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Top National Vaulter Commited...
Oregon's Tommy Skipper, has commited to college. He lead the nation last season in pole vault with a near miss at 18' 3". He is also considered serious competition for Kilmarten in the Decath. Skipper placed 2nd in the 100 in Oregon state last year, lead the nation for some time in the javelin, and placed top 3 in the 300 hurdles (he was 2nd in 300 hurdles as a soph., and from what I hear can high jump and long jump amazingly too) all while focusing on the pole vault.

And the lucky school is..... Clackamas Community College in Portland, Oregon. No, he didn't go there because he is failing in school or anything, but because that is where his long time coach is. Rick Bagget has coached Tommy for some time and is one of the best vault coaches around. I can tell you one thing, Clackamas got a heck of a young athlete, and many schools will be fighting for him in two years.

Does com collegfe effect your NCAA eligibility in any way??

Robert schmitt wrote:Does com collegfe effect your NCAA eligibility in any way??

Yes. The years you compete there count. I think Tommy has his eyes set much further than NCAA. I mean winning NCAAs probably does not seem like that big of a stretch to him.

If things go according to plan, next year he will have Dave Lemen and Matt Phillips there to train with him. Not a bad group, eh?

i dont think its necessary to go to a "Big School" to be a good vaulter. There was a vaulter who graduated in 2001 from somewhere in Indiana and he went to a community college and went like 16'10'' as a freshman. i think his name was Matt Campbell ( i think ). Also Jeremy Scott, i think he went like 15 something in HS but boomed 18 feet indoors as a junior. He goes to school at Allegheny College. When i talked to his coach at the Kent State meet last december, he was saying his school wasnt buying poles for him, amoung other things. but i'm sure they are bending over backwards for thier WORLD CHAMP.

Rick is the USA T&F Northwest Director of Pole Vault Development. He has coached 12 state prep champions in a 16 year span in Washington/Oregon. As well as 12 of the last 14 Male Community College champions and all of the womens Comm. College champions.
His vaulters dominate the Northwest standings for both male and female. He has spoken at many clinics and seminars during the last 20 years. In 2001 he was named the National Womens C.C. coach of the year by USATF Development.
Rick’s training methods are used by many of the top developmental coaches. He uses an athletic and holistic approach so the development is appropriate to the age and skill level of the individual athlete.
Rick is without a doubt the single most influential coach in the
Northwest today. His dynamic teaching methods have made the Willamette Striders Pole Vaulting facility the place to be if you are interested in becoming a successful Pole Vaulter.

Yes and Rick is also a member of this board, he just never posts

so does the school he is going to compete at a national meet? or maybe an NAIA meet?

sod man 16 5 wrote:so does the school he is going to compete at a national meet? or maybe an NAIA meet?

Tommy never actually signed with CCC. Latest I hear is that he is probably going to Oregon.

community colleges rock!!! well mine does, but it really doesnt matter what school you go to just as long as you have a great coach. At Golden West CC, that I go to,( huntington Beach, CA) we have 2 4.90+ jumpers. I have jumped 4.90( planning on jumping 5-5.10 this week), and my team mate has jumped 5.20. so if anyone says that community colleges suck, they're wrong..... just putting out some CC pride!