Clint Robison clears 15 feet (AZ)

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http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/sports/81660.php

Salpointe's high-flying Robison clears 15 feet
JESSIE VANDERSON
Tucson Citizen

Pole vaulting has consumed Clint Robison.
The senior at Salpointe Catholic High School is flying high this spring as the city's premier boys pole vaulter.
"Repetitions. Repetitions," Robison said is the key to his success. "When I am at home watching television or sitting in my bedroom, I am doing plants with a broom. I think about pole vaulting all the time. Sometime I cannot even sleep because I am thinking about pole vaulting."
Robison soared to a personal record and the state's best mark of the year when he cleared the bar at 15 feet at the Chandler Rotary Invitational last weekend.
"I saw it coming. My run-ups had felt really good," Robison said. "After I started hitting my run-ups hard, I knew it was going to happen that day."
Robison cleared the 15-foot plateau on his second attempt in the finals.
"I blew through a pole on my first attempt. I probably could have made it on my first attempt if I had not done that," Robison said.
The Lancers' standout defeated several of the state's premier pole vaulters in the competition, which saw five other vaulters clear 14 feet, and two more get over the bar at 13 feet.
"I like jumping with that kind of competition because in Tucson - week to week - you do not get to see that kind of competition," Robison said. "Those guys bring out the best in you. Against those guys, you have to bring it or you are not going to win."
Robison will need another stellar outing Saturday when he leads the Lancers into action at the 56th Annual Van Hazel Kiwanis Track and Field Invitational at Casa Grande High.
Five vaulters cleared 13 feet at Casa Grande last year, including Robison who took second place with a clearance of 14 feet.
Field events start at 10 a.m., running events at 10:30.
"I have not lost a competition this season," Robison said. "I am going to continue doing what I have been doing. I am going to keep my head on straight."
Robison has been on a straight line to success in the pole vault since gaining interest in the event as a freshman.
As a junior last year, he began to emerge as one of the top vaulters in the state. He cleared 13-6 to finish second at the Willie Williams Track and Field Classic and later won the Class 5A Southern Region championship with a vault of the same height.
He posted a vault of 14-9 to finish fourth at the Class 5A Division I state meet.
"He made the commitment after his freshman year of high school to just see how far the pole vault could take him," Salpointe vaults' coach Jennifer Croissant said. "He has basically never missed a practice."
Robison represents half of Salpointe's potent one-two punch in the boys pole vault. Senior teammate Nick Williams used a vault of 12-6 to finish third at the region championship last year and went over the bar at 13 feet at the state meet.
The two have made the pole vault the most feared aspect of the Salpointe attack.
"We have just stuck with it since our freshman year, and we never stopped doing it," Williams said. "We do it all year."