Pole Vaulter Has Lofty Goals

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.azcentral.com/community/chan ... n04Z6.html

Pole vaulter has lofty goals
Athlete gives up basketball


Nick Piecoro
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

Dutch Perryman leaned forward in the stands, his elbows planted on his knees, and quietly watched his old team play without him.

The decision not to play basketball at Desert Vista this season, his senior season, and instead focus on pole vaulting was never easy. But it's on game days, especially home games, when Perryman is reminded how difficult the decision was.

A year after helping to lead Desert Vista into the Class 5A title game in basketball, Perryman is now spending his afternoons refining his techniques in a complicated sport that he plans to play in college.

"Through the past couple of years, I hadn't really gained as much (in pole vault) as I wanted to because during basketball season I couldn't train for it," Perryman said. "And I knew that if I wanted to reach my goals for this year and get where I wanted to be in college, I needed to focus."

His words sound wise beyond his years. Even so, the decision was a wrenching one.

Perryman had played basketball since the first grade, his father coaching him on club teams in a sport that occupied a prominent place in his childhood.

And then came last season, when he evolved into a clutch role player for Desert Vista. Late in the year, Perryman hit a game-winning three-pointer against Corona del Sol, sank clutch free throws in a handful of games, and scored 21 points in a quarterfinal win against Marcos de Niza.

Not playing would tug at his heart.

But then there was this other sport, the one his dad encouraged him to try when he was in the eighth grade. Even without much formal training, Perryman last year was the state's third best pole vaulter.

There was something about the pole vault that attracted him. Maybe it was the feeling he got when he would clear a height and begin to fall backward toward the ground.

Or maybe what attracted him was the way pole vaulting allowed him to set specific goals and try to reach them. Perryman is pragmatic, goal-oriented, and in many ways, pole vaulting might be the sport that best fits his personality.

"Every time you can increase your height and every time you reach a new goal, it's an awesome feeling," Perryman said. "I think you can see more of your results and see more of how you're growing."

He talked it over with his parents and his pole vault coach, Jeff Guy, and made his decision. Then Perryman listened while everyone tried to talk him out of it.

"Everyone I could think of pretty much came up and asked me if I was (quitting) and wanted me to come back and play basketball," he said.

But Perryman wasn't about to let emotions stand in the way of his goals. For him to be a Division I vaulter, he believed the sport needed to become his primary focus.

Desert Vista basketball coach Doug Harris was sorry to hear Perryman wouldn't be returning but ultimately respected the decision.

"That was extremely tough from the standpoint that Dutch provided so much to our program," Harris said. "We cannot substitute the experience that he would have provided."

Perryman has been working as much as six days a week with Guy, the longtime Corona coach who recently moved into the Ahwatukee Foothills area and will coach track at Desert Vista in the spring.

Guy, who guided seven state champion vaulters in his nine years at Corona, believes Perryman's work ethic could help him become one of the country's top vaulters by the end of the year.

Perryman, whose younger sister, Jaci, is also a threat to win a state vaulting title, could start opening eyes as early as Jan. 21-22, when he competes in the 2005 Pole Vault Summit in Reno. It's the kind of national meet in which he would not have been able to compete were he still playing basketball. He has plans to participate in a handful of meets before the high school track season gets under way.

[ashcraftpv]

good for him! I did the exact same thing my junior year in HS, except our basketball team sucked. Did me a world of good.....

[wacky274]

http://www.ahwatukee.com/afn/sports/art ... 1020b.html

link to another article on the same thing

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/preps/a ... k0220.html

Siblings aim for new heights
D. Vista duo could claim 2 state titles


Richard Obert
The Arizona Republic
Feb. 20, 2005 12:00 AM



Dutch and Jaci Perryman could become the first brother-sister combination to capture the 5A boys and girls state pole vault championships in the same season.

The Desert Vista student-athletes are ranked No. 1 in the event heading into the boys and girls track and field high school season.

Both finished third at state last season.

Dutch, a senior, and Jaci, a junior, would love nothing more than to see each make it to the top medal stand.

"We're definitely not competing against each other," said Jaci, whose personal bests are 12 feet, 6 inches in a dual meet and 12-4 in an invitational. "We kind of support each other and want each other to do the best we can."

Sports are in their blood.

Their cousin is former Oklahoma quarterback Nate Hybl, who was also an outstanding college golfer.

Dutch's personal best last year was 14-6, set at state. But Saturday in the Springco Indoor Invitational, a college-level meet at Northern Arizona University, he cleared 14-11 on his first jump and later cleared 15-5, attracting the attention of college coaches at the competition. Perryman, competing unattached, was the only high school pole vaulter in the meet.

He began pole vaulting as an eighth grader while maintaining a passion for basketball. He was a starting guard on last year's Desert Vista basketball team that lost to Mesa in the state final, but, reaching a crossroad in his athletic life, he gave up basketball this year to focus on pole vaulting full time and try to obtain a track scholarship.

He believes he's just scratching the surface in pole vaulting and is excited to be practicing under the tutelage of pole vault coach Jeff Guy, who left Tempe Corona del Sol to coach at Desert Vista this year.

"He's been working pretty hard," said Guy, who works with both siblings and senses that history could be in the making between the two of them.

"Hopefully it will develop into a pretty cool story," Guy said. "It's unique, brother and sister vying for a state championship."

When they took up the sport, they were clearing similar heights.

"For a while, there was some competition," Dutch said. "Just in the beginning. I did want to jump higher than her. But I was always happy when she cleared higher heights. I didn't get jealous or anything."

This is sort of a comeback season for Jaci, who broke her arm in a fall at the Great Southwest Track and Field Meet in Albuquerque last summer. She said she hasn't let it hold her back.

"I just deal with it," she said.

Neither Perryman is surprised by their success, but they hadn't exactly scripted it this way, either.

"We always wanted to be the best, so I guess we never really planned on it," Dutch said. "We always expected it."