Shawn Pebley Article (NE)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.fremontneb.com/articles/2005 ... ports2.txt

Disappointment helped motivate Pebley as senior

By Brent Wasenius/Managing-Sports Editor

Note: This is the third in a series of articles profiling former Fremont High School athletes.

The disappointment of not winning a gold medal as a junior at the 1991 Class A state track meet only served to motivate Shawn Pebley the next season.

"My senior year pretty much rocked," the former Fremont High School pole vaulter said. "I never lost and we had a pretty good little posse of vaulters at Fremont with Justin Langer and my brother (Kirk)."

Shawn Pebley cleared a then-school record 15-7 1/4 that season. He captured the all-class gold medal by going 15-2 at Omaha Burke That performance helped ease some of the heartbreak Pebley suffered at Burke one year earlier.

Pebley and Ben Culhane of Omaha Burke were involved in a duel, but were also vaulting into a stiff head wind.

"The officials stopped the competition and huddled us together," Pebley said. "They asked us if we wanted to turn it around and have the tail wind behind us. We had to both agree on it or it would stay the same. I thought as a competitor I'd take any advantage I could get and he wanted it turned around, too."


Fremont assistant coach Pat Murphy, though, advised Pebley to resist the change. The athlete disagreed.

"I went against Murphy and said to turn it around," he said. "The other guy had barely made it over the bar prior to that. I hadn't taken into account that he might be breaking down. After we switched it, (Culhane) took off from there. He set a meet record (at the time) of 15-6. It left a bitter taste, but I learned a valuable lesson. The coaches see things from outside the box. You have to trust them."

Murphy provided Pebley with a lasting memory the next season.

"I wanted to go 16-0 at state and I had some good looks at it, but I didn't go as high as I wanted," he said. "Murphy could be a tough, mean coach, but with seniors at their last meet he would give them a hug and tell them how proud he was of them. After three or four years of chewing their butts, you'd see him in a different light."

Pebley became a pole vaulting force his sophomore season when he went 14-7 that April at the Fremont Invitational. That performance was more than two feet better than his previous best.

"Ben Moss (a FHS teammate) and I were 1-2 on the state leaderboards," he said. "That was kind of a special day. That was also my first experience with the press."

After a brief stay at the Air Force Academy, Pebley then transferred to the University of Nebraska where he competed in the vault for the Huskers.

Pebley earned his degree in physics from UNL before opting to rejoin the Air Force and pursue pilot training. A heart condition that about 1 percent of the population suffers from was detected when he was set for enhanced flight screening.

"That eliminated me from pursuing the aviation world," he said.

Pebley, who had participated in ROTC at Nebraska, then landed a position at the Pentagon in June of 2001. He served as an officer promotions analyst where he ran sophisticated forecasting programs.

Pebley was only a few blocks away from the Pentagon in an office on Sept. 11, 2001.

"We knew about the attacks in New York and then there was the thunk against the window, kind of an impact vibration," he said. "We didn't think much about it until we could see smoke coming from outside."

The terrorists' attacks forced Pebley and other Pentagon staffers to set up a command post immediately.

"It was 24-7 around the clock," he said. "We worked for close to 48 hours before people started getting fatigued. When something like that happens, you are running on adrenaline. We finally had to work in shifts so everyone could get some sleep."

In July 2004, Pebley was shifted to a position at United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at Offutt Air Force Base near Bellevue where he works with nuclear physicists. The move west allowed Pebley to be closer to his parents, Janet Pebley and Gary Pebley, and also enabled him to assist with the vaulters at his high school alma mater.

"I do miss living and breathing track and field, but you have to balance other things in your life," Pebley said. "I helped coach at a high school in Washington, D.C. I can't get it out of my blood."

[BenCulhane]

That was an amazing day, indeed. I remember it like it was yesterday. After reading the article and thinking about Coach Murphy's comments, I realized how different the results could have been. He was right, I was tired, and it showed.

I've always wondered what happened to a few the vaulters I've competed against. Pebley was one hell of a duelist--and a physicist from the looks of it.

Glad to know you, Shawn.

Ben