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Vaulter Krupp joins an eager dozen
Thursday, January 06, 2005
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
SPARTA -- Lisa Krupp is a three-sport athlete in the Sparta athletic department.

She plays basketball in the fall, volleyball in the winter and is on the Spartans' track team in the spring.

She loves to play all three sports, but one stands tallest for her.

Krupp, a junior a Sparta, really loves to pole vault on the track team and she is very good at it.

"I'd like pole vaulting to be a year-round thing," Krupp said. " It is just unique, fun and challenging."

So in two weeks, Krupp will be joining 11 other pole vaulters from the Grand Rapids Track Club and will make a trip to Reno, Nev., to take part in the Reno National Pole Vault Summit on Jan. 20.

"I'm really excited to make this trip," Krupp said. "It will be so much fun. There will be a lot of competition, and it will be good to see some very experienced vaulters."

It is that reason that Kevin Patterson, pole vault coach at Rockford High School, Cornerstone University and the Grand Rapids Track Club, is taking the 12 eager pole vaulters to Reno.

"Pole vaulting is such great life lesson, because it is not something you can learn easily, unless you are a superb athlete," Patterson said.

"This is an annual event held every January. It kicks off the indoor season. There are 2,500 pole vaulters from all over the United States. It includes Olympians down to juniors. I'm taking 12 kids through the Grand Rapids Track Club."

Krupp will be joining other talented area vaulters like Caitlyn Gager and Kristi Kettlehut from Rockford making the trip.

And it is this dedication, taking time off during the middle of winter, that has Patterson so high on Krupp, Gager and Kettlehut.

"I think we will be phenomenal on the girls end in vaulting," Patterson said. "Kettlehut and Gager should be top four. And Lisa Krupp from Sparta should be dynamite this year."

Krupp hopes everything she learns in two weeks will help her improve.

"I hope this sport takes me to college," said Krupp, who finished in a three-way tie for fifth with a vault of 10 feet at last year's Division 2 state finals. "That is my goal."

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Krupp works hard to keep her edge in pole vault
Thursday, August 11, 2005
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
Lisa Krupp is determined to defend her Division 2 state championship in the pole vault.

The Sparta senior was on Grand Haven City Beach last month jumping in the sand. On Saturday, she was at Maple Valley High School jumping under the moon.

Krupp took part in the Maple Valley Moon Vault at the school's football field, taking second place in the girls 17-18 age group with a jump of 11 feet.

Grant's Kellie Kieren also took part in the competition, placing third in the same age group with a jump of 11 feet, but more misses.

Rockford High School and Cornerstone University pole vault coach Kevin Patterson, who also works with Krupp, was in Maple Valley to see several of his jumpers compete.

"This is a pretty neat event," Patterson said. "It kind of reminds me of our beach vault, but in a smaller fashion. But it gets over too late. When I left at 1:20 a.m., they were still jumping, and that is too late for me."

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Krupp 4th in state in indoor pole vault
Thursday, March 23, 2006
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
It appears that Sparta's Lisa Krupp is well on her way to defending her state championship in the pole vault this year.

During the indoor state meet at the University of Michigan on Saturday, Krupp took fourth with a leap of 10 feet, 6 inches.

That was not her best jump, but coach Kevin Patterson was pleased anyway.

"She should have jumped higher, but I had her on a smaller pole to try and work on some technique," Patterson said. "She'll get higher."

Krupp, who will be jumping for Western Michigan University next year, won the Division 2 state title last June with a leap of 11-3, a school record for the Spartans' three-sport star.

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Krupp eyes beach vault as tune-up for WMU
Thursday, June 29, 2006
By Jeff Chaney
The Grand Rapids Press
Lisa Krupp has set the bar high for girls athletics at Sparta High School.

The recent graduate won her second consecutive state title in the pole vault earlier this month, and in a couple of months will be going to Western Michigan University as the first Sparta female athlete to earn a Division I scholarship.

She will jumping for the Broncos next year.


Before she goes, though, Krupp has a couple more times to compete at the high school level.

One will be July 14-15 at the Grand Haven Beach Vault.

It will be Krupp's fourth time she will compete at the event that draws some of the nation's best pole vaulters.

"This is for fun and to have a good time." Krupp said. "You get to watch great jumpers and you just enjoy it while you are there. You hope to do well, but it is more to have a good time."

This year marks the fifth year of the event, which is run by Rockford pole vault coach Kevin Patterson and East Kentwood coach Dave Emeott.

This year, Patterson estimates 225 athletes will compete in youth, high school, college, masters and elite divisions.

Some of the other elite high school jumpers expected to face Krupp will be Rockford's Christi Kettelhut and Caitlyn Gager.

"It just keeps growing," Patterson said. "The word just spread after last year's event and it pretty much exploded. We were mentioned on ESPN and that helped. I'm actually hoping we don't get too many more than 225 because it it's tough to run.

"The one thing is that we have been blessed with great weather. It is a great location. It is getting so big that we might need to find a new location."

Krupp says she becomes just as much a fan as a participant at the Beach Vault.

"It will be nice to see what height that the college jumpers are at," Krupp said. "I have watched this college level in the past, but this year it will be different because next year I will be jumping at that level. My goal was to always jump in college, and now it is here."

Besides Krupp, other area vaulters expected to take part are Kenowa Hills' Kari Kenney and Angela Racalla and Sparta's Halley Love.

"It doesn't matter what division, these guys and girls are very competitive," Patterson said. "Everybody wants to win, because they want to go back with that medal in their hand. It is a competition, but a friendly competition."