Seth Beckner article (WV)

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http://www.dailymail.com/news/Sports/2006051043/

Bison's Beckner rises above

Jacob Messer
Daily Mail sportswriter

Wednesday May 10, 2006


RED HOUSE -- Like his father and uncles before him, Seth Beckner always has had an uncanny knack for pole vaulting.

Even at the age of 4.

That was the first time he tried the sport.

Watching his older brothers pole vault in the family's homemade pit in its backyard, an anything-they-can-do-I-can-do-better attitude washed over the toddler.

Standing less than 4 feet and weighing less than 40 pounds, he wrapped his tiny hands around a broomstick, sprinted down the approach, planted his makeshift pole into the ground and propelled himself over the bar, which almost was as tall as he was at the time.

Then, after running to his mother and asking her for a Popsicle, he retired.

Until he was 7, that is.

That was the year he returned to the sport.

Fast forward nine years, and Beckner is one of West Virginia's premier pole vaulters.

"I finally found something I liked," said Beckner, who also played basketball from the fourth grade through the seventh grade but quit because he wanted to focus on pole vaulting. "I wanted to stick with it.

"I enjoy it," he added. "It's fun getting high."

Don't worry about that last quote, folks. The only thing he is smoking is the competition.

A 5-foot-11, 130-pound junior at Buffalo High School, Beckner cleared 13 feet, 4 inches at the Gazette Relays on April 28 and 14-4 at the Putnam County Championships on May 2. Both represent meet records, and the latter would be the highest in the state this season if the results posted on www.runwv.com are accurate.

"I like going for records and getting them," said Beckner, who finished third in the nation three years ago at the Junior Olympics in Michigan. "I just want to be the best I can be."

Although the Mount Hope duo of Matt Craddock and Michael Cottle and the Williamstown tandem of Benji Powers and Ryan Flowers are among the competitors who could challenge him for it, Beckner has to be considered the early favorite to win the Class A title at the state meet next weekend.

"I'm pretty confident," said Beckner, who will compete in the Region 4 meet Thursday at Parkersburg High School, where athletes from Charleston Catholic, Gilmer County, Hannan, Parkersburg Catholic, St. Mary's, Teays Valley Christian, Williamstown and Wirt County will join athletes from Buffalo.
"There will be a lot of good vaulters there. Competition keeps you on your toes. I don't get choked up under pressure. It pushes me."

Beckner also should break the Class A state meet record of 13-0, set by Willie Sarine of Doddridge County in 2004 and Craddock in 2005.

Class A started competing in its own class in 2003.

"I have been jumping the state (meet) record all season," he said.

Beckner attributes his success to his work ethic.

"Repetition," he said. "I practice a lot. I do it over and over again."

But Beckner also owes some of his success to his genes.

His father, Roger, and his uncles, Mike and Richard, all excelled in the event at Poca High School.

Mike, a 1966 graduate, finished fifth at the Class AA-A state meet as a senior. Richard, a 1968 graduate, finished second as a junior and first as a senior. Roger, a 1971 graduate, finished fifth, third and second as a sophomore, junior and senior, respectively.

Richard went to West Virginia State University, where he won the West Virginia Conference championship from 1969 through 1972. Roger was his teammate and the runner-up to him in his last year there.

Both of Richard's sons and two of Roger's three sons kept the legacy alive, competing in the same event as their fathers.

Pole vaulting, however, isn't simply a Beckner tradition. It also is a Red House tradition, with area athletes Jack Cox, Jerry Null, Fred McGrew and Glen Jeffries also making their mark in the event.

McGrew won the Class AA-A state championship in 1967. Jeffries won it in 1978 and again in 1979. He also became the first West Virginia pole vaulter to clear 14 feet in 1978, setting a Class AA-A record that stood until 1999.

Beckner, who attended Winfield High School as a freshman and sophomore, appears to be the best of the bunch.

"He already has jumped higher than any of us," said his father, who couldn't be happier. "I enjoy it very much."