http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/a ... s-soar-in/Top vaulters soar in street vault
By Kevin Patton
Posted August 15, 2010 at midnight
HENDERSON, Ky. — With the sun setting on the Henderson riverfront, a gathering crowd settled in to watch some of the nation's top pole vaulters bring an end to the two-day Jammin' and Jumpin' Street Vault Saturday night.
Seven vaulters, including some who had cleared 18-feet in competition, were set to square off for prize money in the fourth annual event.
The event started with a bang for Brad Zolke of Louisville. During high school competition early in the afternoon, Zolke snapped his pole in two.
"It was like a gunshot," said Zolke, who added that he had never broken a pole before. "I just overpowered the pole."
Despite the spill, Zolke got back up and made his 12-foot height on his next attempt.
Spectator John Wilke of Henderson noted Zolke's ability to shake off the spill as an example of one of the things he admires about the athletes who compete in the street vault.
"They not only have great athletic ability, but it takes a lot of mental toughness to compete in this sport," Wilke said.
Wilke and David Wilson, also of Henderson, had been watching all of the day's competition, which included high school and college vaulters before the professionals took to the elevated runway on Water Street.
"There's something magical about seeing them flying over the bar," Wilson said. "For two or three seconds, they're just suspended there. For that time, everything just stops."
As part of the street vault program, two-time Olympian Jeff Hartwig conducted a clinic for high school pole vaulters Saturday morning that was moved to an indoor facility in Evansville.
"We had a small group, but I prefer that. I'm able to give each kid a little more personal attention," said Hartwig, who competed in the Olympics in 1996 and 2008. "I hope I'm able to teach them something that will help them down the road. I don't care what they vault today. But it's rewarding for me if I see them a year later and they say I'm vaulting 2 feet higher because of something you told me."
"I thought it was a really nice opportunity. He had some good pointers," said Zolke, who is a senior at St. Xavier High School in Louisville and was one of the participants in Hartwig's clinic. "Just getting to meet him was a good experience."
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Results of the street vault were unavailable at press time.