Hendry becomes Canada's best pole vaulter, 4.55 14-11

[VaultLove]

Daily Herald - Hendry becomes Canada's best in pole vault at BYU

http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/267699/140/

Sunday, 25 May 2008
Hendry becomes Canada's best in pole vault at BYU

Jason Franchuk - DAILY HERALD   

Losing her bag of poles for a week upon arriving in Phoenix, then suffering the highs and lows of training for nearly three months far away from home -- those obstacles became much easier to bear for Kelsie Hendry when she spent the weekend in Provo and cleared her biggest hurdle yet.
Her last attempt on a Saturday with perfect conditions for competing made the 25-year-old Canadian the best pole vaulter in her country's history. She cleared 14 feet, 11 1/2 inches (4.55 meters).

The previous best mark for her country was 4.51 meters, set by Dana Ellis three days after Hendry hit on 4.46 in July of 2005.
The third (and final) try was the charm for Hendry on Saturday. It happened to be that way on two different heights. Hendry joked before heading home from the High Performance Sprint and Power meet that she usually isn't her strongest when it comes to last chances. But a couple of times she reached deeper when it mattered most at BYU's Robison Track.
With record in hand, Hendry knew when to walk away. She declined three more tries at another height.
"I've been jumping a lot lately, it's been a lot of training," she said. "This was the perfect ending to my time in the States."
Hendry still had some hours, and a whole lot of miles, ahead of her before returning north of the border. Her coach for this journey, Greg Hull, who oversees pole vaulting for USA Track and Field, was thrilled to have that significant milestone to talk about on the way back to Arizona.
They'd have plenty of time to dissect it during 10 hours in the car. Hendry returns to Saskatchewan on Monday by air.
Track and field is all about hitting plateaus, then finding ways to overcome them.
Hull said his student opted to go full bore into training this year, rather than the past few when she only went to Phoenix for about a month. Hendry's only been doing the sport for eight years. The accomplished gymnast, like a fair number of world-class women's pole vaulters, had grown too tall and had to find another athletic outlet.
So her learning curve is quick. But about halfway through the time in the desert this year, Hull said growth deserted her.
"I've been kind of stuck in a spot for a little while now, so I was waiting for it to come out," Hendry said. "It was getting to be a little frustrating, so this is a big relief for me."
The trick: Forget about technique. Rather, Hendry was made to find ways -- any ones possible and necessary -- to clear various heights. They stuck by that philosophy for a few weeks before coming to Utah.
"That's what helped her today," Hull said.
Hendry nicked the bar on the third attempt before clearing it. Still counts.
With 10 poles in her bag -- ever try to get all of that fiberglass through airport security? -- Hendry said there was a little luck involved. And not just because she didn't dislodge the bar.
"It was about finding the right (length) pole on the right day," Hendry said.
She'll now set her sights on the Canadian national meet in July. Finishing in the top five, which should come easily considering her latest result, would put her in the Beijing Olympics in August.
While it's no hockey, pole vaulting is gaining popularity in Hendry's home country. Two women placed eighth and 10th at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The sport's only been around for the women since 2000, when Hendry's competition from this weekend -- former gold medalist Stacy Dragila -- won it.
There's still plenty of work to do. The world record is a little over 16 feet. But first things first: Reach a new high for herself.
Hull's words were simple before the final try: Commit and go. Trust herself, grab hold of the wind, seize the moment.
"We had excellent conditions and she allowed herself to do what she's been doing in practice," Hull said. "Instead of thinking too much or getting too hyped, she did what she's capable of."
Hendry did a brief cool-down around the Robison track before stockpiling her gear in the rental car.
"It's $150 worth of gas to get back to Phoenix, but it'll seem a lot cheaper," Hull said. "It'll feel like a much faster drive going back after this, too."

[rainbowgirl28]

How come the official results say 4.30?

[big10jumper]

I was wondering that too but the results with "4.30" were from Friday and then I looked under Saturday results just a little lower and it has "women's pole vault gold" and it has her jumping 4.55. She was the only competitor listed for Saturday. She must have jumped 2 days in a row, didn't like the first result and tried again the next day. That's hard to do! Good Job!

[roger/over]

Congrats to Kelsie for her 4.55, but I've heard since I relayed this info to the Canadian vault mailing list that she was, indeed, the only vaulter in this meet. If that's the case, of course it's not a "competition" under international rules and couldn't be a Canadian record.

Can anyone confirm that this was a legitimate competition?

[rainbowgirl28]

Congrats to Kelsie for her 4.55, but I've heard since I relayed this info to the Canadian vault mailing list that she was, indeed, the only vaulter in this meet. If that's the case, of course it's not a "competition" under international rules and couldn't be a Canadian record.

Can anyone confirm that this was a legitimate competition?

It has to have at least 3 vaulters to count, right?

[rainbowgirl28]

Code: Select all

 Brigham Young University - Site License
                High Performance Sprint and Power T&F Meet               
               USATF- Utah Junior Olympic T&F Championships               
            Brigham Young University  - 5/22/2008 to 5/24/2008           
 
Event 242  Pole Vault Blue High Performanc Women
==========================================================================
    Name                     Age Team                    Finals           
==========================================================================
Finals                                                                   
  1 Kelsie Hendry                Una                      4.55m   14-11.00
     4.20 4.35 4.45 4.55 4.65                                             
       XO    O  XXO  XXO  XXX                                             
 -- Stacy Dragila                Nike                       DNS           
 -- Kasie Scott                  Idaho State                DNS           

[achtungpv]

Does a DNS count as actually competing? If not, those other two couldn't just show up and let time run out 3 times instead of taking a DNS?

[rainbowgirl28]

Does a DNS count as actually competing? If not, those other two couldn't just show up and let time run out 3 times instead of taking a DNS?

I don't know the actual rules, but it seems like that shouldn't count. You can put anyone down for a DNS. If you're going to go to that much trouble, just find 2 other scrub vaulters to NH for you.