http://www.gatewaynewspapers.com/northj ... rts/43878/
North Allegheny graduate returns to coach poll vault
By Jerry Clark, Sports Editor
Thursday, March 24, 2005
As a child, North Allegheny's Robert Theissen would use a fiberglass cable connector from telephone poles to practice pole vaulting in his backyard.
Theissen's raw beginnings would eventually land him a state poll vaulting record during his senior year of high school.
His record has since been surpassed, but Theissen, now a pole vault coach at North Allegheny, focuses on helping the kids he coaches to vault to new heights.
"My main motivation was competition," Theissen said. "I never wanted anyone to beat me. It began with my brother."
Theissen said that his strongest attribute was a "Whatever it took" attitude.
"It didn't matter if it was cold or if there were bad pits, I enjoyed doing it," he said.
When Theissen was growing up, there was no organized track until ninth grade.
Theissen joined the track team as a freshman and experimented with the poll vault, but he competed in the high jump, triple jump and shot put.
During his sophomore year, he competed in the pole vault event and placed fifth in the state, while still competing in the other three events.
By his junior year, Theissen polished his skills a little further, landing him with the second spot in the state in the poll vault event.
When his senior year came, he was primed to improve the way he had each year.
Working with a new 15-foot pole, Theissen did just that, finishing first in the state with a vault of 14-feet-4-inches.
He would also finish his high school career with a school record in the triple jump 43-feet-9-inches, a shot put record of 52-feet-5-inches and a high jump record of 6-feet. The state record stood for 19 years.
Theissen went to college at Purdue, where he played cornerback for the football team. Theissen injured his back just prior to his sophomore season, and was unable to play football or compete in track.
He graduated with a teaching degree and after being a substitute teacher for North Allegheny for a year, a position opened up and he took it.
Now Theissen, in his 31st year coaching and teaching at North Allegheny, enjoys helping student athletes have fun and excel on the team.
"I now have four boys on the team that jump higher than I did," Theissen said.
As proud as he is of the kids he coaches, his proudest and most fun moment was when he coached his son to surpass his mark.
"It is fun to coach," he said. "It was especially fun to coach my Craig to surpass me."
Craig Theissen now attends Michigan and tried out for the track team as a walk-on.
Although he didn't make it, he stuck around as an assistant. By his sophomore year he had made the team, and as a junior, he was named captain.
"My dad started me out in poll vault and I grew up with it,"
Craig Theissen said. "I remember hanging out at the track while he was coaching."
Some of Craig Theissen's fondest memories are of the days when he was young and able to hang out with the older track stars.
The older boys treated Craig Theissen like a younger brother.
"When the pole vaulting is done right, it is so amazing to watch," Craig Theissen said. "People think it is cool when I tell them that I pole vault."
Robart Theissen's experience in the poll vault event helps him better understand the kids and what they have to do to improve.
"It helps because when I watch them, I can gauge how they are doing," he said.
"I challenge them to do better. There is always something you can work on to improve."
Theissen said that he will continue to coach until he retires in about four years.
"I'll coach until then, and try to find a replacement," he said.
"A former student maybe."