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1955 state champ returns
Ex-St. X star Roth third in pole vault
By Michael Grant
mgrant@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
A 70-year-old pole vaulter would be easy to spot under normal circumstances. Even at the National Senior Games, where septuagenarians toting long fiberglass sticks are more common than one would think, Jim Roth stood out.
The 1955 high school pole vault state champion for St. Xavier made a memorable return to his home area yesterday.
He brought along a cheering section of 25 people, one of whom placed a banner that read "1955 Kentucky State Champion" at the University of Louisville's Cardinal Park.
Roth -- who has two grandsons who are aspiring vaulters -- and his 16-year-old grandson Mitch wore matching blue T-shirts. Roth's shirt read: "I pole vault with my grandsons." Mitch's said: "I pole vault with my grandpa."
The warm feelings made it easier to take when Roth, plagued by a sore back, finished third in the 70-74 age division. He topped out at 7 feet, 6 inches. He had been clearing 8 feet.
Even healthy, it might have been tough to beat Taylor Goode of Newport News, Va., who won at 9 feet, ¼ inch. Second was John Sharp of Danville, Ind, at 8-6.
"I'm not disappointed," said Roth, who grew up in New Albany. "I'm going to be back, and I'm going to win this thing in two years. It was wonderful. My whole family is here, my friends. It sure was fun."
Roth suspected the trip from his home in Hartland, Mich., played a role. He drove five hours to Indianapolis on Wednesday and finished the rest of the journey Thursday. He knew he was in trouble when he got out of his car.
His grandson wrapped Roth's midsection with a bandage. That helped only up to a point. Roth had three attempts at 8 feet before he was eliminated. His cheering section gave him an ovation.
"It's a dull pain," he said. "Every time I would put (my right) leg up and put it down the pain would go right through me. I lose speed. I lose the drive into the pole. I don't know if you could tell or not, but on the first jump I would come in fast … at the end I couldn't drive."
Roth won the high school state title at 11-10 in 1955, then vaulted for Bellarmine College from 1956-59 before quitting the sport.
He remained active with swimming and water skiing but didn't take up the pole vault again until last year, when a friend told him that the Senior Games were coming to Louisville. He practices one day a week.
A year ago it was difficult for him to clear 4 feet.
Yesterday was his fourth meet this summer, and the competition was tough. Goode won the pole vault in a younger age division at the 2005 Senior Games at Pittsburgh.
Sharp, who placed third in the 1952 Indiana high school state meet for Danville, won his age group at the Senior Games in 1999.
"When I come to a meet I'm always surprised when I clear the bar," Goode joked.
To Roth, this event was about more than pole vaulting.
"I'm not letting anything stop me," he said. "Life is fun. Just because we get old, it doesn't mean that we have to wait for that casket to come in."
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