Michael Uhle loves street vaults

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thisweeknews.com/live/conten ... t=&sid=104

Uhle enjoys life on road, above foes
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 12:55 PM
By PAUL BATTERSON
ThisWeek Staff Writer

Michael Uhle, a 2007 Liberty graduate now competing at Akron, recently spent a week promoting pole vaulting at several events in the Midwest. Uhle is the two-time defending indoor and outdoor champion in the Mid-American Conference.
Michael Uhle, the MAC's men's indoor and outdoor pole vault champion the past two seasons, didn't plan on spending a part of his time away from the University of Akron on the road promoting the sport.
Yet the junior traveled from Ohio to Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri to "street vault" -- compete in pole vaulting exhibitions -- with Mike Seaman, a redshirt sophomore at Tennessee.

"It just sort of happened," said Uhle, a 2007 Olentangy Liberty High School graduate who won the state title his senior year. "I just planned on going to the (Fisher Freedom Festival in Fisher, Ind. on June 27), but Mike said, 'You need to stay a couple more days.'"

A "couple more days" stretched into a week and a 3,000-mile jaunt across the Midwest. After the Freedom Festival, the two performed at an exhibition in Henderson, Ky., then competed in the Gill Factory Vault on July 3 in Bloomington, Ind., and the Pole Vault Explosion on July 4 in St. Charles, Mo.

Dennis Mitchell, the track coach at Akron and a former pole vaulter for Abilene Christian, understands Uhle's drive.

"What makes Michael great is his determination, competitiveness and hard work," Mitchell said. "He always wants to do more and more. You have to put a rope on him or he will do too much. The ones you have to put a rope on are the ones that will turn out to be the best."

Perhaps the time on the road will help Uhle next season. Currently, the Liberty graduate is third in Akron's all-time top performances in the indoor pole vault (clearing 17 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and outdoor pole vault (16-10 3/4). John Russell, a 2006 graduate, holds both records, clearing 18-2 1/2 indoors and 18-1 outdoors.

But that was a secondary benefit. Asked what he gained from the road trip, Uhle said, "A bunch of friends and an empty wallet."

"It was just a great chance to hang out with a lot of pole vaulters from around the country and better myself. A lot of it was just for the thrill of it."

Uhle's daredevil side is what drove him toward pole vaulting in the first place. As a freshman in high school, Uhle had no plans to compete in track and field until his friends talked him into it.

"I was a thrower in middle school and not a very good one at that," Uhle said. "When I finally came out for track in high school, there were some (attractive) girls doing pole vault, so naturally that's where I went.

"The thing I loved about the pole vault was just the shock, the mass confusion of it. One second you're running on the ground, the next you're flying through the air, doing whatever you can to get over a quarter-inch crossbar."

Uhle's propensity to take risks has helped succeed in the event but it has taken its toll on his body. His left hand bears a three-inch scar from his junior year at Liberty when his pole shattered as he was attempting to vault.

A day after winning the regional championship in his senior year, Uhle bruised his sacrum, a triangular bone at the base of the spine, while playing on a Slip 'N' Slide at a graduation party.

"(Vaulting coach Jason Schall) kept the whole thing under wraps because if I didn't do well, I didn't want to be known as the person who lost a state title because of a Slip 'N' Slide," Uhle said after winning the state title by clearing 15-4.

In his freshman year at Akron, Uhle broke his right hand while wrestling around with his roommate days before winning the MAC indoor championships by clearing 17- 3/4. Again he tried to hide his injury from his coach.

"I thought it was just bruised," Uhle said.

These days, Uhle can't afford to be reckless. In the MAC indoor championships, Uhle won by clearing 17-5 1/2 but just missed the cutoff for the NCAA championships by two centimeters.

In the MAC outdoor championships, Uhle edged teammate Joe Wesley, a freshman, for the title. Both cleared 16-6 3/4, but Uhle prevailed on fewer misses.

"To miss competing in the NCAAs by the width of a finger really drives me this year," Uhle said. "We have a couple of good vaulters, and that pushes me a little harder. Instead of just relaxing, I can look over and see what they're doing. That keeps me on my game."

Uhle credits Mitchell with changing his grip to help him add well over a foot to his vaults. Uhle now grips the pole about six inches lower than he did when he was in high school.

When Mitchell took over at Akron in 1996, both the men's and women's track programs finished 10th in the MAC indoor and outdoor championships.

The women's program has now won the last five conference titles in the indoor and outdoor meets and the men's team has won the last two outdoor titles.

"Coach Mitchell has really turned the program from one of the worst teams in the MAC to one of the best," Uhle said.

[jumpmanmike]

That is just awesome! Sounds like a great summer. Go Zips!!!

[KYSEAMAN]

"It just sort of happened," said Uhle, a 2007 Olentangy Liberty High School graduate who won the state title his senior year. "I just planned on going to the (Fisher Freedom Festival in Fisher, Ind. on June 27), but Mike said, 'You need to stay a couple more days.'"

A "couple more days" stretched into a week and a 3,000-mile jaunt across the Midwest. After the Freedom Festival, the two performed at an exhibition in Henderson, Ky., then competed in the Gill Factory Vault on July 3 in Bloomington, Ind., and the Pole Vault Explosion on July 4 in St. Charles, Mo.

hahah nice article mikey