The Vanishing Vault

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.dailypress.com/sports/dp-349 ... orts-local

  THE VANISHING VAULT
Pole vaulters few and far between on the Peninsula
By Marty O'Brien
Daily Press
Published January 1, 2004

NEWPORT NEWS -- Once upon a time, pole vaulters were the vanguard of Newport News' dominance in state track and field.

The city, which boasts a total of 60 indoor and outdoor state team titles, has produced 38 state vaulting gold medals from six different schools. But 33 of those golds came before 1970 and no city vaulter has won the event since Menchville's Bobby Wilson in 1995.

These days the event is so nearly extinct in the area that you're only slightly less likely to see pterodactyl flying through the air as a Peninsula District pole vaulter. Jonathan Harris, a Gloucester High senior, sounds as lonely as the Maytag Repairman when discussing the event.

"I heard one of the coaches say I'm the only pole-vaulter in the district," said Harris, who cleared 12-feet, 6 inches to win the CNU Frolic on Dec. 12. "I'd like to have some competition, occasionally. That makes you better."

What has happened to pole vaulting in the district? Two answers emerge most often in discussions with area coaches past and present: A lack of on-campus facilities and a lack of interest in coaching the event.

Denbigh coach David Cutler, a five-time state pole vaulting champion at Newport News High in the 1960s, says no school in the city has on-campus pole vaulting equipment. Todd Stadium, the site of this year's state Group AAA outdoor track and field championships, possesses top-notch equipment for the event. But Cutler says it's difficult to get his team from Denbigh to Todd more than once a week.

"Pole vaulting takes years to get good at," he said. "You can't just practice once a week. The main problem is that we need a place to jump at the schools."

That can get expensive. Poles cost about $300 apiece, while the standards and a crossbar run another $1,000. But the biggest expense is the pit - a landing mat that's nearly 20 feet square and costs $5,000-$6,000.

That's a far cry from the days when Charlie Nuttycombe coached at Newport News High, where he guided the Typhoon to seven indoor and seven outdoor state titles from 1954-69. Nuttycombe said athletes vaulted into sawdust pits in the 1950s and onto mattresses or foam rubber housed in fishnet bags during the 1960s.

Great Bridge coach Rich Fulford said that Chesapeake schools voted last year to purchase landing mats and standards for the city's six high schools. The school system bought the equipment at a group rate.

"We have good administrators in Chesapeake," said Fulford, whose vaulters have won six state titles in the past five years. "They've been very good about making sure we have the equipment we need."

Fulford, Cutler and former Menchville coach Don Mollenhauer agree that athletes are willing to compete in the event if encouraged by their coaches. Fulford says he has five quality vaulters in his program, four who have cleared 14 feet and another capable of going over 13.

Mollenhauer, who guided Menchville to state outdoor titles in 1994-95, said he made an effort to have at least three vaulters each season. Cutler said that two boys recently told him they'd like to vault and he plans to teach them.

But it appears many coaches lack the enthusiasm for gaining the extensive knowledge needed coach the event. Nuttycombe said that legendary coach Julie Conn carefully nurtured the Newport News pole-vaulting dynasty that produced 21 state champions.

"Pole vaulting is not something that can be done casually," Nuttycombe said. "I don't think you have coaches who want to put in the work that it takes."

Mollenhauer agreed, adding, "The key is that it can be an intensive coaching job. You can't afford to let a vaulter go off and do what he wants to do. You can conceivably send a distance runner off on a 4- or 5-mile run. Some coaches think coaching the event is not time efficient."

Many coaches figure the payoff in points is bigger by coaching an athlete to compete in several less time-intensive running or jumping events. And even Fulford, the state's top prep pole vault coach, understands that philosophy.

"We have 40 kids on the team," said Fulford, a former pole vault All-American at Tennessee. "I'm the only paid boys coach and I have one volunteer coach. You have to specialize. At Great Bridge we've found a niche in the pole vault and throws."

But on the Peninsula, where coaches lack Fulford's expertise, the event is ignored. So Harris must, in effect, coach himself.

"We had a pole vault coach when I was a freshman, but one day he just stopped coming," Harris said. "I'm kind of on my own. I go to camps and I have a video on pole vaulting."

Nuttycombe believes that ignoring vaulters is short sighted.

While acknowledging that coaching the event involves a large time investment, he said the payoff can be significant.

"Mr. Conn always said that no one is going to walk onto the track from a gym class and beat you in the events that require a lot of coaching," Nuttycombe said. "We scored a lot of our points in events like the pole vault, discus and hurdles. We won some of our state championships before running events even started."