Longtime coach Kramasz has Las Lomas pole vaulters on the rise
By Phil Jensen
STAFF WRITER
Source
- When a Las Lomas High School pole vaulter produces a personal record in a meet, he or she receives a bag of cookies at the next practice from pole vault coach Randy Kramasz.
A lot of cookies have been handed out in the 16 seasons that Kramasz has coached the Knights. Las Lomas pole vaulters have reached a level of excellence in the North Coast Section, particularly on the girls side.
Kramasz points to the success of Brooke Miller as a catalyst for the girls program. Miller cleared 10-feet as a junior in 1998, and advanced to the California Interscholastic Federation state track and field championships the next season. She finished that season with a best of 10-6.
"Brooke was the one that really busted out. All the girls were doing 8 feet and were mentally limiting themselves to 8 feet until Brooke came along," Kramasz said.
Since then, six Knight girls have cleared 10-0 in the pole vault and two are ranked in the top eight all-time in the region entering last weekend. Jenna Homes and Katie Vo, who are both competing for Las Lomas this season, rank fourth and tied for fifth respectively all-time in the region. Homes set the school record at the Deer Valley Invitational on March 18 with a mark of 11-1, and Vo has a best of 11-0. Maddy Hartman, a 10-foot vaulter last season, also returns this season for the Knights.
Vo points to Kramasz as the reason for the program's success.
"Randy's a savage," she said. "He puts a lot of time and effort into (the event) and he expects us to do the same. He's such an awesome coach. He's very dedicated.
The boys program is also on the rise. Jeff Fox set the school record last year (14-10) as a senior, and this season, Daniel Neveu is among the leaders in the region in the event.
Kramasz' practices are a mixture of fun and hard work. On March 23, for example, the practice lasted approximately 21/2 hours, ending as darkness started to cover the sky. The practice started with a team meeting, then included a series of drills and jumps.
"It's a very technical event. You can tell the people who put the time in," Kramasz said. "(But) you get to a certain point and it's 90-percent in your head. It gets to be really mental.
"I'm so proud of the kids I coach. They are very easy to work with," Kramasz said. "I enjoy coaching these kids because of their dedication."
He also mentioned that in the 20 years he's coached pole vaulting (at Las Lomas and Ygnacio Valley before that), "I've coached maybe two kids who have had less than 3.0 GPA's," Kramasz said. "Pole vaulters, and track athletes in general, tend to be very intelligent."
Kramasz has three rules of pole vaulting that he teaches his athletes.
"Rule No. 1: both legs on the same side of the pole. Rule No. 2: both legs on the same side of the cross bar. Rule No. 3: land on the pads," he said.
Over the years, other fun rules have been added by athletes.
"Rule No. 4: don't apply the rules of pole vaulting to bowling and/or curling. Rule No. 5: acknowledge your fans (by waving)," said Kramasz with a smile. "I coach the kids to be gracious."
There's bound to be a lot of waving by the Las Lomas pole vaulters this season...followed by cookies.
