Article on Scott Shafer

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.codyenterprise.com/articles/ ... ports1.txt

Kids propel vaulter now
By CAROLE CLOUDWALKER

Scott Shaffer's first experience with pole vaulting as a child was not what anyone would call glamorous.

It involved a big stick and some shrubbery, and it could have ended in an ugly way, says the Cody High School cross country/track and field coach.

"I was in elementary school - I saw some guy on television running with a stick," Shaffer says. "Then I went in the back yard. I had a stick, so I ran and jumped over some bushes."

By the time Shaffer reached eighth grade, his father, a physical education teacher, took his leaping lad in hand when track season rolled around.

"I got to jump and land on the mat instead of on the ground," Shaffer said.

That was the beginning of a love affair between Shaffer and flying through the air with the greatest of ease, with the help of leverage from a bending fiberglass pole.

The idea, he says, is to get a rapid running start, set the pole in the ground at just the right moment, catapult yourself over the bar without touching it, then land safely on the other side on a "big blue thing" about 21 feet by 24 feet by 32 inches thick.

"It's crazy fun - the kind that people pay to do," Shaffer says of his favorite sport.

Athletic ability to run fast, jump high and survive to tell about it might have vaulted Shaffer - whose all-time best jump was 18 feet, 9 inches - into the Olympic Games.

His career included finishing second in national championships in 1988, coming in 10th in an Olympic trials competition in 1988 (one of two he took part in), and participating in three USA National Track and Field teams. At the end of the 1990 season, Shaffer was first in the indoor jumping with the highest vault in the county (18 feet, 9 inches).

He coached vaulters at Arkansas State University and at Laramie High School before coming to Cody.

Shaffer admits that in his career he may have carried pole vaulting too far, allowing it to become almost an obsession.

He says the money he earned didn't hurt. At that time athletes were paid about $400 plus travel and per diem for attending meets.

"If we won we got $1,000," he says.

Things are different now, but "had I been comparatively that good at football or basketball, I would have made a kazillion dollars," Shaffer said.

He worked his way up to the 17-foot long poles from his backyard stick, but not without some injuries along the way. He had numerous hamstring injuries that plagued his jumping career.

"It's a really fine line between 'can do it' and 'crash,'" he says.

The better an athlete gets at jumping, the longer the pole he or she is given. The down side with the longer poles is "the more likely it is if you make a mistake, you're going to have a huge wipe-out."

Shaffer says "bending the pole" is a benefit, because "the better you get, the stronger the poles are," and the stronger they are, the better they propel you over the bar.

There is no good way to measure how a jump will go until you're already into it, Shaffer says.

The day he jumped 18 feet, 9 inches in 1990 at Purdue University followed a week where he "jumped decently, but had a hamstring strain."

The day of his best-ever vault, Shaffer says his hamstring was "tight," and he said to himself, "This can't be good."

Then he jumped 18 feet, 2 inches.

"I'd already won the meet, but I told them to stick that sucker on 18-9," he said. "And I could have kept going."

Inspired by athletic ability and a desire for earnings, Shaffer "became one of those psychotic athletes ... I was just tunnel vision," he says. "You can take the athletic lifestyle too far."

Shaffer says that while he used to have some regrets about not making an Olympic team, that's in the past.

"Now I'm real happy with where my life has taken me."

[vaultguru6]

I'm sure there's an incredible story hidden somewhere in that horrible article. Just another example of how incredibly clueless reporters are to the vault. Dwight Stones doesn't even know what he's talking about when it comes to the vault!

[rainbowgirl28]

Aww c'mon... quotes like this are quality!

The idea, he says, is to get a rapid running start, set the pole in the ground at just the right moment, catapult yourself over the bar without touching it, then land safely on the other side on a "big blue thing" about 21 feet by 24 feet by 32 inches thick.

[Barto]

Poor written article aside, anyone who ever saw Shaffer knows that guy could flat out pole vault!

Had he not come down with meningitis in 88', he was on his way to some huge bars. I'm glad to hear he is still in the sport.

Barto

[lonpvh]

Shaf was the man. I bet you guys didn't realize he coached Chad Harting in college here at ASU. He did have a screw or two loose though. Then again, don't we all. LON

[ashcraftpv]

The day he jumped 18 feet, 9 inches in 1990 at Purdue University followed a week where he "jumped decently, but had a hamstring strain."

which is still the Lambert Fieldhouse record.......Lambert rules. Its the best old skool P.O.S. indoor track.