North Stokes' Nickell loves to vault (NC)
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 4:15 pm
http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010 ... -to-vault/
Way Up There: North Stokes' Nickell loves to vault
By Mason Linker | Journal Reporter
Published: January 20, 2010
Sean Nickell spends as little time as possible on the ground. And when he isn't airborne, he said he wishes he were.
A little less than three years after taking up pole vaulting, Nickell, a senior at North Stokes, has become very good at it. He won the NCHSAA 1-A outdoor championship last spring and has made massive improvements since.
Nickell is so engrossed in vaulting that Coach Mike Williams of North Stokes said that Nickell has been caught studying the sport when he should have been doing schoolwork.
"He lives it, breathes it," Williams said. "He is a true vaulter. He is a junkie."
On Feb. 13, Nickell will go after one his goals for this year -- the NCHSAA indoor 3-A/2-A/1-A title, a championship that has never been won by a vaulter from a 1-A school.
But Nickell accomplished an even bigger goal last weekend when he cleared 14 feet, 6 inches at an AAU meet in Bloomington, Ill. That gave him a qualifying mark to compete in the Nike Indoor Nationals, scheduled March 12-14 in Boston.
"It was really intense when I did it," Nickell said of his vault in Illinois. "It was my last attempt at that height. I was moving up to a bigger pole I was using for the first time, and I had used it the day before and the results weren't so good. It was my last attempt, and I made it."
That was Nickell's best in-competition vault, but he has done better.
"My best vault ever was over a 16-foot bungee," he said. "And I was using a 15-6 pole. I usually use a 14-6 pole in meets, and I am most consistent with that."
Williams said that Nickell has cleared 15 feet in practice.
"He has gotten really consistent between 14 feet and 14-6," Williams said.
Pole-vaulting fever has gripped Nickell's family. He has two younger siblings who also vault, and the family will travel to Reno, Nev., from Jan. 28-30 for the National Pole Vault Summit.
Joanna Nickell, Sean's mother, is a gymnastics instructor and said that the tumbling her children learned at a young age has helped with pole vaulting. She said that Williams noticed Sean's tumbling at a soccer match and told him he should try vaulting.
Nickell finished eighth in the 1-A outdoor championships in his first season before winning last year with a vault of 13-0.
Nickell has received recruiting letters from UNC Wilmington and Western Carolina, according to Williams, who said that those programs are waiting to see how Nickell does in the outdoor championships this spring.
They are also waiting for Nickell to register with the NCAA clearinghouse and to see how he does on the SAT, which he plans to take this weekend.
The only knock on Nickell? According to Williams and Coach Rodney King of North, it's to get him to spend as much time on his schoolwork as he spends on pole vaulting.
"He can't help it," an understanding Williams said. "He loves it. It's hard for him to concentrate on a lot of other stuff but he is a really good kid."
King praised Nickell for being a hard worker.
"That's all he talks about," King said. "If I could get him to concentrate on his schoolwork like he does pole vault, he would be straight. He is a decent student, but all of them can do a little better."
Way Up There: North Stokes' Nickell loves to vault
By Mason Linker | Journal Reporter
Published: January 20, 2010
Sean Nickell spends as little time as possible on the ground. And when he isn't airborne, he said he wishes he were.
A little less than three years after taking up pole vaulting, Nickell, a senior at North Stokes, has become very good at it. He won the NCHSAA 1-A outdoor championship last spring and has made massive improvements since.
Nickell is so engrossed in vaulting that Coach Mike Williams of North Stokes said that Nickell has been caught studying the sport when he should have been doing schoolwork.
"He lives it, breathes it," Williams said. "He is a true vaulter. He is a junkie."
On Feb. 13, Nickell will go after one his goals for this year -- the NCHSAA indoor 3-A/2-A/1-A title, a championship that has never been won by a vaulter from a 1-A school.
But Nickell accomplished an even bigger goal last weekend when he cleared 14 feet, 6 inches at an AAU meet in Bloomington, Ill. That gave him a qualifying mark to compete in the Nike Indoor Nationals, scheduled March 12-14 in Boston.
"It was really intense when I did it," Nickell said of his vault in Illinois. "It was my last attempt at that height. I was moving up to a bigger pole I was using for the first time, and I had used it the day before and the results weren't so good. It was my last attempt, and I made it."
That was Nickell's best in-competition vault, but he has done better.
"My best vault ever was over a 16-foot bungee," he said. "And I was using a 15-6 pole. I usually use a 14-6 pole in meets, and I am most consistent with that."
Williams said that Nickell has cleared 15 feet in practice.
"He has gotten really consistent between 14 feet and 14-6," Williams said.
Pole-vaulting fever has gripped Nickell's family. He has two younger siblings who also vault, and the family will travel to Reno, Nev., from Jan. 28-30 for the National Pole Vault Summit.
Joanna Nickell, Sean's mother, is a gymnastics instructor and said that the tumbling her children learned at a young age has helped with pole vaulting. She said that Williams noticed Sean's tumbling at a soccer match and told him he should try vaulting.
Nickell finished eighth in the 1-A outdoor championships in his first season before winning last year with a vault of 13-0.
Nickell has received recruiting letters from UNC Wilmington and Western Carolina, according to Williams, who said that those programs are waiting to see how Nickell does in the outdoor championships this spring.
They are also waiting for Nickell to register with the NCAA clearinghouse and to see how he does on the SAT, which he plans to take this weekend.
The only knock on Nickell? According to Williams and Coach Rodney King of North, it's to get him to spend as much time on his schoolwork as he spends on pole vaulting.
"He can't help it," an understanding Williams said. "He loves it. It's hard for him to concentrate on a lot of other stuff but he is a really good kid."
King praised Nickell for being a hard worker.
"That's all he talks about," King said. "If I could get him to concentrate on his schoolwork like he does pole vault, he would be straight. He is a decent student, but all of them can do a little better."