Christina Finkel article (NJ)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... 3/SPORTS08

Finkel keeps raising bar in pole vault
Christina Finkel sets the Montville High School pole vault record nearly every time she clears the bar. The Mustangs freshman is the first female vaulter in school history.

Christina had watched her older sister Jami Finkel, a hurdler and high jumper, compete in Montville track meets while she was still in junior high. A former gymnast, she was interested in the pole vault. Christina Finkel attended a week-long summer clinic with Clifton coach Andy Piotrowski when she was in seventh grade and again last year, learning all the drills leading up to actual vaulting.

"It's a little bit scary at first,"Finkel said. "The idea of throwing your body up in the air on a skinny little stick is not very enticing to a lot of people. But it was exhilarating."

Finkel cleared 8 feet, 6 inches in her first meet, at Madison. She made it over nine feet versus Caldwell last week, and again against Millburn on Monday.

That puts Finkel in a very exclusive group.

Only six girls from the Daily Record area have cleared 9-0 this season, including Chatham senior Justine Colabraro, Parsippany Hills junior Tiffany Atieh, Parsippany sophomore Bianca Reo, Whippany Park sophomore Melissa Meggiolaro, Newton senior Amy Keegan and Hanover Park junior Christina Crocco.

Keegan and Meggiolaro competed at the NJSIAA Meet of Champions last spring.

Finkel and Justin Pagano-- a converted distance runner -- are the Mustangs' only competitive vaulters right now. However, juniors Luda Polyuko and Renee Bartscherer, both throwers, are also learning.

Montville didn't even have legal pits until last year, when the athletic department invested about $12,000 to buy them. Head coach Mark Philhower said the previous set, stored in an outdoor shed, had been eaten by animals.

Montville trainer Don Heyburn has been helping the fledgling vaulters. He set the Group IV pole vault record at 16 feet while competing for Cranford in 1980, and still holds the Northeastern University record, 16-9.

Finkel and Pagano also still work with Piotrowski on Sundays. Though Finkel has cleared 9-6 in practice -- her competition goal for the season -- and is "really close" to 10 feet.

Said Finkel, "I automatically set the (school) record. Still, being the first one makes it special."