'

We only offer the long jump, all other field events can be done in the school system programs. This is due to safety and the young age group. So where do you find throws, pole vaulters, and high jumpers? The football team, the gymnastics team! This is very easy to do if as a coach you have the desire. The high school hall walls are full of athletes that are not out for track and field. 

Safety: IT'S ALL ABOUT YOUR MOVEMENT FOUNDATION! Field events, in this case the "throws" are very MISUNDERSTOOD when it comes to developing athletes ( SUCCESSFUL and  INJURY prevention)!

 

 The worst approach to the "throws" is to just go out and start throwing the discus or shot!! Look at  State High School Championship Meet Results for any State. You will not find many throwers, male or female that do well. Most do not move well within themselves because of a poor throwing foundation (which was never worked on to start with) and many have overuse injuries!! Was a movement screen done to find weak links and make corrections to help with proper movement and a injury free career? 

 

The discus and shot put are "one side of the body" activities. So you do not want to just start throwing or even doing "throwing drills". 

The focus needs to be on different patterns, different muscles, for movement development and injury prevention. The shot and discus are not early specialization activities, so you should be spending most of your practice on other activities like running, hurdling, games, and only spending around 10 to 15 minutes on throwing activities (these activities do NOT mean throwing the discus or shot, this means body movement activities). Also, throwers should be in running events, including hurdles, and good enough to qualify for the state meet!

Young athletes should hold off on throwing discus or shot putting until they have been screened (Functional Movement Screen) and then placed on a comprehensive exercise program by a professional. This program could take several years. Middle school would be a good time for his program. Then in high school, the athlete can begin to throw and put. This approach also applies the high jumping and pole vaulting. Screening and a comprehensive exercise program should continue in high school while participating in the field events.

After the high school track and field season in late May, he or she should take one month off (June) to recover. The body becomes stronger during the recovery period, the strenuous track and field season breaks the body down. 

Steve is foremost about teaching and developing young athletes with minimal risk.

Example: Off-season development may not involve any actual pole vaulting, but involve physical development. Every program should have movement awareness and movement screening integrated into it. 

 We offer basic training activities (prerequisite activities)! This includes low power hurdles and  body movement activities. We look for weakness, can you skip and do bear crawls properly? Can you breath properly? The list goes on. 

There are major concerns about safety/injury risk factors. Ideally, potential pole vaulters should be developed in a high school program where the coach is working with the athlete on a daily and/or yearly basis.

When is the best time to start learning the pole vault-probably 8th grade.  Gymnast athletes tend to be good pole vaulters. 

The Pole Vault does not require early specialization like gymnastics or figure skating. So do not be in a hurry to get involved in the pole vault, first become a very good well rounded athlete! 

Ideally a new pole vault coach should work with  and be mentored by a seasoned, 10-30 year veteran pole vault coach. High turnover rates is a red flag. Do NOT assume a successful pole vaulter will make a successful coach! 

 

I do not recommend the, "Learn By Doing" pole vault programs colleges promote until a proper functional movement evaluation is done. If the coach does not know what this is, move on.

Multiple skills required

One of the top manufacturers for the event's equipment is UCS, which produces mats and the Spirit pole. UCS general manager Steve Chappell cautions: "The risks that are clear in the pole vault need to be acknowledged at all times."

"It's not an event that can be mastered quickly," Chappell says. "Teaching progressions are very important. You can't just encourage a kid to go out and pole vault. Just carrying the pole is very awkward. There's just no substitute for a lot of repetition in practice. ... We put warning labels on our products, and we put out a teaching guide, and we feel now we want to be more involved in that area."

UCS landing pits are 21 1/2 feet wide and 24 feet long, and generally cost $8,000-$10,000. Chappell won't disclose UCS production numbers but estimates the event has gained about 10,000 participants in the last eight years, largely because of it has been added to women's meets. Total participation generally is estimated at 25,000 athletes nationally.

Chappell also is co-director of the Pole Vault Summit, an annual clinic in January that drew 1,500 coaches and athletes this year in Reno. He says participation has grown steadily by about 10% a year. That's part of the boom California started in the early 1990s when it made the pole vault a high school event for women.

"It offers some attractions that others don't," Chappell says. "It can reward of multiplicity of skills. ... The pole vault rewards the athletes with average speed and average strength, the kid that works hard."

On the helmet issue, Chappell says, "I don't really have a position on that. I think it should be a personal choice. I've been told there isn't a company that produces something that's called a pole vault helmet."

Chappell also acknowledges, "There's a tremendous concern now," and asks, "Has something changed? Why is it that we've seen the fatalities in such a short space of time? I can't make any link between these tragedies."

The answer may be that the pole vault simply attracts fearless athletes.

"A pole vaulter is a very special breed of athlete," says Dare, whose son also played football, and whose son's death resulted in his family establishing the Vaultforlife.com Web site.

"You can't overpower the sport with just strength, power or speed," Dare says. "It requires them all. It's kind of got a mystique to it."

But it's a mystique that, for now, includes a deadly shadow.

 

Develop athlete first, skills second

Depressed skull fracture by a mass of 3kg in shot putt an adolescent of 13 years. A rare sports injury. A rare fracture of the skull-deflection shot putt

 

Introduction: More and more teenagers indulge in sports at school or in recreational settings. Some of these sports are considered to be purveyors of accidents and should be practiced by putting in place safety rules and regulations. This report is unusual case of a school child of age 13 who suffered from depressed skull fracture due to accidental fall of a mass of 3kg during an athletics meeting.

Presentation of case: He was a 13-year-old boy who accidentally received on his head a throwing mass of 3kg thrown by a young athlete at a school athletics meeting. He became unconsciousness for a moment. The radio clinical evaluation showed a parietal depressed fracture without mass effect on the brain parenchyma to the CT scan. Depression was surgically removed in quite favorable manner.

Discussion: Karting is known as a particular sporting accident that causes head injuries affecting mostly children. Other sports such as boxing and skiing are also known to cause trauma but wearing helmets has significantly reduced these sports injuries. Throwing sports can also lead to accidents in the absence of strict security as demonstrated by this case. It was a skull depressed fracture that was operated upon because it entailed a risk leading to a compressive callus.

Conclusion: This accident could have been avoided if basic safety precautions were put in place.

Keywords: Adolescent; Depressed fracture; Shot putt; Skull.

Other event Injuries 

Fargo's Laura Roesler says it's 'disheartening' she isn't competing in her 4th U.S. Olympic trials for track and field

Fargo South graduate Laura Roesler is not competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field after competing in the trials in 2008, 2012 and 2016.

June 21, 2021

 

FARGO — Laura Roesler wanted to chase her Olympic dream this summer, but the Fargo South graduate’s health didn’t cooperate.

Roesler isn't competing in the U.S. Olympic Trials for track and field, which started Friday, June 18, at newly renovated Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. That’s also where Roesler was a 17-time NCAA All-American and a Division I women's 800 meters outdoor national champion in 2014 for the Oregon Ducks.

The first round of the women’s 800, Roesler’s specialty, is scheduled for Thursday, June 24, at the trials. The finals in that event are set for Sunday, June 27. The 29-year-old Roesler said a nagging Achilles injury hasn’t allowed her to prepare properly for what would have been her fourth Olympic trials.

“I have not been able this year to train at the level required to compete at the professional level and at an Olympic trials,” said Roesler, who trains out of Jacksonville, Fla. “I know the level I need to be training at and the form I need to be in to make a team. I just wasn’t there. … It would have been my fourth Olympic trials, which would have been pretty cool, but life has other plans.”

Roesler said she’s been struggling with the health of both her Achilles for most of her pro career, including micro tears and tendinitis. Roesler added she’s never ruptured either of her Achilles, which would require surgery, but the multiple flare ups have been difficult to navigate through as a pro

 

 

“A lot of pain, unending excruciating pain,” said Roesler, who turned pro in 2014 after her highly decorated career at Oregon. “It’s kind of hard to train, when every step, that’s the only thing going through your mind.”

Roesler was 16 years old in 2008 when she competed in the women’s 800 at her first Olympic trials. She also competed in the event in 2012 and 2016. The 2020 trials were pushed back a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Roesler said her last competitive race was at the USATF Indoor Championships in February of 2019, and the last time she raced in an outdoor 800 was in July of 2018 in Sweden.

“I’ve been itching to race for a really long time, so it’s been really disappointing and pretty disheartening,” said Roesler, who is coached by Rose Monday who is also the head coach for the U.S. women’s track and field team for the Tokyo Olympics that start in late July.

Roesler said she’s had platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to promote accelerated healing with her Achilles issues and those have been helpful, but not provided permanent relief.

“For whatever reason the Achilles has continued to flare up,” she said.

Roesler said one frustration is she's met with multiple medical professionals and there haven't been any real answers to why it keeps happening.

"I've been told by many different doctors, specialists, therapists, structurally, my body is fine, my Achilles is fine," she said. "My lower legs are firing the way they should be and I've done all the physical therapy every day in the last six-plus years. ... Unfortunately, it just hasn’t been enough.”

In May of 2020, Roesler said she had a PRP injection for her left Achilles. However, around December of 2020, her Achilles flared up again heading into 2021. She trained until this past March, but that’s when Roesler said she reached her "breaking point" and had to take a step back from training.

“That was for my overall well-being,” Roesler said. “I had just been fighting my body and focusing on being in so much pain every day for so long I was just kind of drained.”

In late April, Roesler said she tried to start training again on an elliptical machine, but she wasn’t in a position to have a proper buildup to the trials.

“I just had lost so much time,” Roesler said. “To compete in the Trials in the United States where a lot of those events end up being stronger than even an Olympic final, you have to be firing on all cylinders. … I can tell you now I’m happy I listened to my body, because I’m healthy and I have started running again and I’m pain-free running. I just ran out of time.”

Roesler has tried to find the positive during her down time.

“Not everything can go my way and it’s really given me a chance to reflect and look back on everything,” she said. “I’ve actually been lucky with my body, especially for how long I’ve been running. … It’s given me a chance to be grateful for everything I’ve gotten to do and everything I’ve accomplished.”

Roesler plans to watch the trials and Summer Olympics, even though she admits that could be difficult.

“I love this sport,” Roesler said. “I’m always going to be a fan. I think there’s something beautiful about people running, jumping, throwing at the limit of what a human can do. It’s going to be hard to watch, but I still have people I’m rooting for, previous teammates I want to do well, great performances still excite me so I’m going to watch.”

Roesler said her experience and maturity would have played in her favor had she been able to compete at this summer’s trials.

“I’m missing that one piece of the puzzle that is being healthy,” she said.

Roesler added she’s grateful for the support she’s received from the Fargo-Moorhead community, the state of North Dakota and friends and family throughout her track career.

“It has never gone unnoticed and it’s always been appreciated,” she said.

Roesler hasn’t given up on her professional career, but also isn’t setting a timetable to return to competition.

“I’ve dreamt about making an Olympic team since forever,” Roesler said. “I wake up every day wanting that. It’s something you can't necessarily just switch off. I’ve got to try to handle life’s curveballs the best I can.”

 

Medical coverage for track and field events

 

Providing medical coverage at a track and field event is similar to other spectator events, but there are some important differences. With simultaneous events occurring over a large area, reliable communication with quick access to all event sites is mandatory. Preparation needs to include a prearranged emergency response plan for each event. Because field events involve throwing heavy and sometimes sharp objects (discus, hammer, shot put, and javelin) or landing in a cushioned pit (high jump, pole vault), sites need well-demarcated, constantly monitored boundaries with properly installed, well-maintained safety equipment. All personnel involved in monitoring these events should be educated on proper procedure in managing potential head or neck injuries. Event officials must also remained focused on their tasks, avoiding the distractions that simultaneous events can cause. Because most events are outdoors, appropriate protection and recovery sites for heat, cold, and sun exposure should be arranged.

 

Young athletes should hold off on throwing discus or shot putting until they have been screened (Functional Movement Screen) and then placed on a comprehensive exercise program by a professional. This program could take several years. Middle school would be a good time for his program. Then in high school, the athlete can begin to throw and put. This approach also applies the high jumping and pole vaulting. Screening and a comprehensive exercise program should continue in high school while participating in the field events.

After the high school track and field season in late May, he or she should take one month off (June) to recover. The body becomes strong during the recovery period, the strenuous track and field season breaks the body down.  Correctly and safely throwing a discus requires knowledge of a special hurling technique that involves spinning the body several times and releasing a plate-shaped object from the hand into the air. Discus throwing engages all body muscles, from feet to core to shoulder muscles. Initially, preparing to throw a discus requires using lower-body muscles to gain momentum. Hip rotator muscles assist in forcefully rotating the body, along with the quadriceps, hamstrings, gastrocnemius and tibialis anterior. Pectorals, upper-arm and shoulder muscles finish the motion of the discus throw, with hand and wrist ligaments absorbing the energy from these muscles conducive to releasing the discus as vigorously as possible.

 

Demons' Huus returns to the mat after major leg injury during football season

December 24, 2021

 

Bismarck High standout Isaiah Huus is back on the mat.

That is good news for the Demons and area wrestling fans, not so much for other 220-pounders in the state. The two-time defending state champion at 195 pounds, Huus is wrestling up 25 lbs. this year, despite weighing only 194 pounds.

Unsurprisingly, it has not mattered.

In his first five matches since returning from a major leg injury -- more on that shortly -- Huus is 5-0 with five pins.

"It's great to be back contributing to the team again, actually doing something instead of cheering," he said. "It's been a while."

Widely regarded as the top running back in the state, Huus' senior football season was cut far too short. In the first game of the season against Mandan, Huus was "hit in the leg" that caused pain, but didn't knock him out of the game. He knew his left calf wasn't right, but gave it a go in the second game against Fargo Shanley, which "really caused" what ultimately was diagnosed as a torn calf. The initial injury spiraled into compartment syndrome, a very rare condition where the muscle swells up and cuts off circulation. In effect, part of his left calf died.

 

Arizona women’s basketball loses Lauren Ware to knee injury but hold off North Dakota State

Dec 9, 2021

 

It had been 12 long days since Arizona women’s basketball had stepped on the court against an opponent. The sixth-ranked Wildcats were looking forward to one of only two home games left on the schedule before Pac-12 play. They didn’t expect it all to go sideways just 26 seconds into the game, but a career-high 16 points from Shaina Pellington helped them salvage a 59-47 victory over North Dakota State despite an early injury to starting post Lauren Ware.

The scare came right out of the gate. Senior guard Bendu Yeaney drove to the basket on Arizona’s first possession. Ware went up for the rebound and came down wrong.

The Wildcats’ starting post remained flat on the court, lying on her side. She didn’t cry or scream, but she obviously was in pain and she wasn’t getting up. Her head coach and the trainer came to her side. They talked to her, then helped her to the bench before she continued on to the locker room with a teammate and the medical staff.

If there was any reassurance in the fact that she couldn’t put weight on her knee it was that it was her right knee that was causing her problems. Prior to her senior year in high school, Ware tore her left ACL. It caused her to miss her senior year of volleyball and basketball, the two sports she planned to play at Arizona.

She never played volleyball for the Wildcats, but Ware was starting for a Top 10 basketball team as a sophomore. The future is bright, but it got cloudier for a little while.

The unconfirmed report in the arena was a dislocated kneecap. After the game, Arizona head coach Adia Barnes verified that it was a dislocation that “shifted right back,” but said that an MRI would still be done after the swelling goes down. Ware is expected back within two weeks.

For reasons far beyond basketball, it was a relief to the team that the injury was not as severe as first thought.

“She’s just a great kid, I just love her,” Barnes said. “I’m just so happy it’s nothing bad. I was like, ‘Oh, a week or two? That’s fine!’”

Pellington’s 16 points not only set her career high, it also led the game. She added 3 assists, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. Cate Reese was close behind with 13 points, 6 rebounds, and a block. Ariyah Copeland stepped in for Ware and was the third Wildcat in double digits with 13 points, 3 rebounds, a block, and a steal.

“In those situations, you got to be ready when your number’s called because that could be anyone,” Copeland said.

The team seemed a bit unfocused after Ware left the floor. The Wildcats would build a lead, then the Bison would get back into it. Arizona shot just 30.6 percent from the floor in the first half and went an abysmal 2-11 from 3-point range. Most of the damage was done in the opening period when they were hit only two of their nine 3-point shots.

“I think that’s a product of very good friend and starter going down in the first 30 seconds,” Barnes said. “Some of the girls had tears in their eyes. So I think that was one of the reasons why we had a slow start, to be honest.”

Arizona started to settle down in the second quarter. They shot two 3-pointers in the quarter. When they missed, they didn’t just continue to launch them. Instead, Pellington started to attack the basket. She went 2 for 3 from the floor. A couple of free throws gave her 6 points in the period.

Reese took control in the third, scoring nine points while Pellington continued her offensive ways with five points of her own. Except for a bucket from Koi Love, the inside-outside tandem was the entirety of Arizona’s scoring in the third.

“I thought we made as a staff some good adjustments for the zone because what we were doing in the first half was not working,” Barnes said.

NDSU would not go away and Arizona couldn’t put them away. Barnes was not able to go deep into her bench with the score so tight. The Bison, who came into the game 3-4 against a fairly light schedule, closed the lead to five against the primary rotation in the fourth quarter.

It never felt that Arizona was in real danger of losing, though. The team kept its cool even as their opponent kept coming at them.

“We just tried to keep our composure as best as we could,” Pellington. “Especially in situations like that—they’re a strong team, they’re very fundamentally strong, they hit shots—the worst thing you can do in situations like that is freak out. We just went back to what we know how to do, pound the ball inside, hit shots when we can.”

With the score at 47-42 and 6:33 to go, the Wildcats used their defense to get some offense. Pellington had two steals that turned into layups and Copeland scored four points over two minutes and 25 seconds to push the lead back to 10.

That was the end of the threat. Now, the Wildcats must hope Ware heals quickly. They have two more games, then they are due to face an even bigger threat when they take on No. 11 Texas on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas.

 

 

Throwing is natural for ALL of us from birth. #tommyjohn surgery is not natural but seems like it is more now than ever! Why? It comes down to 2 things...overuse/specificity in sport & a NON-HipDriven athlete. As The great @jacknicklaus said about #golf, “PLEASE put down the clubs (in this case the ball) and do something else” to build different motor patterns. Examples: #rockclimbing #soccer (even if you suck at it) #golf #pingpong ...mix it up. @mikereinold wrote a great article on this & @onbaseu will educate parents & coaches how not to fall prey to bad coaching. At the @egoscuemethod we have always “prepped” your athlete by correcting #posture 1st & then conditioning that newly aligned body, leading to a pain-free sport. Even the great #tommyjohn whom the first surgery was 1st performed on, says the overuse of the arm from such a young age and the throwing position “specificity” is ultimately leading to the breakdown of the youth athlete. Remember, youth coaches are great but they don’t understand the concept of the #hipdriven athlete... and the concept is just now reaching the higher levels of athletics. @aarp wrote an amazing article about Tommy John and his beliefs…worth reading. If you have kids or grandkids who are looking to be athletic, make sure you give us a shot at giving you and them the #unfairadvantage they already have but aren’t tapping into. @mlb @littleleague @rawlingssg @sluggernation #posture #painfree #pain #shoulder #throwing #elbow #baseball #football #kinematics @drseandrake @mytpi @ San Diego, California

 

Common Jumping / Landing Injuries

• Achilles Tendinopathy
• Ankle Fracture (Broken Ankle)
• Anterior Ankle Impingement
• Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Head
• Bursitis Knee
• Compartment Syndrome
• Cramps
• Degenerative Disc Disease
• DOMS – Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness
• Fat Pad Syndrome
• Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)
• FHL Tendinopathy
• Gluteal Tendinopathy
• Greater Trochanteric Pain Syndrome
• High Ankle Sprain
• Hip Labral Tear
• Hip Replacement
• Knee Arthritis
• Lateral Collateral Ligament
• Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain
• Morton’s Neuroma
• PCL Injury
• Peroneal Tendinopathy
• Pes Anserinus Bursitis amp Tendinopathy
• Pes Planus – Flat Feet
• Plantar Fasciitis
• Plica Syndrome
• Posterior Ankle Impingement
• Posterolateral Corner Injury
• Proximal Hamstring Tendinopathy
• Retrocalcaneal Bursitis
• Severs Disease
• Spondylolysis (Back Stress Fracture)
• Sprained Ankle
• Stress Fracture Feet
• Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome
• Tibialis Posterior Tendinopathy

 

Emotions run high for Midgets at West Region meet

May 19, 2017

 

The emotional energy for the Dickinson High girls track and field team was zapped in the opening minutes of Friday's West Region meet at the Biesiot Activities Center.

 

Junior Lexi Jordheim did not have the right amount of momentum on one of her run-through attempts at the pole vault at the very start of the day. Instead of vaulting up and forward, she became stagnant mid-air and fell to the pit, suffering an undisclosed lower-body injury that, as of Friday evening, was expected to be serious enough to keep her from competing at the state meet next weekend.

"We're just crushed. Everybody is crushed. Lexi is such a great kid, and sometimes you have to wonder why stuff like that happens. It just doesn't seem fair," Dickinson girls track and field head coach Greg Jung said. "Lexi had a great chance to be a state pole vault champion and even a high jump champion. We just feel for her and her family."

Dickinson eighth-grader Ryan Campbell, who joined teammates in writing "Lexi" on their forearms as a reminder to compete for her the rest of the day and the rest of the season, took fourth place in the long jump on Friday, qualifying with a mark of 16-10.75. Campbell was hoping to qualify in the high jump in Jordheim's honor, but fell short, clearing 4-9 and in a tie for ninth.

"It felt really nice because of everything that happened with Lexi today. I just want to qualify high jump (for her), but long jump will work too," she said. "We were all devastated because she was No. 1 in the state for pole vault."

Campbell had previously qualified for state in the triple jump. She expressed a subdued amount of excitement, but on the whole she was glad to add another event to her state trip.

"It feels really good to do two events instead of just one," she said. "It feels nice, but I wish Lexi was here."

The Dickinson girls team also added a new qualifier in the 3,200-meter relay team of Elizabeth Yoder, Raghyn Murphy, Delaynee Zubke and Symone Beld. They placed fourth in 10 minutes, 11.51 seconds.

"Us four, this was our second time running it, and this is the first time we've qualified this relay since I was an eighth-grader," Yoder said. "It's super exciting because ever since I was an eighth-grader we've wanted to come back and do this again, so it's extremely exciting, and almost overwhelming, to be back in that position, to be back where I first kind of started my track career."

Yoder is well-versed in state track meets, but her three teammates will be experiencing it for the first time.

"It means a lot — coming up here (to varsity) and just knowing that I need to try my hardest every day at practice and knowing that I can compete with them at the high school," Beld said.

Yoder also placed fourth in the two miles, finishing in 11:26.95.

On the boys side, Dickinson senior Mike Herauf qualified for state in the javelin by placing in the top six of the event on Friday. He threw 157 feet, 11 inches for sixth place. The state mark is 160 feet, but he's in, and that's what matters.

"I (had a personal record) by 2 feet, but seventh place threw 157-6, so it was right on the edge," Herauf said. "Some guys threw great, and there was a lot of good competition."

Herauf also won Friday's pole vault with a height of 15 feet. He had three attempts at 15-6 but couldn't convert. Still, for his last time vaulting before he defends his Class A championship in the event, he felt comfortable with his standing.

"I'm pretty satisfied. I wanted 15-6, 15-9, but getting on that pole again and getting some attempts at 15-6 was great because I haven't been vaulting in practice very often," Herauf said. "There was some really good competition today. Guys were jumping 14 today, and I think at state some of those guys will hit some personal bests, so it's good that I ended like that. I wanted higher, but I'm pretty satisfied."

Elsewhere for the Midgets, Peyton Selle was second in the 300-meter hurdles in 48.29 seconds and fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.82 seconds. Megan Erickson was second in the 100-meter dash in 12.11 seconds, just .03 seconds behind Bismarck High's Cara Haussler. Erickson was also second to Haussler in the 200 meters — Haussler crossed in 24.83 seconds, Erickson in 25.58. Emily Keller was fourth in the 400 meters (1:00.47) and second in the long jump (17-5).

 

 

Ackerman to vault in Jordheim's honor

May 24, 2017

Ackerman to vault in Jordheim's honor

As a result of Lexi Jordheim's injury last Friday at the West Region meet at the Biesiot Activities Center, she will be unable to compete this weekend, but there is optimism for her future.

Girls track and field head coach Greg Jung reported that Jordheim broke her tibia and fibula in her right leg, and dislocated that ankle, when a pole vault practice attempt went haywire. There was no ligament damage, and surgery on Sunday went well, leaving the door open for Jordheim to potentially play volleyball in the fall, Jung said.

"Prognosis for her recovery is excellent," he said.

Jordheim had been leading Class A girls in the pole vault with a height of 10 feet, 9 inches. Because of her inability to compete, sophomore teammate Meghan Ackerman and Bismarck High junior Blythe Ehrmantraut are now tied for the top seed with a height of 10-3, the only other girls to clear 10 feet in Class A.

Ackerman said any success she has this weekend is for Jordheim.

"When that happened, I kept saying, 'This isn't real, this isn't happening,'" Ackerman recalled. "And once it all settled in and it hit me, I realized how close me and Lexi are as teammates and how much she really meant to me. It will be tough not having her there throughout the whole thing. ... Everything I do from here on out is just for Lexi. I want to win for her."

Ackerman was happy to report that Jordheim will serve as "Coach Lexi" at the state meet, and she hopes she can make her proud.

"I hadn't thought about it much because Lexi was ahead by so much and I was tied with Blythe," Ackerman said, "but now I know this could actually happen. If I work hard for this, I could be the state champion in the pole vault. So I've been doing as much as I can at home and at practice to get the little fundamentals down and critique every skill. It put it in perspective for me a lot more."

Pole vaulters, beware: Study ranks most dangerous high school sports

Published: Thursday, August 31, 2006

 

There's no doubt that football and hockey are tough sports.

But neither are the most dangerous of high school athletics.

That is the pole vault.

At least 18 high school pole vaulters died while performing their sport in this country between the years 1983 and 2004, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.

Another seven high school pole vaulters were permanently disabled, and five more suffered serious injuries while vaulting during the 22-year study.

Each of the incidents involved the vaulter either landing out of the padded pit area or bouncing out of the pit area, according to the study.

An estimated 25,000 high school students participate in the pole vault each year, and the sport has the highest injury rate of any practiced by high school athletes, according to the NCCSIR.

Still, the number of pole vaulters hurt is only a fraction of the students seriously injured when playing football - the sport with the greatest number of catastrophic injuries, according to several reports, including the NCCSIR's report.

Part of the reason football leads the charge in catastrophic injuries is the rough nature of the game. But another reason is because of its popularity.

There are about 1.5 million high school and junior high school students who play football every year, according to the NCCSIR.

Between 1983 and 2004, 94 high school football players died as a result of injuries related to the game. Another 553 suffered nonfatal catastrophic injuries from the game.

The sidelines are becoming dangerous as well. High school cheer leading accounted for 50 percent of all direct catastrophic injuries to female athletes, according to the NCCSIR.

No other sport produces as many catastrophic injuries to high school-age females as cheer leading, according to Barry P. Boden, an orthopedic surgeon at the Orthopedic Center in Rockville, Maryland.

To comment on this story:

henri.brickey@lubbockonline.com 766-8754

shelly.gonzales@lubbockonline.com 766-8747

 

Inside the Deadly, Overlooked Sport of Pole Vaulting

It's crazy hard
March 18, 2015


Newser) – If the words "pole vaulting" don't inspire fear in you, they should. That's the upshot of a Vice article about the sport, which succinctly expresses why: "At 20 feet, a pole vault accident is like someone falling off the roof of their house, while running as fast at they can with a thick pole in their hands." If that sounds like a brush with death, it quite literally can be: A 2001 study analyzed the 32 catastrophic pole-vault injuries that were reported to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research between 1982 and 1998; half the accidents resulted in death, and 6 in permanent disabilities. A follow-up study published in 2012 noted that one safety-related change made in 2003 was an expansion of the landing pad's minimum dimensions. In the 8 years that followed, the study noted only two of the 19 catastrophic injuries were fatal.

But the rest weren't pretty: major head injuries and spine or pelvic fractures were among them. And a study of collegiate pole vaulters published this last January found 41% sustained some kind of injury, a figure that researchers saw as suggestive of the fact that "injuries are very common in experienced vaulters." The injury stats aren't good, and the potential pay and fame aren't much better. So why the heck do it? Vice talked to US record-holder Brad Walker (one of 18 men to ever clear 6 meters), who sums up vaulters as "risk-takers, usually with something to prove to themselves ... you won't find a vaulter jumping high who doesn't have at least one screw loose." As for why they stay with it, Vice points to its highly technical and challenging nature: As you approach the box you're a sprinter; then you're a gymnast. Walker says you need "significant body control and spatial awareness," too.

 

Let's lead off with maybe the most important aspect of the pole vault – finding kids who have a chance to be successful in this event.

Pole Vaulting Abilities

Your prospects may vary in size and shape, but there are abilities they all need to succeed. Here's what to look for:

1. Speed
Years ago when I coached track & field in high school, kids would try the dashes first because it was the shortest distance to run. Once they found out they didn't have dash speed they tried the 400m. If they still weren't fast enough they moved up to the 800. If the 800 didn't work out, the coach might suggest the athlete try the pole vault. That's a loser's mentality. The pole vaulter should have good speed. He or she doesn't have to be the fastest kid on the team, but speed is important. If you can, make the fastest kids on the team pole vaulters.

2. Jumping Ability
Speed alone doesn't make the pole vaulter succeed. It helps, but the biggest problem in the pole vault is converting horizontal movement to vertical lift-off. It does no good if the vaulter takes-off straight into the pit without lifting off well. He or she must drive upward at the end of the Approach Run. The better the jumper, the better the pole vaulter will be.

3. Athletic Ability
Make no mistake, pole vaulters should be good athletes. Success in the pole vault event depends not only on speed and jumping ability; it also depends on good coordination, balance, strength and power.

4. Attitude
This is difficult to describe. Contrary to some theories, pole vaulters do not have to be "nuts." I've known a lot of vaulters over the years, and most of them have been as sane as any other athlete. However, to be good, a pole vaulter must enjoy the thrill of the event. He or she doesn't have to talk like a whacko, but deep down vaulters must enjoy riding the pole and flying off of it. "Guts" are a prerequisite to success.

Pole Vaulting Tests

Here are a few simple tests that will help you pick the best pole vault candidates. I can't guarantee that everyone who does well in these tests will turn out to be good, but I think they will have success more often than not.

1. 30 Meter Dash
Lineup your candidates, blow the whistle and see who has some raw speed. I use 30m because it's about the length of a high school pole vaulter's Approach Run. Don't bother using a stopwatch; just see which kids are the fastest.

2. Long Jump
Once again, line them all up and test for long jumping ability. Nothing resembles the pole vault take-off more than the long jump. Pole vaulters are really long jumpers with poles. Don't use a full run. I suggest a half-run length. Don't worry about fouls, just measure from the spot they take-off from. The standing long jump is not a good indicator of jumping ability for the vault, since the athlete leaves the ground off two feet.

3. Hurdles
Give the athletes a quick review of hurdling technique, then set the hurdles at the lowest height and let them give it a go. Don't worry about their making steps between hurdles, but let them go over two hurdles placed 10 yards apart. This is an easy test for coordination.

4. Rope Climbing
Here's an excellent test for strength. If you have the athletes climb fast, it also becomes a test for power.

 

 

Pole fault: Cost of safety grounds high school pole vaulters

 

 

Alaska's state meet has been without event since 1991

 

 

Catastrophic Injuries Intensify Focus On Safety at Field Events

 

 

 

by Paul SteinbachDecember 2008

 

 

 

Catastrophic injuries resulting from the hurling of heavy implements and human bodies have intensified the safety focus surrounding field events.

Duffy Mahoney didn't see the impact. Just hearing the dull thud of a 16-pound shot crushing a man's skull and the shrieks of witnesses was sickening enough.

Mahoney, one of USA Track & Field's foremost experts on meet management, was working the 2005 U.S. championships when 77-year-old Paul Suzuki, himself a 30-year officiating veteran, was fatally struck as he stood within the shot-put sector during practice. Imagine being hit in the head with the heaviest available bowling ball after it has been launched some 60 feet through the air - the full brunt of that force concentrated within a sphere measuring a mere 130 millimeters in diameter.

"I was watching the athletes in and around the circle as they were picking up their shots and warming up," Mahoney recalls. "This official was out in the field. An older gentleman, he was not fleet of foot and, in my judgment, had a lapse of awareness. He just turned and moved the wrong way at the wrong time."

The staging of field events, with their emphasis on the hurling of heavy implements and human bodies, poses risk management challenges unlike those in any other sport. Here, tight quarters and loose supervision can sometimes conspire to put the well-being of athletes, officials and non-participants in serious jeopardy.

Consider the catastrophic and near-catastrophic injuries that have occurred worldwide this decade in just the throwing events:

In April 2007, Lone Jack (Mo.) High School junior shot-putter Rebekah Whaley was on the Plattsburg High infield retrieving a practice throw when she was hit above the left ear by a three-pound discus. The blow opened a gash requiring 14 staples to close and caused the honor student's language and reading skills to temporarily regress to that of a third-grader. The following month, 73-year-old USATF Masters thrower Clarence Cook was hit in the head by an errant discus and later died from his injuries. Eyewitnesses told www.masterstrack.com that Cook was about 20 meters from the throwing circle and walking outside of and away from the left line of the throwing sector when he was struck.

Last April, a 16-year-old student at Adachi Higashi high school in Japan was picking up a hammer 40 meters from the throwing circle when he was knocked unconscious by an airborne one weighing more than 13 pounds. The student lapsed into a coma. In 2005, University of Southern California thrower Noah Bryant saw his sophomore season cut short when the 16-pound hammer he threw ricocheted off protective screening and into his face, which required reconstructive surgery. Bryant, who returned to an All-American career at USC, was fortunate that steel plates in his cheek represented the worst of his ordeal. According to the Los Angeles Times, hammer throws claimed the lives of four people in Europe in 2000 alone.

Still think such accidents are far-flung? A single track practice at South Sound Christian School in Kalama, Wash., in 2005 resulted in unrelated injuries to two students. One, a 12th-grader, was impaled through the chest by a javelin. Minutes later, a seventh-grade shot-putter ran out to retrieve his throw when a shot hit him in the head. Incredibly, both athletes survived. Despite their accidental nature, recent episodes like these have led to litigation (see "A Shot Put to the Head - A Potential Legal Headache," Nov. 19, 2008).

In its 25th annual report, released last year, the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research revealed that spring high school sports were associated with 118 direct catastrophic injuries from 1983 through 2007. Injury rates were less than one per 100,000 participants for each sport, but track and field led all sports with 59 total injuries. Moreover, that number paints a misleading picture of the risks posed specifically by field events, according to center director Fred Mueller. "The participation numbers are large in track and field," when running events are included, he says. "So if I have a pole vaulting injury or some kind of weight injury - discus or something - and then I use the total number of participants, that's going to bring the incidence rate per 100,000 way down."

Breaking down each field event in terms of participation is extremely difficult, says Mueller, adding that a number often cited for the pole vault, which has accounted for the majority of the nation's track and field injuries, is 25,000 participants. "If that's the number, then that incidence rate is going to be pretty darn high for just the pole vault," he says.

More than any other field event, the pole vault has come under intense safety scrutiny within the past half-dozen years. When 18-year-old Ryan Moberg died last April, days after falling backward onto the pole vault runway during a failed practice attempt at DeSales High School in Walla Walla, Wash., it marked the first pole vault fatality in the United States since 2002. The deaths of three vaulters within a two-month span that year led to the adoption in 2003 of sweeping rules changes at the high school and collegiate levels regarding the sizing of landing systems and the padding of all hard perimeter surfaces.

Yet, it still wasn't enough to guarantee the safety of Chase Kear. Last October, Kear, a 19-year-old sophomore at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College, missed the pit on a vault attempt and landed on his head, causing a fracture that completely encircled his skull. Despite an emergency room prognosis that put Kear's chances of survival at less than 50 percent, he is now expected to make a full recovery, earning him the nickname "Miracle Man."

Of course, padding can only extend so far, as illustrated in the Moberg case. But whether mandated helmet use might have helped spare Moberg's life is only the latest talking point in a lengthy debate. High school pole vaulters in six states (Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Carolina and Wisconsin) are required to wear helmets, yet pole vault experts contend that to adequately protect vaulters falling from even minimal heights would require helmet padding so thick that it would cross the line from essential protection to performance hindrance.

Beginning with the 2006-07 academic year, the actual poles used at high schools nationwide must be rated and labeled by manufacturers and verified by practice coaches and meet officials to match the weight of the user, helping to protect against breakage and promote greater user control while limiting institutional liability. According to Becky Oakes, assistant director of the National Federation of State High School Associations and editor of its track and field rules, pit and pole rule changes have "combined to significantly reduce the number of injuries in the pole vault - both catastrophic injuries and injuries in general."

The only safe bet for schools is to eliminate the event altogether, and some are choosing to do just that - though the attrition rate has not yet reached javelin and hammer-throw levels. Given that the typical pole costs more than $200 (an athlete who is gaining both expertise and weight may require several poles over the course of a single season) and that landing pits meeting or exceeding NFHS standards (a minimum 19 feet, 8 inches wide; 16 feet, 5 inches deep behind the vault box; and 26 inches thick) carry prices ranging between $8,000 and $18,000, decisions to cut pole vault are often driven as much by cost savings as risk management.

Even schools offering pole vault are finding that the rule changes have forced adjustments to the staging of meets, including moving that particular event outside the track oval. "The pad has gotten so big that there really isn't any room on a radius to keep the pad far enough away from the track and still give the runner enough runway to approach the pad," says certified track builder Sam Fisher of Fisher Tracks, the current president of the American Sports Builders Association's Track Division. "So they're putting the pole vault out behind the bleachers or someplace. The track purist wants everything in front of the bleachers. That can be done at a track-only venue, but land is getting too precious to build a designated track facility."

Likewise, throwing events are being held on adjacent practice fields, leaving the high, long and triple jumps alone on the track infield at some schools. There are two primary reasons for this, according to Fisher. "One is the proliferation of synthetic turfs, which won't take a shot being thrown on them, and the discus will actually skip on them," he says. "And obviously safety is a big factor. You have a whole bunch of kids out there for a track meet. All it takes is for somebody to space out a little bit and run across the throwing sector."

But alternative throwing locations can't guarantee safety, either. "Years ago, I saw sectors ... yeah, they were in the practice field, but you had to walk across the practice field to get to the restrooms," Fisher says. "You had a lot of people darting back and forth across there."

Fisher says the mere presence of portable bleachers at a throwing site can help clue in spectators as to where they should gather, but running flag lines to designate "free zones" remains standard procedure. Trouble can arise, though, when the lines are staked straight out and not parallel to the sector's pie shape. Says Oakes, "The farther out they go, they almost intersect the throwing sector line."

In the interest of uniformity and safety, the shot and discus sectors for high school throwers have, since 2007, matched the 34.92-degree sector size long shared by collegiate and international competitors - "the thought being," Fisher explains, " 'Let's teach them how to throw properly from the beginning and not get so wild out there.' " The NCAA, meanwhile, has recommended that the throwing sector be placed within a 55-degree free zone, ensuring that each foul line of the sector is sufficiently buffered for safety. "It's several feet, and the farther out you go the bigger it gets," says Mahoney. "It's not a requirement, but believe me, if it's a recommendation and it has to do with safety, it's going to be covered by a lawyer in a liability situation."

Manufacturers are doing their part - even going above and beyond the regulatory call, in some cases - to promote field event safety. Conversion kits consisting of peripheral padding flanges have helped bring schools with obsolete pole vault pits up to speed, even as mega-pits measuring 32 feet wide by 21½ feet deep have hit the market. Pits exist that offer nearly as much padding square footage on the runway side as they do behind the vault box, leaving a concave channel for the pole plant as the only immediate area of exposure. Sweet spots, denoted by a different color on the pit cover, not only give vaulters a target upon landing, but the foam underneath is engineered to better reduce the force of impact.

Throwing cages now feature curved metal supports that drape heavy-gauge netting away from potential ricochet points, and some employ a second layer of netting around the cage perimeter to keep onlookers at a safe distance from throws hitting the cage. Many cages include dual swinging gates at the opening, allowing adjustments to be made for left- and right-handed throwers. And cages, like pole vault pits, have gotten bigger - much bigger. "The hammer cage at the international and NCAA levels is now 10 meters tall. That's 33 feet. They're gigantic," Mahoney says. "To high-level high school kids who come to one of our championships and for the first time step into one of our cages, it looks like they're throwing out of a narrow canyon. They haven't practiced with it enough to understand the science of it - that the implement, if released, could not conceivably hit that gate if it's a legal throw."

Though high school, collegiate and international governing bodies do not require shot-put cages, manufacturers have recognized a safety void worth filling. And in an effort to relieve congestion in throwing sectors, one manufacturer debuted a shot-put return system at the 2007 Penn Relays, allowing officials to send shots back to the throwing circle by placing them on a metal ramp - not unlike the ball return in a bowling alley - providing a designated place for coaches and participants to retrieve their implements.

Whether these efforts significantly reduce catastrophic injuries across all field events remains to be seen. To this day, the pole vault carries with it a certain stigma, despite the great strides in safety made since the dark days of 2002. "The sport is under attack because of the injuries and deaths that we've had," Mahoney says. "And yet I can get up at a podium and speak a good case the other way, too. During two weeks in November, there were four deaths in marathons and half-marathons, and I don't hear anybody clamoring to cancel running events. Good officiating and good meet management is about approaching all possible liabilities and addressing them as effectively and safely as you can."

Ultimately, some of the safety onus must be placed on each of those individuals who find themselves inside a field event's danger zone. Throwers themselves should ensure a clear sector before executing a throw, though their backward (shot) or spinning (discus, hammer) starting positions can allow just enough time for intruders. Practice sessions can prove especially problematic. "Officials at sanctioned meets often do not regulate warm-up activities. Throwers who practice alone get habitual within their practice regimen," Dick Hotchkiss, former USATF Masters throws coordinator, told www.masterstrack.com. "Combine the two situations and the result can be disastrous."

One final piece of equipment to consider: the warning sign. "To reduce the risk of serious injury: STAY ALERT! FLYING OBJECTS!" reads one sign currently available for purchase.

When Mueller hears of injuries involving blows to the head from projectiles, he voices his own personal zero-tolerance policy. "Those things should never happen. If you run the meet right and kids know the safety rules, they should never be out there picking up their shot as another shot comes flying at them. I think those things could be totally eliminated."

The human element may ultimately prevent track and field administrators from reaching anything close to total injury elimination, but Oakes is hopeful that people working together on all fronts can help reduce the number of avoidable accidents in the field. The NFHS, for one, will host its first-ever Track and Field Professional Development Summit on Jan. 22 in Indianapolis, with USATF's Mahoney serving as its key presenter and risk management receiving priority focus.

"As with any athletic participation, there's always going to be an inherent risk of injury," Oakes says. "But I think that all rules organizations are trying to keep up with the rapid advancement in the performance and safety aspects of equipment. And in addition to that, the athletes, coaches and officials must keep up with the best practices in training and execution. All of us have to stay in the mix together - form a kind of a circle, if you will - to make sure that the events are safe."

 

Paul Steinbach is Senior Editor of Athletic Business.

 

Injury alters pole vaulter's life

 

 

Dec 28, 2010

It was a routine James Vollmer had perfected and done countless times in his career as a pole-vaulter at Rapid City Stevens High School and at Jamestown College in North Dakota.

And then his routine - and his life - were shattered.

During a practice vault on Dec. 1, Vollmer missed the landing mat, falling about 15 feet, severing his spinal cord and leaving him permanently paralyzed from the navel down.

Vollmer was airlifted from Jamestown Hospital to Sanford Health in Fargo, N.D., where he immediately underwent a four-hour spinal surgery where an 18-inch rod was inserted into his back to stabilize his spine.

"As soon as I got (to Fargo), I was in surgery," Vollmer said. "That bed they had me on didn't stop until I was in the surgery room."

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It was a typical day for Vollmer, a schedule he had grown accustomed to while attending Jamestown College. He had recently wrapped up football season, where he was a defensive back for the Jimmies, and he was beginning to get prepared for track.

"I was just trying to get in shape, had just been in football season, so I had to make a quick switch from football to track," he said. "I have to be able to do that pretty quickly because that's two different shapes all together to be in.

"I figured I should get a head start on that."

So as he had done in previous years, he went to Jamestown College's indoor practice facility, the Larson Sports Center, to work on the routine he had perfected during his years as a standout track athlete for the Stevens Raiders.

And soon the day went from routine to life-changing.

Vollmer said he is still not entirely sure what in the mechanics of his vault went wrong.

"If I were a guessing man, I'd guess my speed slowed down a little bit and my plant step ended up being a little bit under, which caused me to go straight up in the air," he said. "And then I didn't realize that I wasn't going to make it to the pit by the time I was inverted and letting go of my pole."

Vollmer said that when he realized he wasn't going to make the pit, he remembered a fundamental he was taught when he first picked up the pole.

"When I let go of my pole, I kind of spread my body out ... because the first thing you are taught in pole vaulting is how to fall, and that's to spread your body out to distribute your body weight," he said.

Falling from 15 feet, Vollmer landed in the vault box, where the pole is planted to begin the vault. His head and feet landed on the pads on either side of the box, with the middle of his body landing and sliding down into the vault box, creating a sort of "U" shape.

"What actually ended up happening is my feet hit the pole vault pits on one side, and my shoulder and head hit the pits on the other side, and my butt slid down into the box, and my back landed right on the edge of the box and it broke it right in half with the angle of the body.

"So my body pretty much split in half."

The accident played out in front of other student-athletes and coaches at Jamestown, so people were by Vollmer's side instantly calling for a trainer.

But Vollmer knew it was far worse than that.

"Everyone started yelling to call a trainer," he said, "and before I let anyone call a trainer, I told them immediately to call an ambulance because I had no feeling in my legs at all."

When emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene, Vollmer said, they were stunned at what they saw. They also were stumped.

"They actually had to take a step back and think about how they were even going to come and get that board under me without moving me or causing me any more injury than had already happened," Vollmer said. "My legs were up and my neck was up but my back and my butt were actually down in a hole."

Vollmer said rescue workers had to lift him up, pull the pits away and place the backboard under him all at the same time.

"All my track coaches, my track teammates, the EMTs, even some of the softball people there had to help," Vollmer said. "Everyone simultaneously pulled all the pits out at the same time; they rolled me over and rolled me back on to the board in one motion. But just figuring that all out, I'd say I laid there a good half-hour, 45 minutes.

Vollmer was taken to Jamestown Hospital where he underwent initial CAT scans until he was flown to Fargo.

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Ginger Vollmer remembers the feeling she got when she first heard the news about her son's accident.

"His girlfriend, Lacy Ripplinger, was right there; she's a pole-vaulter too, and she called me the instant it happened," Ginger Vollmer said. "She told us that he was able to move his arms and his head and he was conscious and talking, but that he couldn't feel his legs.

"It was pretty devastating."

Ginger Vollmer said she and James' dad, Kelvin, left for Fargo to be by their son's side. So while James was in surgery, his parents were traveling through South Dakota.

"We took off as soon as we could, but, of course, we were driving for hours and hours and hours," she said. "But the hospital was wonderful, they called us every hour. The surgeon called us twice and kept us updated on the progress and then after surgery he called us again because we hadn't quite gotten (to Fargo). We arrived about 15 minutes before they wheeled him out of the recovery room."

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James Vollmer said doctors initially told him his spine was two-thirds severed and they placed his prognosis to walk again around 40 percent.

Following Vollmer's surgery and after doctors had a chance to review the injury, those numbers changed.

"After surgery and after they had a little time to look at the scans a little better," Vollmer said, "they diagnosed that my spine had been completely severed and I have less than a 5 percent chance of walking."

Even after being hit with the realization that his life as he had known it had changed, Vollmer never wavered in his belief that he could beat the odds.

"The first thought I had was that I have more work ahead of me, and that's what I've got to do," he said of hearing his prognosis. "It's not going to be about whether or not I'm going to walk. That's all I'm thinking right now."

The road to beating those long odds began when James was transferred from Fargo to Craig Hospital in Denver. The hospital is exclusively dedicated to spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, and research. James found out he was accepted on Dec. 7, something the entire Vollmer family was grateful for.

"They said 10 to 12 weeks is about the rehab time," Vollmer said of his stay in Colorado. "But the (physical therapy) people I've been working with (in Fargo), have said I've already advanced two weeks past what anyone else has been working at. So I'm already ahead of schedule."

Vollmer has refused to take anything but a positive look on his situation, even as he faces weeks of intense rehab.

"You can't really think ‘why me.' You have to think it happened, and you have to deal with it," he said. "If you dwell on what happened in the past, you're never going to get over it. It happened, it's time to move on and get over it."

Contact Andrew Cutler at 394-8291 or Andrew.cutler@rapidcityjournal.com

 

VHSL Discussing Eliminating High School Pole Vault in Virginia

March 13, 2014

Just released today was the VHSL membership agenda for the March 13th meeting. In this agenda reads "Discussion of eliminating pole vault for 2014-15 indoor and outdoor track"

 

Jaqueline Meeks of First Colonial, one of many athletes whose only event is the Pole Vault (Photo by Mary Ann Magnant)

 

 

 

3/13/2014  1:00 P.M.

RICHMOND, Va. - MileStat.com was on site at today's VHSL meeting held in Richmond. Among the items being discussed was the elimination of pole vaulting. This item was discussed amongst all classifications, each classification meets in a separate board room. The reasoning behind this being brought up was certain 2A East schools felt it was unfair for themselves to be competing against schools who had pole vault and thus scored points in the event, moreso then any other school. MileStat.com was only in the 2A classification discussion as this is the most pertinent area to cover with regards to this discussion, once more information about the other classifications is disseminated it will be updated here. 

The process: if suggestions for legislation are made in a classification they are voted on within the classification. If the vote passes the committee members (elected officials who represent each region at all classification levels) meet and discuss the suggested legislation. If a committee member then motions for this legislation it must be seconded to reach a vote. Once this motion is voted on it is then either accepted or denied. If the motion is accepted it is then discussed for changes at the next meeting on a classification level. A 2/3 majority is needed to overturn an executive committee ruling. 

2A Classification Discussion: The VHSL (not a school athletic director... i.e. voting member) did start the discussion by saying the VHSL has received legal advice in the past that when changes are made that they be made equitably state-wide. His demeanor also was that legislation like this, deviating from NFHS and VHSL guidelines for what is part of a sport is difficult to pass. Some of the suggestions brought up on the floor by schools' administrators were: separating it from the sport entirely, having pole vault not count towards a team title, safety concerns, lack of interest, and new liability costs for schools having to get new liability insurance. 

In response to the first suggestion a committee member, someone who will be voting on this matter if it gets motioned for a vote, said: "awesome idea to create new pole vault competition separate from track." 

Another interesting quote was: "having pole vault makes the competition sub-par because there is no competition." 

The floor then discussed specifically Maggie Walker and their points from both the regional and state meets. The general opinion on the floor was that it was unfair that Maggie Walker had pole vaulters and that their teams did not. Many cited false statistics and facts saying Maggie Walker was the only school in it amongst other things ignoring one speaker's remarks that MW actually scored more points in the girls 3200 then pole vault. 

After this discussion the motion was suggested and seconded. A vote was called and the motion passed 31-2 in favor of making pole vault its own competition outside of the sport of track and field. Some suggested even moving it to a different location then the state meet. 

Other pertinent legislation was to make 1A/2A a single day meet, few individuals who voted on this could name more then a single event and thought the only reason and only event held on Day 1 of competition is the 4x800. 

More to come later today, keep up with real time updates via our twitter account @MILESTATDOTCOM #MileStatPV

 

Update: (11:00 P.M.)

1A: Recommended that because of the small number of participants at the 1A level, athletes who wanted to pole vault could do so by competing at the next level up (2A) and that their points would not go towards a team's total. 1A moved this motion along so that it will reach the committee level. Concensus was uncertain of how this would allign with NFHS and VHSL rules. 

4A: Sources are saying this classification voted that pole vault should not change.

5A: Multiple sources confirm that 5A voted unanimously in favor of keeping pole vault the way it is.

 

Update: (11:00 P.M.) 3/14/14

6A: Voted unanimously in favor of keeping pole vault as is. 

 

What this all means is that the discussion will be brought to the executive committee. If this is ruled as emergency legislation, which all sources tend to suggest it is not, this could come up for a vote and be passed by winter. Likely this will be discussed at the fall meeting and then could go to a vote that would not go into affect, if it passed, until 2015-16. 

 

More to come after New Balance Nationals

Parents of Injured Javelin Star Thank Paramedics

Parker Kennedy's parents say he is improving.

 

 

By Colin Miner (Patch Staff) - June 26, 2016 11:23 pm ET

The parents of a javelin star injured warming up for a meet issued a statement Sunday thanking the paramedics and others who came to his aid.

Parker Kennedy, the state javelin champion and a recent graduate of Hood River Valley High School was injured Friday at the U.S.A. Track & Field-Oregon Junior Olympics at Jesuit High School.

He stumbled and a javelin went through his eye.

"Our family would like to thank the many people who have helped Parker, including the Tualatin paramedics who were first on the scene, his health care team at OHSU, his track family, and all the family and friends who have reached out to support us," Barry and Carrie Kennedy Said in a statement.

"Parker is in fair condition. He is talking, moving, and showing signs of progress. He is able to see out of his injured eye, but his vision is still slightly blurry. His neuro status is good. He's staying at the hospital so his team of doctors and nurses can monitor his progress."

Kennedy, who is expected to attend the University of Washington as a pole vaulter starting in the fall, won the 5A pole vault state championship in May.

His team from Hood River Valley High School also won the state track and field championship for 5A schools.

Kennedy is expected to retain his sight.

 

 

Death Fuels High School Pole-Vaulting Concerns

May 1, 1997

 

 

Sports: Asphalt area on which a Hart athlete fatally struck his head should have been padded, rules say.

 

Danger Stalks Vaulters

4.30.09 By Tom Weir and Debbie Becker, USA TODAY
04/02/2002 - Article Last Updated 11:49 PM ET

Pole vaulters long have been considered the daredevils of track and field, a gravity-challenging collection whose thrill-seeking flings into space puts them in the same company as sky divers, bungee jumpers and trapeze artists.

But for the third time in a little less than two months, a member of that adrenaline-driven fraternity has died in what ranks as the most lethal high school or college sports activity, renewing questions about safety standards for the event.

Samoa Fili II, 17, died Monday of head injuries from a fall Saturday, suffered while his father videotaped him competing for Wichita (Kan.) Southeast High School.

In February, head injuries from a failed vault killed Jesus Quesada, 16, of Clewiston (Fla.) High. Five days later, Penn State vaulter Kevin Dare, 19, who had told his father Ed it "wasn't cool" to compete while wearing a helmet, died after a fall at the Big Ten Conference indoor track and field championships.

Since then, Ed Dare has been campaigning for helmets to become mandatory for all scholastic vaulters. Legislation is pending in New York to do exactly that, but there is resistance from some who say a specific vaulting helmet doesn't exist, or that there is no proof that helmets won't cause new problems.

"Ask the people who say that if they've ever lost their son," Dare says. "I'm sick of hearing that. ... I keep bringing up hockey. There was a time when it wasn't cool to wear a helmet in that sport, either, and today nobody thinks about it."

Dare contends finances are driving much of the opposition to helmets.

"Track and field is not a revenue-generating sport, and the pole vault itself is by far the most expensive event to operate in track and field," Dare says. "The minute you start talking about reform, the question is, 'Where is the money going to come from?' "

Concerns about the event come at a time when the pole vault is at a peak in popularity that coincides with the current teen generation's fascination with so-called "extreme sports."

The pole vault got an unforeseen boost from the 2000 Summer Olympics, in which the USA's Stacy Dragila won the event's debut for women at the Games in a lengthy, enthralling competition.

But that momentum figures to suffer in the wake of this year's three deaths. Also, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina, has labeled the pole vault the most dangerous event of those it has researched, and says that from 1983 to 2000 there was an average of one pole vault-related death a year.

Dare has been added to a safety committee of the U.S. Track and Field Association that will meet May 8 in Pittsburgh, with hopes of issuing safety recommendations.

Besides helmets, the committee might also issue guidelines on the sizes for landing areas, or pits, and for padding the box, the 8-inch deep rectangle where vaulters plant their fiberglass poles, and create the bend that springs them toward the crossbar. Their heights commonly reach 15 feet for high school boys, and 19 feet for the world's elite men. The world's top women are clearing 15 feet.

"Be tough when it comes to safety for kids," Dare urges. "At that age, we're all macho. My son was no different. I can remember sitting with Kevin at track meets and saying 'All those kids are wearing helmets, why aren't you?' "

The NCAA also will look at pole-vaulting safety at a meeting in June.

"We don't want to have a knee-jerk reaction," says Diane Howell, associate athletic director at the University of Houston and chair of the NCAA Division I men's and women's track and field committee. "We don't want to outlaw pole vaulting or something crazy like that."

Lloyd Mott, assistant director for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, says that organization will oppose the legislation for mandatory helmets, because such equipment doesn't have a recognized standard.

Mott says his organization could be liable if it forces vaulters to wear helmets and then someone suffers an injury that's blamed on the helmet. Mott says he has seen helmets that are marketed for pole vaulters but still had a warning label that read "For roller blading and in-line skating only."

"That's one of our biggest concerns," Mott says. "We are all for safety. If there was something we could say definitely meets established safety standards we would probably be in support, but until that time ... "

Anything can happen

One of the things that makes the pole vault so dangerous is the unpredictability of what will happen when an attempt goes awry. Vaulters who lose control on the way up can be tossed to either side of the landing pit, or be tossed backward into the approach area, where there is no padding.

Fili's father saw such a scenario unfold at its terrifying worst when his son fell from about 12 feet at the Wichita East Relays.

"He cleared his first jump at 11 feet. On his next, something happened on his way up," Fili says. "He was shooting across. I could see him trying to pull back. But he was so fast and strong and had such momentum."

His son's body hit the back side of the landing pit padding, but the back of his head hit the pavement on the edge of the mat.

"When he hit his head, I knew he was hurt," Fili says. "I reacted. I ran over there, picked him up. He was unconscious. All I could do was kiss him and tell him I loved him."

Fili says he and his son talked about Dare's death, but that his son wasn't deterred from competing by that tragedy.

"Not Samoa," his father says. "He had confidence in everything he did in life. I know my son. If he had any fear, he would have come and talked to me."

Fili also expressed his son's passion for the event.

"He loved to pole vault," Fili says. "He worked out every day and didn't come home until 7 at night. He was dedicated to this sport. He didn't make it to (the state championships) last year and told me this year he was going to set the state record. He was on his way."

Fili says he is uncertain whether a helmet would have saved his son, and doesn't think they should be made mandatory.

"I think that's overreacting," Fili says. "Every sport is dangerous. Everything we do in our daily lives. I don't think my son's death should have any effect in the way pole vaulting is done. If I have another son, I would let him pole vault. I just think God had other plans for Samoa."

The Wichita school district is reviewing the accident.

Multiple skills required

One of the top manufacturers for the event's equipment is UCS, which produces mats and the Spirit pole. UCS general manager Steve Chappell cautions: "The risks that are clear in the pole vault need to be acknowledged at all times."

"It's not an event that can be mastered quickly," Chappell says. "Teaching progressions are very important. You can't just encourage a kid to go out and pole vault. Just carrying the pole is very awkward. There's just no substitute for a lot of repetition in practice. ... We put warning labels on our products, and we put out a teaching guide, and we feel now we want to be more involved in that area."

UCS landing pits are 21 1/2 feet wide and 24 feet long, and generally cost $8,000-$10,000. Chappell won't disclose UCS production numbers but estimates the event has gained about 10,000 participants in the last eight years, largely because of it has been added to women's meets. Total participation generally is estimated at 25,000 athletes nationally.

Chappell also is co-director of the Pole Vault Summit, an annual clinic in January that drew 1,500 coaches and athletes this year in Reno. He says participation has grown steadily by about 10% a year. That's part of the boom California started in the early 1990s when it made the pole vault a high school event for women.

"It offers some attractions that others don't," Chappell says. "It can reward of multiplicity of skills. ... The pole vault rewards the athletes with average speed and average strength, the kid that works hard."

On the helmet issue, Chappell says, "I don't really have a position on that. I think it should be a personal choice. I've been told there isn't a company that produces something that's called a pole vault helmet."

Chappell also acknowledges, "There's a tremendous concern now," and asks, "Has something changed? Why is it that we've seen the fatalities in such a short space of time? I can't make any link between these tragedies."

The answer may be that the pole vault simply attracts fearless athletes.

"A pole vaulter is a very special breed of athlete," says Dare, whose son also played football, and whose son's death resulted in his family establishing the Vaultforlife.com Web site.

"You can't overpower the sport with just strength, power or speed," Dare says. "It requires them all. It's kind of got a mystique to it."

But it's a mystique that, for now, includes a deadly shadow.

 

Michigan Pole Vaulter Impaled At Track Meet

May 28, 2015

Hartland High School pole vaulter Alex Lindahl was impaled by his own pole on Tuesday afternoon when the implement snapped during the Larry Steeb Memorial Meet of Champions, according to the Livingston Daily.

The pole struck Lindahl's orbital bone. He was rushed to the University of Michigan Medical Center at 3:30 p.m., where he received 40 stitches in his eye during a five-hour surgical procedure..

"Luckily, doctors were able to fix his eye, but it's whether or not his vision will fully be back to normal is the question," said Jason Reck, Hartland athletic director, told the Livingston Daily. "We are fortunate that the Dexter coaches reacted so quick to rush him to the hospital and that University of Michigan acted as quickly as they did."

Lindahl is at home recovering.

Pole vault has garnered attention in the past for the tragic deaths of several elite preps, including Penn State sophomore Kevin Dare in 2002. Dare, the 2001 USATF Junior National Champion, passed away after landing on his head at the 2002 Big Ten indoor championship.

The pole vault is the most dangerous of all track and field events, according to a study published by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research in 2012. In the past 30 years, 43 of 65 catastrophic injuries in track and field were from pole vaulting. The foundation claims that those numbers put pole vault injury rates at the same level as injury rates in gymnastics and football.

 

'The perfect moment': Dickinson High’s Herauf looks to repeat as Class A pole vault champion

May 23, 2017

 

 

Mike Herauf was looking sharp.

 

 

He took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his white button-down shirt. His silver tie was tucked neatly underneath a black vest, which matched his suit pants.

 

 

But instead of leather dress shoes to complete the look, Herauf opted for Nikes — gold and white with black laces.

As the sun beat down on him, Herauf picked up the vaulting pole he brought with him and began stretching.

It was June 13, 2016, and Herauf was set to take his senior pictures.

If yearbook photos are truly supposed to embody one's personality and values, Herauf chose an appropriate setting.

"A lot of people know obviously know I'm a pole vaulter — some people refer to me as 'The Pole Vaulting Guy,'" Herauf said, laughing as he recalled the scene. "That was just before going to a pole vaulting competition, so I wanted to get some training in, and my mom wanted to get some senior pictures. And me being a pole vaulter, I thought we could get some cool pictures. ... It was very difficult. I thought I was going to rip my pants every time down the runway. ... That was pretty funny, and we got some good pictures that day."

Pole vaulting has been a part of Herauf's life since he fell in love with it in seventh grade.

Several years later, he is now a senior at Dickinson High and widely regarded as the best Class A pole vaulter in the state. In the fall, he is off to the University of Minnesota to continue his track and field career as a decathlete.

In April of this year, Herauf cleared 15 feet, 2 inches, breaking Derik Brugger's 2004 school record of 15-1.5, and he has since vaulted up to 15-7, the second-highest in the state's Class A history behind Brock Larson of Fargo South, who vaulted 16-0 in 2011.

Herauf won last season's Class A pole vault title by clearing 14-9.5, beating Fargo North's Connor Fuglseth in a tiebreaker.

Herauf hopes to repeat as Class A's pole vault champion on Saturday, the second day of the North Dakota State Track and Field Meet in Bismarck.

"I'm not sure what the heights will be, if I'll do it, how I'll do it," he said. "But if that's the case, then that's what I've been shooting for my whole high school career. I've put a lot of time into it, and I'm hoping for the best."

Up in the air

The emotion felt while falling down is like no other. To know he has left the bar untouched is a feeling Herauf thrives on. "I'm getting goosebumps thinking about it," he said. "Sometimes I'll do a fist pump or I'll clap in the air or I'll scream on the way down, and seeing that bar still up there as you're coming down the opposite side, and you hear everybody cheering and screaming, it's the perfect moment."

Getting to that point — or even getting in the air at all — is the culmination of several other minute aspects of the event that make a world of difference.

"There's a saying in pole vault that 90 percent of what you do is on the runway and the approach," said John Wilson, one of Herauf's vault coaches at DHS. "Pole vault is a really unique event in that there's so many things you have to do right, so many mental and physical parts — from the runway, to the plant, to the takeoff, to the rock-back, to what we call getting inverted, to the turn, to the finish. There's just so much to do."

Herauf has always been an eager learner, however.

"Coaching a kid as talented as Mike and as driven as Mike, coaching him is pretty easy in a lot of ways because you don't have to do things to drive or motivate him that you have to do with other athletes," Wilson said.

Pole vault is not without its frustrations, but Jim Fahy, Dickinson's other vault coach, said Herauf has never been one to overreact to a missed attempt.

"He talks himself through it," Fahy said. "He's always looking where he's at. Mentally, he's always looking forward, and he never looks back. Does he have bad days? Yeah, they all do, but he's always looking forward because he knows what his potential is."

Herauf's training involves a lot of upper-body strength training and core exercises — he is also qualified for state in the javelin and the 300-meter hurdles, both of which he believes help make him a better vaulter as well.

He manages to stay in shape year-round by running cross country in the fall, playing hockey in the winter and playing baseball with the Dickinson Roughriders American Legion team in the summer.

Herauf was also a gymnast for a brief time as a child. That, coupled with what he calls a "daredevil" attitude, make him well-suited for an event that requires leaving the ground with limited control of where one lands.

He has improved from vaulting 9 feet as a seventh-grader to taking sixth in the state as a sophomore, and this season his height of 15-7 leads all qualified vaulters.

West Fargo Sheyenne senior Devin Schatz has reached 14-9, and Fuglseth, now a senior at Fargo North, has reached 14-6. Bismarck Century sophomore Brandon Schaffer is the only other vaulter in the field to reach 14-0.

"There's a lot of pressure. I'm really excited, and I think the nerves will be there all the time until it's over," Herauf said. "There's some really good competition, and I hope those guys jump really good too because having good competition at state is one of the best parts about it. You never really know what to expect."

Moving on

The Class A boys pole vault competition is scheduled for 10 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. Just more than 24 hours later, Herauf will be delivering the lighthearted and humorous speech at Dickinson High's commencement ceremony in the school's gymnasium.

It will be a fitting end to a successful and sometimes goofy high school tenure.

"It will be a lot of things people can relate to. Most people know the personality that I have and how unorganized and how clumsy I am, and the things I do that don't make a lot of sense, and there are a lot of people who are that same way," Herauf said. "I can stand up there and make fun of myself for hours, and I'm glad I get the chance to hopefully bring some laughs on Sunday."

Once graduation is over, Herauf is unsure if he will play with the Roughriders again this summer. He may find a job or focus on his track and field training for when he arrives at the University of Minnesota.

For all of his accomplishments — athletic and otherwise — Fahy could think of nobody better to deliver a humorous goodbye to the high school years.

"I know that everybody looks up to him," Fahy said. "He's never, 'I'm too busy to do that.' He always wants to help those younger (teammates) learn. He's one of the best kids I've ever had, and I look forward to the success he's going to have in his future."

 

Reasons To Get High, Or Why Pole Vaulters Risk Everything For An Extra Half-Inch
March 16, 2015

The Pole Vault is a singular and uniquely dangerous sport. The people who do it anyway aren't in it for money. They're in it to fly, and because they're a little crazy.

 

Renaud Lavillenie stares down the runway and up at the bar. His eyes seem to bulge, his eyebrows bounce, his head jerks to the left. He could be cracking his neck; it's more likely the Frenchman is thinking, Putain de merde qui est élevé, or, in English, "Holy shit, that's high."

He is about to attempt a 6.16 meter pole vault leap—that's more than 20 feet.

At about mid-jump, the crowd in Donetsk, Ukraine ceases applauding and seemingly stops breathing. Lavillenie catapults off the pole, kicks toward the rafters, gymnastically swings his hips and body over the bar, and falls back to Earth. His arms are outstretched in celebration before he even hits the mat. The crowd, including Ukrainian pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, erupts.

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In a 2005 USA Today article, pole vaulting was ranked the third hardest thing to do in sports. Proof that sometimes the beauty of sports is the recognition that the graceful, effortless things we sometimes take for granted are actually excruciatingly difficult.

It's also extremely dangerous. To watch the pole vault, especially at such extreme heights, is an exercise in perversity. There is so much that can go wrong. At 20 feet, a pole vault accident is like someone falling off the roof of their house, while running as fast at they can with a thick pole in their hands.

Such is the life of a world-class pole vaulter: literally centimeters separate them from both the name above them in the record books and life-threatening catastrophe. All athletes at the highest levels of their sport are driven, sometimes maniacally so, but there may be something different in those who aim skyward. Vaulting is not lucrative at all, for a sport as physically demanding and difficult as it is, and very few outsiders pay attention to it.

The risks, in other words, seem to outweigh the rewards.

"[Vaulters are] all risk takers, usually with something to prove to themselves," said Brad Walker, who holds the American record at 6.04 meters. "It's funny. As you are in the event longer, you actually start to see people's personalities come out into their vault. Who plays it safe, who takes risks. But you won't find a vaulter jumping high who doesn't have at least one screw loose."

The YouTube search for "pole vault accidents" returns 21,600 results. There are professionals and amateurs, all alike in their vulnerability. Some clips are innocuous, others are funny. Some clips are terrifying, showing serious injuries.

Fiberglass poles shatter with the echo of a gunshot. Jumpers miss the landing pads. They jam themselves in the box, tear muscles, or slip backward and hit their heads. Young jumpers pull the pole close to their bodies in mid-air out of fear, negating all forward energy.

Even world-class jumpers aren't immune.

London Olympics gold medalist Jenn Suhr was injured in training last summer when her pole snapped during a practice session. A video of the accident was posted on YouTube and tweeted the next day, not by trolls looking to mock her, but by Suhr's husband on her official Twitter account.

Once, while attempting a jump at 19'6, Walker took off awkwardly, shot straight up in the air, and landed on a patch of grass in front of the pit. He had major bruising and tore several tissues. He was taken off the track in an ambulance. The doctor told Walker that he was lucky he didn't shatter his pelvis, though Walker attributes a ruptured disc surgery the following year to that fall.

Psychological wounds heal slower than physical ones. Many vaulters, if not all, believe that returning from major injuries and falls is more mental than physical. The "haunting memory of a jump is harder to erase than the injury," said 2011 NCAA Champion Melissa Gergel.

"When someone has been vaulting for long enough, you can pretty much guarantee that they've had some sort of scary moment, a vault gone wrong. However, good vaulters are able to conquer those fears, and, most of the time, come charging down the runway without giving it a second thought."

Why vault? Maybe because when things go right, the sport is a symphony of spectacular kinetic coordination, a combination of many challenging steps equalling one fluid motion into the air. A masters class in kinesiology.

Or maybe vaulters are just hard-headed.

"Pole vault can be so incredibly frustrating," Gergel said. "It is such a technical event ... It would be so easy to just get frustrated and quit, but I think that good vaulters secretly love that about the sport. We are stubborn, and we love the constant challenge that it presents."

The first thing to remember about the pole vault is that it's a speed event. A vaulter, armed with a fiberglass and carbon fiber pole sprints down a runway and plants the butt-end of the pole into a narrow, eight-inch deep box. The energy transfers from the vaulter to the pole by pushing up; The pole bends, the vaulter crouches. When the pole unbends, the jumper catapults himself into the air, and, hopefully, over a horizontal bar, then falls.

"Speed is the single most important factor in the vault," said Walker, the 2007 World Champion. "Energy in equals energy out. But once you leave the ground it is all gymnastics, core and upper body strength."

Many vaulters have a gymnastics background. Gergel, for example, was a Level 10 gymnast at Marian Catholic High School, south of Chicago, before taking up pole vaulting as a 9th grader.

"Spatial awareness is absolutely key, because if you can't control your body well, you can't pole vault well," Walker said. "It is one of the more technically demanding events in all of sport, so you can't jump high with strength alone. Even the bar clearances demand significant body control and spatial awareness."

In sports, individual greatness is measured in numbers. Numbers like .400; 1,500; 3,000 all mean something.

In vaulting, the magic number is six meters, or a little above 19 feet, 6 inches. Only 18 men have cleared that height. Walker, the greatest pole vaulter in the history of United States Track & Field, is one of them.

"It was a very significant mark in my career," the 33-year old Spokane, Washington native said. "To put it in perspective their have been almost 100 athletes to break 10 seconds in the 100 [meter dash]. So at 18 members, it is a pretty elite group and one I am happy to be a part of."

Of the 18, only two—Bubka and Lavillenie—have soared over 20 feet. Lavillenie broke Bubka's 19 year record of 6.15 meters (20 feet, 2 inches) with a jump of 6.16 meters, a half inch higher. As vaulters push the limits of human potential, records now increase only marginally.

A half inch seems insignificant horizontally, but in pole vaulting it's what makes a jump legendary.

"Anyone who saw [Renaud Lavillenie's world record jump]," said Gergel, a former Oregon Duck, "it was obvious that there was more room there."

The Most Dangerous Games: pole vaulting likeliest to lead to death, injury

May 29, 2012

Pole vaulters run at full speed, stab a 15-foot pole into the ground and thrust their entire body weight 13 feet into the air over another pole.

Because of this, athletes, officials and track coaches involved with the 2012 NCAA East Regional Championships in track and field agree that pole vaulting is the most dangerous game among the field events.

Pole vaulting can be very dangerous, said Christina King, a UNF pole vaulter who competed in the regional championships held May 24-26 at UNF’s Hodges Stadium. It takes good coaching, body awareness and confidence, King said.

King said she has broken her nose from the crossbar and sprained her ankle twice.

King sprained her right ankle last week pole vaulting in preparation for the 2012 NCAA Championships.

“The sport is inherently dangerous because you run at full speed, almost 100-meter sprint with a 15- to 17-foot fiber glass pole in your hand, then you’re bending it, trying to get upside down to clear a bar in the air,” said Chris Hord, a UNF assistant pole vault coach.

Hord said a lot could go wrong when pole vaulting, such as coming up short, the pole breaking or hands slipping.

“You’re falling from the highest when you pole vault, so it’s easier to get hurt, unlike the other field events where you don’t go anywhere,” said Caleigh Boyington, a UNF pole vaulter.

Hord said he has known more deaths in pole vault than any other sport. There were three deaths alone in 2003, he said, but teaching the proper from and technique can mitigate the issues.

Still pole vaulting at the age of 60, Ken Taylor, a UNF track and field assistant coach, said pole vaulting would have to be the most dangerous sport because when athletes pole vault, they may miss the pit.

David Shepherd, a UNF pole vaulter who also competed in the 2012 NCAA East Regional, missed the mat in the Florida Relay and landed on a girl, he said.

Shepherd said he used to wear a helmet while pole vaulting.

There are more deaths in track and field caused by pole vaulting than any other sport, Taylor said.

“A lot of coaches don’t think about safety first,” he said. “We have never had an athlete seriously hurt at UNF because we teach the right technique.”

Since 1980, 20 athletes have died pole vaulting, while 38 have suffered skull fractures and 44 have sustained serious injuries, the Daily Pennsylvanian reports.

And while pole vaulting may be the most dangerous, the javelin throw and hammer have the potential for serious injuries, as well.

The javelin throw, which requires running at full speed and chucking an 8-foot spear into the air, is also very hazardous.

Rodney Smith, a 2012 NCAA East Regional Championships official said the javelin and hammer are most dangerous to spectators and require undivided attention.

Smith said he hasn’t seen anyone injured, yet, but he has seen a lot of athletes and spectators come close by not paying close attention to what they are doing.

In the hammer throw, the athlete is projecting a heavy metal ball attached to a chain in the air to see who can throw the farthest. The women’s ball is usually 8 pounds, and the men’s is 16 pounds. A large black net is encased around the athlete, which offers protection to officials and the crowd.

Paramedic D.J. West said there have been no injuries as of early afternoon May 26 for the 2012 NCAA East Regional Championships, but the most dangerous threat would likely be someone passing out from a heat stroke.

Pole vaulters strive to be high and mighty

May 12, 2017

 

 

If you only watch Rachel Hill’s pole vault routine, it appears almost effortless. The North Reading junior’s personal best of 11½ feet is 3 feet higher than any other vaulter in Division 4.

Even she says, though, it’s not so simple.

“Pole vaulting looks very fluid, but when you’re actually doing it, there’s so much technique involved and so many phases to perfect,” Hill said. “Even just learning a run is complex because you’re not only running with a pole, but you need to plant at the perfect time and drive.”

North Reading has several first-year pole vaulters, and coach Sotirios Pintzopoulos said many are eager to soar into the air without fully understanding the intricacies of the sport.

“A lot of kids just want to get out on the runway and see how high they can can go,” Pintzopoulos said. “We always tell them that they need to take a couple days, first learn how to hold the pole, learn how to walk with it, and then go half-speed with it. Until they get a decent approach, we don’t let them get on the runway.”

For North Andover’s Erick Duffy, who cleared 15 feet to defend his state championship last spring and earned All-American status at the outdoor nationals (15 feet, 8.5 inches), the most difficult part was staying persistent through the early struggles.

“The worst day of vaulting is your first day,” he said. “It is so uncomfortable to get right. A lot of it comes down to the nitty-gritty and nailing things down. It’s not going to come the first day or first week. It’s going to come in that first meet when you clear a height and you get that adrenaline rush and say, ‘OK, this is what I want to keep doing.’”

“The hardest part is getting started,” said Central Catholic’s Pietro Fina, who finished eighth in the state meet (12-6). “My freshman year, I struggled getting the technique down and then finally, by the end of the season, I started figuring it out. Sophomore year is when I really kicked it in.”

Three of the top vaulters in the state, Hill, Duffy, and Fina agree that technique comes first, repetition follows.

“There’s that saying that practice makes perfect, but in pole vault, it’s more along the lines of perfect practice makes perfect,” Duffy said. “If you do something wrong a thousand times, you’re going to continue to do it wrong and it can be dangerous, but if you do it right, it’ll be engrained in your memory.”

“Just like in anything else, if you practice it the wrong way, you’re going to make that permanent and it’s hard to de-train that,” Pintzopoulos said.

After three pole vaulters died between 2002 and 2011 and five more suffered catastrophic injuries, the NCAA in 2012 mandated all college vaulters wear specially designed helmets. The Mass. Interscholastic Athletic Association does not require vaulters wear helmets, but has established standards for padding around the landing area.

Part of the safety concerns is variable New England weather. Rain and even snow can cause delays or even force the event to be moved to another day.

“You want to get out there as often as possible,” Pintzopoulos said. “There are things you can do in the weight room, there are things you can do out on the track to build strength, but it really comes to technique and if it’s raining, we don’t even bother uncovering the pits. It can be incredibly dangerous. If you don’t have the grip, you’re just going to slip and fall.”

Wind can have just as much of an impact on a pole vaulter’s performance.

“Having intense winds is really difficult to compete in,” Hill said. “If it’s blowing sideways, it can going to blow the pole right out of your hand.”

“A lot of people overlook how much effect the wind can have on a vaulter’s day,” Duffy said. “If you have a tail wind, you’re going to have a very good day of vaulting because all of that power that you’re generating in your run, the wind is one your side now. If you have a headwind and it’s pushing against you, it probably isn’t going to be your best day.

“It definitely takes a little bit of craziness,” Duffy said. “Most vaulters are not the most sane people on the track team if you talk to them. It takes a lot of love for flinging yourself up into the air.”

Central Catholic coach Mike Leal summed up what it takes.

“In a lot of ways, a pole vaulter has to be fearless,” he said. “You have to have the speed. You have to have the upper body coordination. But most of all, you need to have the right technique and mindset.”

 

Stevens grad remains positive after tragic accident

April 8, 2012

Every once in a while, James Vollmer has a flashback to the accident.

It mostly happens when he’s coaching high school pole vaulting and sees a mistake that could result in a dangerous landing. “I have to look away,” he says.

Vollmer, 24, knows a thing or two about the repercussions of dangerous landings.

On Dec. 1, 2010, the former Rapid City Stevens High School track standout was practicing pole vaulting at Jamestown College in Jamestown, ND.

He began his vault without incident. But somewhere along the way, it all went terribly wrong. To this day, Vollmer still doesn’t know exactly what happened, and he had no coach to offer any insight. But rather than landing safely on the mat surrounding the vault, Vollmer fell 15 feet directly down into the metal vault box — the slot where the pole plants.

The fall severed his spinal cord — just two strands remain attached — leaving him paralyzed from the belly button down.

“I remember it all, which kind of sucks,” he said.

That’s the shocking and life-altering part of Vollmer’s story, but the exceptional part is what has happened since his accident.

Within two days of the fall — while still in the hospital in Fargo, ND, — Vollmer learned to transfer himself from bed to wheelchair, already working at becoming mobile. “I just wanted to get out,” he says with a smile.

Ten days after the accident, Vollmer transferred to Craig Hospital in Englewood, Colo., a rehabilitation facility specializing in spinal cord injuries. He threw himself into his new normal, relearning everything from rolling over to cooking. But he didn’t stop there. He also wanted to relearn how to change a light bulb and even shovel snow from the vantage of his wheelchair.

“He moved through the program very quickly,” said his Craig physical therapist Stephanie Laube. “He’s a problem-solver.”

He also proved to be a popular patient, “bribing” Craig staff with his chicken cordon bleu and winning the hospital’s cooking contest with his bacon-wrapped chicken, Laube said. “James maintained a pretty upbeat and positive attitude,” she said. “His willingness to laugh; we laughed a lot together and I think that really helped.”

Vollmer said he decided early on that the accident would not ruin his life. There would be no self-pity.

“I can’t change what happened,” he said.

Instead, he focused on getting mobile and getting back to the things he loved. One of them was pole vaulting.

Two days after the accident, Vollmer called his former Stevens pole vaulting coach, Jeff Barnes. Vollmer had a simple question. “When I get back to Rapid, he can  help?” Barnes remembers.

Ever since his Stevens High School days, Vollmer had helped younger pole vaulters whenever he was back from college. Barnes assured him he was still welcome. “I wasn’t surprised,” Barnes said. “When he was in high school, we couldn’t get him out of the gym.”

Vollmer checked out of Craig on Feb. 2, 2011, the day before his birthday. He’s been home in Rapid City ever since, finding his new normal.

Vollmer returned to the classroom, working toward his undergraduate degree at the University Center in Rapid City. He will graduate in the fall, and plans to apply to graduate school. He wants to become a school counselor and coach.

His career choice doesn’t surprise Barnes in the least. “He’s great with the kids,” he said. “The school that gets him will be lucky.”

It doesn’t surprise his former physical therapist either. “That will be such a fantastic fit for him. He’s a very motivating person,” said Laube.

Vollmer spends most of his afternoons this spring in the Stevens High School gym doing just that – motivating. He parks his wheelchair near the mats, watching vaulters carefully, offering a tip here and there. In between vaults, he and the students banter.

Vollmer’s experience at the vault serves him well, Barnes said. And his accident gets the kids’ attention when it comes to safety. “I’ve never had kids listen to every word I said until now,” Vollmer said. “It makes me cautious, maybe overly cautious.”

During a recent track meet, Vollmer scratched an exhausted athlete when he discovered she had no training at pole vault. When her father urged her to try anyway, Vollmer stood his ground.

“I told her I have plenty of reasons why (she couldn’t compete) and I’m sitting in one of them,” he said.

While Vollmer’s rehabilitation seems remarkable to the people in his life, it becomes even more so considering the continual pain he manages.

Laube said the condition is called neuropathic pain and occurs when the communication between the body and brain gets muddled due to a spinal cord injury. For Vollmer, he feels pain throughout his lower

extremities. “It feels like you’re being dipped into a boiling bath. That’s what I feel all day, every day,” Vollmer offers matter-of-factly.

Pain medications help, but don’t eliminate it.

“I have to keep myself busy. If I’m not busy, it starts getting to me,” he said. The nights are most difficult. Vollmer said he listens to music — anything but jazz — to distract him. Despite his commitment to remain positive, he admits the quiet of night is a perfect breeding ground for disappointment over the things that will never be. “I can’t do certain things now. It’s going to take time to figure it out,” he said.

But he can drive — his black pickup is especially equipped for him — which allows him some independence. He still lives with his parents, but assumes some day he will be able to live alone again. Until then, he doesn’t mind.

“My family and I, we’ve been through a lot,” he said.

Vollmer’s mom, Ginger, spent the entire 2-1/2 months at Craig Hospital with her son.

She said her son is the reason the family has done so well during the past year.

“His strength is just amazing. Him being so strong has helped our family immensely … and our faith,” she said. “His faith has helped him too. He can’t quite understand why, but God works in mysterious ways.”

Vollmer and his parents have not given up hope that medical advancements might enable him to walk again. He recently applied to a stem cell clinical trial in Switzerland, missing the cut-off for date of injury by just six weeks.

Vollmer isn’t discouraged. He just keeps looking for others trials.

“I figure 10 years and they should have something,” he said. He’ll be 34 then, hopefully working as a counselor and coach. He figures he can handle 10 years if the end result means he walks again.

“I have things to keep me busy while I’m waiting,” he said.

 

Pole vaulting accident leaves champ a paraplegic

August 2, 2015

(NEWSER) – Pole vaulting can be an extremely dangerous sport, as a March Vice article made clear. How it summed the potential for catastrophe: "At 20 feet, a pole vault accident is like someone falling off the roof of their house, while running as fast at they can with a thick pole in their hands." Such catastrophe struck on Thursday: During a practice jump that her manager described as routine, Austria's champion female pole vaulter landed just off the mat on her head and neck. The accident, which the Sydney Morning Herald reports was witnessed by her parents, left Kira Grunberg a paraplegic. The Austrian athletics federation said in a joint statement with the University Clinic in Innsbruck on Friday that the 21-year-old suffered "a fracture of the cervical vertebrae of the spine" and underwent "emergency surgery to stabilize her spine."

The statement puts it plainly: "At the moment, the continuation of her sporting career is not an option." In a post to her Facebook page, Grunberg's family notes the "tragic accident" didn't just end her career but also means a "new life" and "long and difficult" path for her. NPR reports she is now breathing on her own, and describes Europe's sporting world as in shock but rallying to support Grunberg financially. Deutsche Welle reports Grunberg holds Austria's women's record of 4.45 meters, which she set during the European Championships in Zurich in 2014. Read more about pole vaulting, its catastrophic injuries, and how the mat factors into things.

New Study Shows 13 High School Boys Died Pole Vaulting From 1982 To 1997

Date:August 17, 1998Source:University Of North Carolina At Chapel HillSummary:Thirteen young U.S. athletes -- all high school boys -- died from catastrophic accidents suffered while pole vaulting between fall 1982 and spring 1997, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows.

CHAPEL HILL -Thirteen young U.S. athletes -- all high school boys -- died from catastrophic accidents suffered while pole vaulting between fall 1982 and spring 1997, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study shows.

 

"Pole-vaulting accidents stand out from those of other track and field events since they have been responsible for the majority of fatalities and permanent injuries in track," said Dr. Frederick Mueller, professor and chair of physical education, exercise and sport science at UNC-CH. "All of them happen the same way. Either the athlete hits the landing pit and bounces out onto the hard surface surrounding the pit, or he misses the pit altogether."

The study also revealed seven cases of permanent paralysis from neck injuries among high school pole-vaulters. Another six athletes suffered head and neck injuries; all completely recovered or were expected to.

Mueller directs the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injuries, based at UNC-CH, and also chairs the American Football Coaches' Committee on Football Injuries. Each year, the center issues reports on deaths and severe injuries from amateur and professional sports. Reports are based partly on newspaper stories from around the United States, along with information from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the National Federation of State High School Associations and about 150 volunteers who monitor sports accidents.

"We don't know the exact number of pole-vaulters, but it is pretty low -- about 25,000 -- and so the incidence of injuries is high compared to other track events and most other sports," Mueller said. "A lot of people are concerned about these injuries, and we believe more research ought to be done on them. There's been discussion in some states about doing away with pole vaulting because of liability concerns, but I don't think that's happened yet."

Certainly schools and parents need to be sure that coaches who teach pole vaulting are qualified to do so, he said. Three pole-vaulting deaths in 1983 caused the National Federation of State High School Associations to require that school officials pad all areas in and around landing pits by 1987.

From 1982 to 1997, researchers found three other deaths from track and field events, three accidents causing permanent disability and seven other serious injuries from which the athletes recovered. A thrown discus, a heavy shot used in the shot put event or javelin struck 10 of these high school athletes.

Two pole-vaulters and one other track athlete hit by an errant discus died in the United States during 1997.

Mueller and other experts strongly recommend pre-practice physical examinations for boys and girls who want to participate in sports. Such screening sometimes reveals hidden conditions that make heavy exertion hazardous, he said. Parents also should make certain their children are insured against catastrophic injury and that medical assistance is available during practice, games and meets.

Worth the risk? Pole-vault tragedy might make schools reconsider

By

Q: What do you know about the tragic pole-vault death last week of Ryan Moberg of DeSales High School in Walla Walla? What are the possible repercussions?

A: Moberg’s death sent shockwaves through the state. The 18-year-old senior is the first Washington high-school student to die of injuries suffered in the spectacular but risky event.

The pole-vault coach was present. Moberg apparently wasn’t wearing a helmet, but there is no guarantee that a helmet would have saved him.

Walla Walla is no stranger to prep-sports tragedy. Two of the state’s 11 high-school football-death victims since 1936 were from public Walla Walla High School. Those deaths occurred in 1971 and 2001.

Within a two-month period in 2002, three vaulters — high-school athletes in Kansas and Florida and Penn State’s Kevin Dare — died. Moberg’s death is believed to be the second in the nation since then.

The Associated Press reported that from 1983 to 2000 there was an average of one pole-vault death a year.

By all accounts, DeSales and the city of Walla Walla have lost a wonderful kid in Moberg. He was an honors student and football player who helped with Little League baseball. He was headed to Washington State to study engineering.

The early word from DeSales is that the pole vault will remain an event at the school.

Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association who has served as chairman of a national prep pole-vault committee, called the death “a tragedy.”

However, he said the event doesn’t appear in jeopardy in Washington.

Colbrese noted that new regulations this decade increased the size of the landing pit and introduced padding requirements elsewhere near the pit. Also, the WIAA requires pole vault coaches to be certified in the event and to renew their certification.

The cost of new, larger landing pits prompted some schools to drop the event years ago. Moberg’s death now will be factored in every time a school decides whether to keep, add or discard the event. Alaska and Iowa don’t have the pole vault as a state event, and some classifications in Utah don’t give team points for it.

I don’t see the pole vault going away in Washington but I won’t be surprised if fewer schools, especially small ones, decide it’s not worth the risk.

The pole-vault coach was present. Moberg apparently wasn’t wearing a helmet, but there is no guarantee that a helmet would have saved him.

Walla Walla is no stranger to prep-sports tragedy. Two of the state’s 11 high-school football-death victims since 1936 were from public Walla Walla High School. Those deaths occurred in 1971 and 2001.

Within a two-month period in 2002, three vaulters — high-school athletes in Kansas and Florida and Penn State’s Kevin Dare — died. Moberg’s death is believed to be the second in the nation since then.

The Associated Press reported that from 1983 to 2000 there was an average of one pole-vault death a year.

By all accounts, DeSales and the city of Walla Walla have lost a wonderful kid in Moberg. He was an honors student and football player who helped with Little League baseball. He was headed to Washington State to study engineering.

The early word from DeSales is that the pole vault will remain an event at the school.

Mike Colbrese, executive director of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association who has served as chairman of a national prep pole-vault committee, called the death “a tragedy.”

However, he said the event doesn’t appear in jeopardy in Washington.

Colbrese noted that new regulations this decade increased the size of the landing pit and introduced padding requirements elsewhere near the pit. Also, the WIAA requires pole vault coaches to be certified in the event and to renew their certification.

The cost of new, larger landing pits prompted some schools to drop the event years ago. Moberg’s death now will be factored in every time a school decides whether to keep, add or discard the event. Alaska and Iowa don’t have the pole vault as a state event, and some classifications in Utah don’t give team points for it.

I don’t see the pole vault going away in Washington but I won’t be surprised if fewer schools, especially small ones, decide it’s not worth the risk.

Moberg suffered fatal brain injuries last Monday at an indoor practice when he didn’t make it to the bar and reportedly fell backward onto the runway in the Catholic school’s gymnasium.

 

Injured South Dakota athlete released from hospital

June 2, 2017

IPSWICH, S.D. - A high school athlete has been released from a Sioux Falls hospital after undergoing surgery for a head injury suffered while pole vaulting during practice.

The Aberdeen News reported that Ipswich High School athlete Taylor Maurer wasn’t wearing a helmet when she struck her head during an attempted controlled descent May 23.

The South Dakota High School Activities Association lets individual programs decide if athletes must wear helmets. The association doesn’t keep track of numbers but few pole vaulters wear them.

Wade Royer is the pole vault coach for Northern State University. He said he’s never seen someone injured while making a controlled descent.

“I am never going to say wearing a helmet is a bad idea,” Royer said. “Accidents will happen, but like I said, I’ve never seen that (type of injury) happen during a meet I was participating in or directly coaching in. It is really such an infrequent type of accident, but I can see where it may bring up the use of helmets.”

Ipswich pole vaulting coach Kayla Nilsson said Maurer is on the road to recovery and has the potential to return to the sport.

“She is very active and energetic. She doesn’t want to just sit around,” Nilsson said. “I can envision her getting through this. You just have to know her. She’s strong-willed, and doesn’t give up on things.”

Nilsson started a GoFundMe fundraising account in Maurer’s name to help raise money to cover her hospital bills. It raised more than $1,000 in the first 24 hours.

“Ipswich and the surrounding community have shown a tremendous amount of support. I really wanted to start this so Taylor’s family can focus on her getting her better and not have to worry about trying to handle the financial (burden) alone,” she said.

 

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Catastrophic pole vaulting injuries increased during past decade

Boden BP. Am J Sports Med. 2012;40:1488-1494.

The average annual rate of catastrophic injuries from pole vaulters landing in the vault box has more than tripled during the past decade, despite rule changes in 2003 that have markedly reduced the number of catastrophic injuries and fatalities from pole vaulters missing the back or sides of the landing pads.

Researchers prospectively collected data on catastrophic pole vaulting injuries in the United States from 2003 to 2011. To determine the frequency of landing in the vault box, researchers surveyed 3,335 pole vaulters and compared results with those from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury, Internet searchers and communication with the National Pole Vault Safety Committee and the Pole Vault Safety Certification Board.

Study results showed 19 catastrophic injuries occurred with 74% of pole vaulters landing in or around the vault box, when an athlete landed off the sides or back of the landing pad (21%) or when the pole broke (5%). At a combined high school and college level, the average annual incidence of direct catastrophic injuries was 2.0 per 100,000 pole vaulters. Fifty-eight percent of pole vaulters experienced major head injuries, 21% pelvic fractures, 5% brain stem injury and 5% thoracic injury. Compared to a previous study, the annual fatality rate decreased from 1.0 to 0.22, according to researchers.

In the pole vaulters survey, 77.2% of pole vaulters landed in the vault box one to three times, 15.92% never landed in the vault box, 6.12% landed in the vault box four to six times and 0.84% landed in the vault box seven or more times. The study found 3.03% of pole vaulters who landed in the vault box at least once required medical attention. The most frequently injured sites included the ankle (24.62%), heel (19.23%), lower back (12.31%) and knee (8.46%).

“Potential preventive strategies that require additional research include developing materials with appropriate shock absorption capability for the box collar, padding the sides and bottom of the plant box and making the vault box narrower,” the researchers wrote in their study. “The dimensions of the box collar and the pole, especially the stiffness and proper grip heights, as well as the ideal position for the crossbar, also require additional study.”

 

Parents of Pole Vault Victim Push for Safety

Nine days ago, Kevin Dare, a sophomore pole-vaulter at Penn State University, was making yet another gravity-defying jump, when somehow, he fell short.

A champion vaulter, Dare was about to clear the bar in his attempt to vault 15 feet, 7 inches, when, instead he tumbled backward in mid-air, losing hold of the pole. His skull was crushed after he landed head first on a metal "vault box," the 8-inch deep area used to plant the pole. Dare was rushed to the hospital, but never regained consciousness.

The popular 19-year-old college sophomore's Feb. 23 death stunned his family and friends. Many of them, including his father, were present when the accident happened at the Big Ten men's track and field indoor championship in Minneapolis.

Family on a Mission

For Dare's family, the accident has revealed some disturbing evidence of the dangers of pole-vaulting. Now, his parents Ed and Terri Dare, and his brother, Eric, a football player at Penn State, are trying to caution athletes and the public about those hazards, and push for more safety in the sport.

"We're on a mission," said Terri Dare, Kevin's mother. After Kevin's death, the State College, Pa., family was struck by the outpouring of support they received from all over the country, but they were also astounded to learn that they were not alone, she said.

A vaulter was killed in a similar accident in the Iowa relays in 1993, and a 16-year-old Florida boy died on Feb. 15, just eight days before Kevin Dare, in yet another pole-vaulting accident. A 1998 University of North Carolina study found that 13 high schoolers died in pole-vaulting accidents between 1982 and 1997.

The family also learned that 81 percent of all vaulters suffer an injury in their careers.

Padding and Helmets Could Boost Safety

"All of the injuries are from bad landings," said Ed Dare, who is committed to pushing greater safeguards for pole-vaulters. To make the sport safer, pole-vaulting officials should look closer at several changes, including having the athletes wear helmets — a practice that many athletes and coaches oppose as being wimpy or uncool, he said.

Both the vault box that his son fell on and the uprights that hold the pole vaulting bar in place are made of solid steel, which is exposed.

Ed Dare suggests that placing padding around the box and the support poles, as well as thicker and larger landing pads could offset dangerous landings. Most of the mats used for pole vaulters are as thick as those used for the high jump, even though high jumpers only reach heights of about six feet, while pole vaulters reach heights of 18 feet.

It might also help to move the support poles further apart, since many jumpers end up hitting them in mid-air, Ed Dare said. He is also in favor of strict, national safety standards. ,Currently, the standards vary at different levels, such as high school and college, and they also differ from state to state.

The main barriers to such changes are money, and attitudes about the helmets being uncool, Ed Dare said.

But he points out that before helmets and facemasks became requirements for hockey, its players also used to look askance at them. Thicker mats would be expensive, especially given the fact that pole vaulting — like other track and field events — bring in little money, and tend to be underfunded. Penn State, though, has been supportive of changes to make the sport safer, the family said.

Pole Vault, Most Dangerous Sport in High School

 

Feb 11, 2016

For some,  pole vault is an adrenaline fueled extreme sport and consider it one of the most exciting events in athletics.  It is also one of the most dangerous sports in high school.  

So how can we make pole vault a safer sport for high school, college, and elite athletes?  Just like any sport, there are ways to modify the sport to make it safer, but being able to make it 100% safe is near impossible.  One of the things that makes the pole vault so dangerous is the unpredictability of what will happen when an attempt doesn’t go as planned.   Vaulters who lose control on the way up can be tossed to either side of the landing pit, or tossed backward into the approach area, where there is no padding.  

Samoa Fili, a 17 year old senior at Southeast High School in Kansas died in 2002 while pole vaulting, landed on the mat, bounced, and hit the back of his head on the pavement.  Pole vault accidents don’t only happen to amateurs either.  One of Austria’s top women vaulters, Kira Grunberg, suffered a horrible injury after she fell and hit her head during practice on July 31, 2015.  Grunberg had immediate surgery after fracturing a cervical vertebrae.

Pole vaulting requires many skills in order to be an adequate vaulter such as running speed, upper body strength, and technique.  “Learning the technique is so difficult because all of the moves are so counterintuitive,” Hayden Matheny, a pole vaulter here at OHS, said when asked what the hardest part pole vault is.  “I like to pole vault because it is challenging and it is not a very popular sport.”  Matheny said.  

About 25,000 students participate in pole vault each year, compared to 1.5 million high school and middle school students that play football each year.  According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, with at least 18 high school pole vault deaths within the years 1983 and 2004.

“Knowing the dangers of pole vault, I can understand why some people think that those who pole vault are crazy, but in my opinion it’s worth it,”  Matheny said about his feelings towards the sport.  Overall, pole vault will continue to be an extreme sport, but can be safer as long as we take the important safety precautions into consideration.  “It’s the blend between skill and daring, fear and excitement, and the beauty and artistry involved when it is all done just right”, Bob Ullrich, the pole vault coach at Oconomowoc, said when asked what he loved about pole vault. 

Student dies after pole-vault attempt

Feb 6, 1991

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- A high school student with a passion for pole-vaulting died of head injuries suffered in a polevault attempt before a college track meet, officials said Tuesday.

Brandon Caskey, 18, of North Mankato, was injured Friday evening before a scheduled men's track meet between Mankato State University and Moorhead State University at the Mankato State Fieldhouse.

Caskey died Monday at St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, a Mayo Clinic spokeswoman said. The senior and track team member at Mankato West High School never regained consciousness, said Dr. Paul Belau, the Olmsted County coroner. He said Caskey died of a closed head injury with a skull fracture.

Officials were trying to piece together how the accident happened, Mankato State athletic director Don Amiot said.

Amiot said he assumed Caskey brought his own pole instead of using one from the college teams. The high school uses the Mankato State facility for practice, but the high school track season had not started, he said.

``Their poles are like their right hand'' to pole-vaulters, Amiot said. ``You just can't pick up somebody's pole and use it.''

Caskey had started a vault over a 12-foot crossbar when he apparently let go of the pole and fell back into the vaulting box, said Mark Schuck, assistant track coach at Mankato State.

Pole-vaulters from the college teams were not vaulting at the time, said Schuck, who did not see the accident. The accident delayed the start of the 7 p.m. meet, he said.

``They were setting things up in the opposite corner when someone yelled there was a person down in the pit,'' said Mankato State head athletic trainer Gordy Graham, who was not at the fieldhouse when the accident happened.

``I was told that he came up to watch (the meet) and then decided to practice,'' Graham said.

``Pole vaulting was his passion,'' Principal John Barnett said. ``He loved it. He went to summer clinics and was very talented.''

Caskey was one of the top pole-vaulters on the team, reaching a height of 12-feet-6 to take second in the SubRegion 1, Region 2AA track meet at Mankato East High School last year.

Caskey was also a talented artist. During the summer he had painted a mural of a windsurfer in a stairwell at the school. The school was notified Monday that one of his paintings was to receive an award on Saturday in a National Scholastic Art competition.

``He was just a great kid,'' Barnett said. ``He was liked by everybody.''

 

Austria's top pole-vaulter paralyzed after training injury

July 31, 2015

Austrian pole-vaulter Kira Grünberg suffered a serious injury in training and despite emergency surgery, has been left paralyzed by the accident.

 Austria's leading pole-vaulter Kira Grünberg has suffered severe cervical injuries after the 21-year-old landed beside the mat on her head and neck in a practice jump. Her injuries have left her tetraplegic.

A statement on Friday from the Austrian athletics federation (ÖLV) and the University Clinic in Innsbruck where Grünberg is being treated revealed "a fracture of the cervical vertebrae of the spine" had been found. The statement added: "After we had diagnosed paraplegia before the operation, the patient received emergency surgery in order to stabilize her spine and avoid further damage."

Trained by her father, Grünberg finished fourth at the 2012 junior world championships before going on to set an Austrian women's record of 4.45 meters during last year's outdoor European Championships in Zurich. She repeated that feat indoors in Prague in March of this year.

 

21 OCT 2015 Feature Bad Haring, Austria

Kira Grunberg fights adversity with a smile after pole vault accident

Austrian pole vault record holder Kira Grunberg had been looking forward to competing at the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 until a traumatic training accident on 30 July in Innsbruck saw her break vertebrae in her spine.

The accident has left the 2014 European Championships finalist, who had finished fourth at the 2015 European U23 Championships just three weeks before the accident, a wheelchair-bound paraplegic and her plight has led to messages of sympathy and support from around the world.

Visitors to the rehabilitation centre where she is based in Bad Haring have included world record holder Renaud Lavillenie.

However, since the accident, Grunberg’s cheerful and resilient response to her situation has also drawn global admiration.

The IAAF is happy to reproduce the first major interview she has conducted since the accident, by IAAF Press Commission member Olaf Brockmann for the Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.

Kira, how was your day in rehabilitation? How do you even have the energy for an interview?

Well, rehabilitation was exhausting today, but it always is. I usually have a nap at lunchtime, that helps me to recover a bit.

What does your rehabilitation focus on at the moment?

Lots of exercises to support my cardiovascular system. For instance, right now if I tried to get up directly in the morning, I might black out and become unconscious. I also do lots of physical therapy so my joints don't become stiff, and strength training for my upper body.

What have been the most significant moments for you in rehabilitation so far?

It has been that I can now move my wheelchair by myself, just a little bit; that was a real boost to me. Once, I was also able to extend my legs on the physio bed, just for a few seconds, but that was cool. I had done something by myself!

 

What are your biggest goals in rehabilitation?

I want to be able to eat by myself eventually. I can't move my fingers, but there are eating aids, loops for the hand, they're put on there permanently. To cut with a knife and fork one day, that will be difficult, since I can't put any pressure down.

And I want to learn to brush my teeth, there's also these loops for toothbrushes, it just means brushing your own teeth is a different. I also want to go around in a wheelchair by myself, be mobile.

How long are you going to stay in rehabilitation?

Between six and 10 months. When they see that I can do everything that it's possible for me to do, that's when I'm going home.

Who, apart from your parents, do you lean on most?

Tom (her manager Tom Herzog), who had the most work of anyone in the beginning, my sister, other athletes and, of course, also my boyfriend. It's cool that my boyfriend supports me, I mean in the end I am still just a regular person. Christoph has been with me the whole time, he's from the town next to mine.

Among the thousands of supportive messages that you've received, is there one that you'd like to mention?

I got a really nice letter from a young girl, she said that I give her strength in her own illness.It's nice that I give other people strength, it helped her that I'm fighting and not just giving up.

It's nice that I give other people strength, it helped her that I'm fighting and not just giving up. Everyone who's in a wheelchair goes through a difficult phase, lots of them say that their life only started in the wheelchair. I still get lots of post, sometimes 10 letters a day. Sometimes people, complete strangers, send me roses, that's kind of funny.

 

 

Which of the events in support of you did you find particularly touching?

'Running for Kira' (over 3000 people participated in Vienna and raised €65,000) was extremely cool and of course also the pole vault event in Salzburg, with world record holder Renaud Lavillenie.

Do you still constantly think about the accident, which now happened 10 weeks ago?

Not any more. When I talk about it, it comes back of course, but it's never so that I can't sleep because of it or anything, it's not a nightmare, there are worse nightmares. My head is fine, after all, I didn't fall on my head, just right on my spine.

Renaud Lavillenie also helped you deal with the accident, didn’t he?

Yes, I was really moved that he came to visit. We watched the video of the fall together (Kira's father, who was also her coach, filmed the accident). I wanted to know if he saw an error in my attempt, but he didn't see an error either.

That's the thing, no one can quite imagine how the fall happened, it wasn't some grave error, it was some small things that came together. A little bad luck, whatever it was, the vault was with a build-up of eight steps. I have done this vault a thousand times, maybe even more often.

Do you want to go to an athletics event at some point?

Definitely! I want to go to the training sessions of the guys I used to train with, and watch the championships as well.

Would you dissuade young girls from taking up pole vaulting?

No! Pole vaulting is so elegant, it's still the best discipline; and pole vault isn't dangerous! Stuff happens all the time, everywhere.

Pole vaulting is so elegant, it's still the best discipline; and pole vault isn't dangerous! Stuff happens all the time, everywhere. Bad accidents happen in skiing, it can happen in the 100m, someone stumbles, falls on their head and that person could have a bad injury just like me. Stuff can happen anywhere, things could go wrong when you're just out for a walk.

What are your dreams for the future?

In the beginning, I didn't think I'd be able to continue my degree in pharmacy, because there's quite a lot of practical work involved, mixing things in the lab and stuff like that. But the university has already talked to my parents, I'll get an assistant who I'll just have to instruct to do things, so from their perspective I can continue my studies. I would like to finish it. I was in the fourth semester, the degree is for 10 semesters.

I can't concentrate on reading for long at the moment, I don't read much, a letter here or there, but when that returns then there's no question about the degree. Sports? As a hobby, I will definitely do something in the wheelchair. Whether I'll compete, I really don't know yet.

Kira Grünberg is getting better, she will award the pole vault champion in Amsterdam 2016

May 18, 2016

 

The story of Kira Grunberg, young Austrian athlete who got paralised after a bad fall during a training, is starting to get bettter.

After the surgery her conditions started to improve; she recovered partial use of the arms, now she can lift herself 5cm from the ground, and she is starting to do activities which the doctors had initially stated to be impossible to do again.

Interviewed by Gazzetta dello Sport tells how doctors visiting her notice considerable progress in her capabilities and the she states herself to be able to make base movements she was not able to do before like washing her teeth, type on the computer and write a signature.

She says to have re-watched the fatal jump, filmed by father who was training her: there was no wind and they were inside, no technical error. “It was the destiny”  Kira said.

She keeps following athletics and pole vault stayed as her favourite specialty; this year we will see her at the European Championships in Amsterdam to award the winner of the Men Pole vault, a competition in which she hopes to see Renaud Lavillenie on the top of the podium. The athlete, in fact, went to visit her after the accident and they are still in contact.

She wrote a book, “My jump into a new life” that will be published in September and it deals with her life; even though her life changed, Kira will be able to do most of the things she was doing before, as driving, thanks to the technology. She does not think her life became awful, but that is just different than before.

Photo Kira Grunberg/facebook

 

Paralyzed pole vaulter wins lawsuit

Randall Beach, Register Staff

Published 12:00 am, Friday, May 15, 2009

NEW HAVEN -- A young Wilton man who was paralyzed from the chest down in 2002 while pole vaulting at Southern Connecticut State University has won $6.4 million in damages from the Connecticut affiliate of USA Track and Field.

Brandon White, 25, won the civil lawsuit this week from a six-member New Haven Superior Court jury.

The ruling came seven years after White, then a high school senior and a member of the Wilton High School boys' track team, came to SCSU's Moore Field House to compete in the USATF Junior Olympics Championships. SCSU was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

White's attorney, John Wynne Jr. of New Haven, noted White sustained the injuries the week before his high school graduation. He attended the ceremony in a wheelchair.

After he arrived for the competition, White was told by USATF/CT representatives to warm up inside the field house, according to Wynne's legal complaint.

"While attempting a warm-up maneuver after running down the runway of the pole vault area, the plaintiff fell and struck the plant box (the metal box where the pole is planted), causing him to sustain and suffer serious physical injuries and losses," the writ said. White "violently struck his head and back on the vault box," Wynne wrote. The teenager suffered a spinal cord injury, "resulting in complete paraplegia."

Wynne said White was hurt because of the carelessness and/or negligence of the USATF/CT representatives who "failed to adequately supervise and monitor" the pole vaulting warm-ups and failed to inspect the area for safety.

Wynne specifically cited a baseball batting cage that obstructed part of the pole vault runway, and he said the runway was only about 105 feet long instead of 131 feet.

Eileen Becker of Wallingford, the defendant's attorney, said, "We respectfully disagree with the jury's decision on liability." She believes the jury made its decision because, "He's a likable young man and he suffered a catastrophic injury."

Becker also said pole vaulting is "an inherently dangerous sport," and added, "There was a problem with the plaintiff's methodology" during the warm-ups. According to Becker, White didn't do a proper test run before attempting his vault.

Wynne replied that the defense experts who testified during the three-week trial, including Jan Johnson, who won a bronze medal in pole vaulting for the U.S. during the 1972 Summer Olympics, use a different way to determine their starting points than White.

White said it has been "surreal" trying to mentally process the jury's decision. Asked how he will use the damages money, White said, "I'll just try to do everything I hoped I could do," including moving into his own residence and attempting to make a living as a painter.

But White said the trial was a tough experience. "It was difficult re-living everything all over again, especially when I was on the witness stand, talking about 'the day of' and the damage, how it changed my life."

 

Track & Field: Berthoud, Thompson Valley pole vaulters fly high at Spartan Spike meet

Berthoud sweeps team titles

 

By Mike Brohard

Reporter-Herald Sports Editor

Posted:   03/22/2018 09:33:10 PM MDT

BERTHOUD — The moment of floating is the best.

The bar has been cleared, and as the pole vaulter drifts toward the mat below, that's the part that keeps Emma Jo Briles coming back.

"You are celebrating on the way down. That's the best part about the sport," the Berthoud senior said at Thursday's Spartan Spike 1 at Marr Field. "You're going up, then you celebrate literally while you're falling out of the air. It's the best feeling ever."

The getting up in the air part is what feels extremely funky for her, and Thompson Valley's Hayden Ell is impressed. His father, Kevin, who works with both of them, is flabbergasted.

"I can't believe she's doing it. She was like, 'I went 10-6 with the other arm,'" Kevin recalled. "I said, 'what do you mean with the other arm?'

"It's amazing. Just starting from being a starter again ... She had the sense of it, but starting again and going from the other side, it's pretty amazing. I couldn't imagine doing that. It's quite a feat she's able to do that."

He didn't get to work with her last year, because she couldn't do the sport after having surgery to repair her left shoulder. That was the problem. Her left is her dominant arm, and with it, she hit a personal-best height of 10-6 as a sophomore.

Thursday, she cleared 8-6 to win the event, but she did it as a righty.

"It feels like I'm doing everything wrong. It's all backwards," she explained. "I'm not even jumping off my same leg. My left shoulder was torn from everything, so I can use it because of the chance of dislocation.

"I have to completely redo it. I retrained. I took everything and started all the way over. I learned how to hold a pole different. Everything had been striped and rebuilt so I can do it with my right arm."

Most of the time, she had a cheering section that was Hayden Ell and his brother, Becker. In this particular part of the track meet, there is a kinship between vaulters where the competition is often your biggest supporters. So as Briles worked her way higher, Hayden cheered her on, and she did likewise.

Her joy was his, and vice versa, and Hayden had a lot to celebrate himself in winning the event at 12-3.

He maxed out at 11-9 as a junior, missing out on the state meet. Already set to compete in the decathlon at Western State next year, he is dead-set on making state and making an impact in the event that is his favorite.

Kevin was a collegiate vaulter at North Dakota, and even though Hayden has never seen is dad do it, he was hypnotized by the glow in his father's eyes when he talked about pole vaulting.

All he had to do was get a bit bigger, but he was never afraid.

"I was about this high my freshman and sophomore year," he said, holding his hand just above his hip, "so it was a bit of a struggle, but I really wanted to do it. Once I started growing, getting stronger, I loved it. It's awesome."

He didn't begin rolling until the other two guys had finished, but once he started pushing, he cleared 12, then 12-3, landing on the mat, his hands extended.

It's a feeling he couldn't explain, but Kevin could.

"I know exactly what's going through his head. He's proud," Kevin said. "Once you go over that bar, over your chest and just floating, it's just elation. Anything is possible. You've just got to keep being positive and working hard. That's all it is."

That is the approach Hayden intends to follow. It's increments on the way up and how to get there, and he knows it has to clear each step before the next height can be reached.

So, he was happy, but he left wanting more.

"I did. I was really hoping for another three inches," he said. "I really worked hard this summer, and I tried to get on bigger poles, which I did. I just needed to rock back and really get tight to the pole and turn. I didn't do the best at today, but I still PR'd, so, big day."

A perfect March day in Colorado served the hosts well, as both Berthoud teams won titles, the girls with 107.5 points, the boys at 83. Thompson Valley's girls were second at 56.5, the boys fourth at 44, with Resurrection Christian's boys third (46), the girls sixth (18).

The coaches were impressed with the fight their teams showed, as all of the runners are dealing with heavy legs from training. That still didn't stop some from hitting personal bests on the track, which Resurrection Christian coach Luke Appleton said is no small feat in March.

"We had a couple of personal best, and I'll take it," he said. "We're heavy and we're tired, and that's a good thing, too. You don't expect that right now. It's March.

"I'm incredibly excited about what we're doing."

The Cougars' Ben Jackson looked strong in winning both hurdles events, while teammate Samuel Barnett and Berthoud's Trinity Buckley went back and forth in the sprints, Barnett winning the 200 meters with Buckly second, the order reversed in the 100.

The Spartans' 400 relay team took first, but the bulk of the top placings for the team came in the field events, as Wyatt Woodrick won the long jump (leading a 1-2-3 finish for the team), Brock Voth won the triple jump, Peter Scheller posted the top throw in the shot put, while teammate Zakariah Starkey paced the discus field.

Dylan Schubert had the lone win for the Eagles' boys, that coming in the 3,200.

Berthoud's girls dominated the relay events by winning four of the five, while individually, Caily Archer made the most of her day, winning the 400 and the high jump. The Spartans also picked up wins from Alyssa Bailey in the 100, Sam Mulder in the 100 hurdles, Sophia Visger in the long jump and McKayla Milan in the triple jump.

The Eagles' girls won the 1,600 relay to stop Berthoud from a sweep, and Kenadi Krueger led a 1-2-3 finish for the team in the 800. Madeleine Boyles out paced the field in the 1,600, while Cindy Ybarra won the discus.

Jak Urlacher bounces back from vaulting injury

May 22, 2019

 

Pain wasn't Jak Urlacher's major concern as he sat in the emergency room after a metal peg had pierced his right leg. The Grand Forks Central sophomore was concerned about his athletic future.

"It didn't hurt a lot,'' Urlacher said. "I think that was because of the adrenaline.

"I was worried at first that I wouldn't be able to pole vault or do gymnastics.''

The dangerous mishap on the pole vault didn't stop Urlacher.

He not only has advanced from region to national competition in gymnastics. He is tied for the No. 4 seed in the vault in the North Dakota Class A boys high school track meet, to be held this weekend in Bismarck.

Achieving all that was in question after Urlacher's mishap during the EDC Indoor meet on March 29.

He was making his third attempt to clear 12-6 when the pole bent sideways, throwing Urlacher against the standard. On his descent, Urlacher's right leg hit one of the metal pegs that protrude out to hold up the bar

"It was pretty scary. Any time a vaulter is up in the air and hits something, that's not good,'' Central coach Sean Allan said. "And when you see blood on an athlete, well, that's never something you want to see. Jak was lucky in that it didn't hit his muscle. That could have been a season-ending injury.''

Urlacher had a five-inch gash on his right leg. His skin was pierced all the way to his muscles. It took 12 staples to hold the skin together.

Three days after the incident, Urlacher was competing in the USA Gymnastics regional meet. He won one event in his age division, was fifth in all-around in the age 15-16 group and earned a berth in the national meet.

"The staples were pulling on my leg,'' Urlacher said. "It hurt a lot to land or push off on the leg, so I had to modify some things. My goal was to just get through all six events.''

The pole vault return wasn't so quick. After three weeks, Urlacher started to vault. Initially, he used smaller poles and shorter approaches, working his way back to competition.

"There was a big of a fear factor,'' Urlacher said. "I was afraid of doing something again. I had to get over that. I didn't know if I would be back this fast. I was hoping. But I didn't know.''

Urlacher didn't begin competing until a May 10 meet in Fargo. It wasn't until last Friday's East Region meet that he met state qualifying standards with his 13-foot vault.

"Jak doesn't have a ton of experience on the vault,'' Allan said. "He relies on his gymnastics background. The body control, the strength, the knowledge of where your body is in space, I think all those carry over from gymnastics to vaulting.

"Jak's an athlete. And he's a great competitor.''

Five to watch

In addition to Urlacher, here are five area athletes to watch in the Class A boys state track meet:

Bryce Enerson, Red River: The junior is the No. 3 seed in the 100 hurdles with a best time of 14.98 seconds -- just .04 behind leader Brock Johnsen of Bismarck Century. Enerson placed fourth in the race last season.

Ben Hoverson, GF Central: The junior is seeded third in the triple jump with a season-best effort of 44 feet, 9.5 inches. Hoverson placed sixth in the triple jump last season.

Brett Klefstad, Red River: The senior had a season-best throw of 182-6 in the East Region meet Friday. That's good for the No. 3 seed in the javelin, an event in which he placed fourth at state last season.

Jack Kuntz, Devils Lake: The Firebirds junior is seeded fourth in the discus. He has a season-best throw of 157-11.

Kaden Rohloff, Red River: The junior cleared 14 feet in the pole vault for the first time in his career at the East Region meet. Rohloff is the No. 2 seed behind Bismarck's Cameron Erbele, who has vaulted 14-6 this spring.

 

It takes a daredevil: Pole vaulting comes with all kinds of risks – some even fatal. So why do athletes do it?

May 6, 2019

Connor Gregston has no fear when he pole vaults, even though he has witnessed gruesome injuries.

"I've seen people break their ankle, to the point where you don't want to look at it or you are going to throw up," the Keller Fossil Ridge senior said. "I've seen people land off the mat and they had to be carted off by an ambulance."

Gregston ranks among the best high school pole vaulters in the nation, having cleared 16 feet, 1 inch, and the Texas A&M signee will compete at this week's UIL state meet in Austin. He isn't fazed by statistics that highlight the sport's dangers, such as an average of nearly one catastrophic pole vault injury per year from July 1997 to June 2017, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.

"I try not to think about it. My coaches never talk to me about it," Gregston said. "I've never had a serious injury in pole vault. I've had close calls.

"I think about pole vaulting the way I think about life. If you are sitting there constantly thinking, 'Oh, this could hurt me or this could kill me,' and it makes you afraid and you don't do it, you could say that about anything. It is not being productive, and it's not living."

This is an event that has killed people. It takes a daredevil to even try it, using a pole that bends to swing upside down and propel yourself more than a dozen feet off the ground while trying to clear a crossbar.

To reach great heights, a pole vaulter must be fearless, said Hal Theodore, coach for the local Polecats Pole Vault Club.

"I have seen kids that are afraid of the whole pole vault concept and don't want to try it. I have had a few kids that I have talked into it. I just ask them to give me a couple of practices," Theodore said. "Once they start to improve, they are usually hooked. As they jump higher, the fear of height goes away as they see they are landing successfully in a safe area of the mats."

A study in The American Journal of Sports Medicine showed there were 16 deaths from pole vault injuries from 1982 to 1998. At least six more died between 2002 and 2010, according to media reports.

Rules changes adopted in 2002 improved safety, but an Olympian thinks more needs to be done. There are still risks.

Trying to soften the blow

Jan Johnson, the 1972 Olympic bronze medalist, is a member of the Pole Vault Safety Certification Board. He and others will make presentations to the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and to USA Track & Field later this year, urging them to mandate modifications to the box where vaulters plant their pole.

Johnson wants to cushion the surface of the plant box except where the pole strikes, lower the front lip of the box and make the bend cavity bigger.

"The prototypical plant box is plate steel set in concrete. It is very hard and unyielding. Many accidents have occurred in the box," Johnson said. "Every time you take a jump, you have to jump over concrete. It's just plain stupid."

In 2002, the NCAA and NFHS increased the size of the landing pit and required that the pit be made of material "that will decelerate the landing of the athlete." The NCAA mandated that there be padding around the base of the standards that hold the crossbar.

Vaulters are sprinting down a runway with asphalt or concrete underlayments, but they land on foam mats. A study that Johnson helped conduct showed there were still 19 catastrophic injuries from 2003 to 2011, and 74% involved athletes landing in or around the plant box.

The NFHS addressed that issue by requiring the installation of a standardized box collar -- padding around the area outside the plant box -- beginning with the 2014-15 season. The box collar had been permitted before, but there were different kinds until ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) developed the specification standards that are now mandatory nationwide.

"I've seen quite a few kids that have come down shallow close to the box, and right on the edge of the box," Theodore said. "Any cushion is going to prevent injuries, or even how serious the injury becomes."

There are complaints about box collars.

"They are pretty expensive. They might have reduced the price a little bit. When they first came out, they were $600 or $700," Theodore said. "I know that it kind of impedes when you are planting the pole into the box, because the way they are, they overlap the edges of the box. It has narrowed the target. These kids are pretty resilient, and they have gotten used to it."

Fear factor

 

 

 

 

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