has been helped by coaches from other schools, including Selinsgrove head coach Brian Catherman and pole vault coach Matt Conrad, and Warrior Run vaulting coach Jeremy Betz.
In addition, he and Dodge attended a pole vaulting camp at Slippery Rock University the last two off-seasons.
Bell said those camps have made a lot of difference.
"He has a very sound grasp of what goes on in the pole vault,’’ Bell said. "I’m very happy with his development. He’s a very athletic kid, and he’s a pole vaulter through and through.’’
Not only did Driscoll win the district pole vault title last season, but he won a district title in wrestling this past season at 140 pounds.
Driscoll and Bell are hopeful of a much better showing at next week’s state meet.
Driscoll never even made the opening height last year at states.
"I didn’t get off the ground. I was nervous. I don’t vault good around (large crowds of) people, and I was glad that I even made it there,’’ Driscoll said.
Bell said he was surprised. "He is the last kid I would expect that to happen to, his (pole vault technique) is so fundamental. For some reason, I think the runway got to him,’’ Bell said.
"I’m hoping I am over it. I want to get past it this year. My goal is to get off the ground, because I know if I can get off the ground, I’ll be able to do what I’m able to do,’’ Driscoll said.
Driscoll has also been running the 100-meter dash and a leg of the 400 relay and competing in the long jump, but he said he will limit his events at districts to just the vault and the relay.
"Hopefully that will give me a little more strength,’’ he said.
Driscoll said when he first tried vaulting, he was disappointed because he didn’t think he was getting high enough to compete.
He said it is a sport you have to stick with, and it is important to learn how to bend.
"I started to bend toward the end of the (first) year. When you first start out, it’s only about 10 feet, it’s not that bad, and I’m not afraid of heights, so it wasn’t a big deal,’’ he said.
"The hardest part is running at the box at full speed, and keeping your speed all the way through.’’
And, as his high school career speeds toward the finish line, the biggest problem is getting onto a longer pole.
Bell said, "He’s doing well with a 14-foot, 160-pound pole and he only weighs about 145 pounds. So he is using a pole that’s weighted over his body weight, which is unusual. Only the good ones are capable of doing that.’’
Bell said that now that Driscoll has cleared 14-3, he is about 15 inches beyond his hand grip.
"He seems to be working well with that, but the analysts who are coaching him, and me, now tell us that he’s got to get a stronger left arm to get onto the 15-foot poles, and he is struggling with that,’’ Bell said.
Whether Driscoll can achieve that in such a short time remains to be seen.
Nevertheless, when his brother, former track standout Chris Collins, guided him toward the track team, it turned out to be sound advice.
"I’m hoping he can pull a medal at states,’’ Bell said.
So is Driscoll.