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Mustangs' Lacey vaults to second in state
Bar gets in way of bid for crown at Class 3A meet
JOHN LEMBO
Herald Staff Writer
WINTER PARK - As she flew and twisted into the warm Winter Park air, Ali Lacey figured she made it. She was sure of it.

So were the onlookers watching the pole vault during Friday's Class 3A track and field championships at Showalter Field. Then something happened - just before Lacey landed, the bar she had tried to clear slipped and fell. And with it, Lacey's chances of winning a state championship.

Nonetheless, her sense of humor stayed intact.

"I didn't even feel myself touch it, and then I heard the bar," said Lacey, a Lakewood Ranch High senior. "I think someone paused time and knocked it down."

Though the mystery of the fallen bar will never be solved, Lacey did clear 10 feet to tie Lake Region's Hannah Baier and finish second.

Manatee's Chelsea Cowher cleared eight feet, six inches to finish tied for 10th. In the boys vault, Bayshore's Jason Whitehead also tied for 10th with a 12-6. The top eight finishers in each event earned a medal.

Gainesville's Kelly Schiefer won the pole vault gold by clearing 10 feet, six inches - a surprising height, considering Lacey and Baier cleared 10-8 during the regional.

"I was pretty upset," Lacey said.

Lacey, who also placed second during this year's state weightlifting championships, planned on clearing 11-6 on Friday. Instead, she didn't match her regional total.

"Up until my last height, everything felt fine. Good as always," she said. "And I just had one bad jump, and I let it get to my head, and I let it psyche me out."

http://www.sun-herald.com/Newsarchive2/ ... ry=sp2.htm

Bobcats left hungry for more North Port struggles at state finals


WINTER PARK -- The North Port Bobcats finished just short of expectations Friday in the Class 3A State Finals at Showalter Field.

Senior pole vaulter Seth Rohde earned his second consecutive eighth-place finish. But he failed to duplicate his own school record of 13 feet, 6 inches, which would have earned him at least a tie for fifth place.

"I've been knocking on 14 feet all year long," Rohde said afterwards. "And at state I only get 13 feet -- that's a pretty big disappointment."

As for Rohde, the disappointment was harder to accept knowing he wasn't at 100 percent. Strained quadriceps in both legs forced him to slow up in practice, even taking Tuesday off. Each practice ended with a dip in a 45-degree bath in hopes of soothing the muscles.

"Like hypothermia cold," Rohde said on Wednesday. "Yeah, that pretty much sucks. It basically feels like sticking my legs in a wasp's nest."

Unfortunately, the treatment wasn't enough, as Rohde was noticeably bothered by his quads throughout competition Friday.

"They were worse than they were last week (at the regional meet)," North Port vault coach Ryan LaVallee said. "It hurt him in practice -- that's where it really hurt him."

Hampered, Rohde just couldn't clear 13-6. His feet hit the bar on his first attempt. Then his body scuffed it going over on the second. And his feet again clipped it on the third and final attempt.

"My last vault was with the 160 (pound bar)," Rohde said. "I don't know if that was a mistake -- switching on the last vault ... My form is completely designed for the lighter pole. I never get to practice on the 160, so it's hard to adjust my form."

North Port doesn't own a 160, forcing Rohde to borrow one from a competitor at meets. It worked fine at the regional, where he won with a vault of 13-6.

"I don't know -- I'm just really frustrated," Rohde said.

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /-1/sports

Young Schiefer could vault GHS to contender status


By JOHN PATTON

Sun high school sports editor
May 09. 2006 6:01AM


Winter Park
Obviously, it's quite an accomplishment to win a state championship, no matter what the sport. But in the case of Gainesville High School pole vaulter Kelly Schiefer the story is even more remarkable than usual.

She's just 14.
A sophomore, Schiefer skipped the second grade. But at last Friday's FHSAA Class 3A state track & field meet at Showalter Field, she didn't show the nerves that often come with being a young athlete in the biggest competition of her life.

No, she calmly cleared 10-6 on her first try while none of the seniors or juniors she was facing was able to top 10-0.

It's probably a pretty fair guess that we'll be hearing a lot more from her in the next two years. For that matter her team, sixth last week, could be a legitimate state title contender next season.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pbcs. ... /605080755

Neal Tisher, a St. Paul's freshman, cleared 11 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault, breaking the previous girls 5A record by almost two feet. Tammy Freeman of Scottsboro had set the old mark of 9 feet, 8 inches in 2003.

http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dl ... /-1/sports

Schiefer vaults to new heights
May 08. 2006 6:01AM

By keeping an open mind, Gainesville sophomore Kelly Schiefer earned herself a state championship.

At the 3A state meet, Schiefer tied the personal best height she reached in regionals with a pole vault of 10-06, good for a state championship. She bought into some interesting coaching methods from Mike Denmark, a GHS alum who had been away from coaching for 12 years, GHS coach Larry Holsey said.

Denmark had Schiefer practice in a pool with a weighted scuba belt. Denmark would hold the top of the pole, while Schiefer would sink to the bottom, grab the pole and vault.

The techniques worked, as Schiefer improved her height by a foot-and-a-half over the last three weeks of the season. In the week before state, Schiefer cleared 11 feet.

"The nice thing about her is that she's consistent," Denmark said. "She's got the heart of a lion." Denmark said Schiefer would have been able to clear 11 feet at state if the wind conditions hadn't been so strong.

Schiefer has plenty of room for improvement. Denmark said the two biggest things she needs to work on are strength and speed. If she can improve on that, he believes that she can easily top out at 12 feet or 12-6.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/l ... -headlines

Kennedy sets state mark

Boone's Caroline Kennedy clears 12 feet, 9 inches to win her 3rd consecutive state pole vault gold medal.

Shannon J. Owens | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 7, 2006


WINTER PARK -- Caroline Kennedy held up her arm and looked at the torn orange fabric underneath her right armpit. One of her family members jokingly pointed out that it was time for new school uniforms.

But with Kennedy adding another record performance to Boone High School's pole vaulting annals, perhaps they should stay.

Ten years after Boone won the girls pole vault in its first year of existence at the state meet, Kennedy set a state record Saturday during the 4A state track meet at Showalter Field. Her leap of 12 feet, 9 inches shattered an eight-year-old record held by Deanna Shuler of Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer, who jumped 12-8.

Kennedy also became the first girl to win the state pole vault title three consecutive years.

Focus and flexibility is how Kennedy, who will compete at Clemson next year, set her state record. After she already won the event at 11-6, she switched to a heavier pole to help increase her height across the bar. Although Kennedy said she just learned what the state record was last week, she was determined to break it.

"When I saw her first jump, I knew she could get it," her best friend and fellow Lake Highland pole vaulter Tori Lauten said.