Gray's switch to outdoor vaulting benefits Reno (NV)

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Gray's switch to outdoor vaulting benefits Reno
JOHN TRENT
SPECIAL TO THE RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Posted: 5/12/2007



There will be a number of intriguing storylines in today's Northern 4A Region track and field championships at Damonte Ranch High School.
Among them:
Will Reno's state champion distance runner, senior Mel Lawrence, overcome an early season of injury to stay ahead of several top young challengers, including freshmen Kelsey Smith of South Tahoe and Demerey Kirsh of Reno?
Will Reno's Cameron Kroll continue his stellar, state-record-setting season with another chart-topping effort in the boys pole vault?
Will Carson's Kayla Sanchez re-establish her claim as Northern Nevada's fastest athlete in the 100 and 200 meters and 300-meter hurdles?
Will the Reno girls and Reno boys, favorites coming in, use good depth and star power in athletes such as Lawrence and Kroll to sweep the team titles? Or will teams such as Hug on the boys side and Galena on the girls side prove to be spoilers?
If that isn't enough, consider another of the more interesting stories for today's meet, which starts with field events at 8:30 a.m. and running events at 9 a.m.
Reno sophomore Casey Gray has been somewhat in the shadows of Kroll's mammoth senior year, which has seen the high-flying senior set three state marks in the pole vault, including the all-time best of 16 feet, 8 inches.
But Gray has established herself as a force in the pole vault as well.
Her best mark of 11-2 leads the state. The former elite gymnast counts among her coaches and advisers one of the true gurus of the sport in Joe Sambrano, one of Nevada's high school pole vault greats, as well as former University of Nevada track standout Ali McKnight.
McKnight, you'll remember, is simply the greatest female track and field athlete in Wolf Pack history. She was runner-up in the heptathlon at the 1995 NCAA Championships, was a two-time Big West Conference Athlete of the Year, and later posted the second-fastest 200-meter time in the history of the heptathlon. The 35-year-old former McQueen High standout was inducted into the Wolf Pack Hall of Fame in 2006.
These days, McKnight has turned her attention to training younger female athletes such as Gray, who has a pretty impressive athletic pedigree herself. Before taking up the pole vault in February 2006, Gray was an elite gymnast.
"Her gymnastics training has given her so much discipline, as well as an ability to focus," McKnight said. "She's an awesome person who has it in her to be very successful in the pole vault. She's probably one of the most focused people I've ever been around. She has a great ability to perform under pressure -- and you really need that in an event like the pole vault."
Gray said she started pole vaulting almost by accident. She had recently quit gymnastics and was looking for a sport last year when she came to track practice. Reno coach Dan Anderson, now retired, saw that Gray was wearing a gymnastics sweatshirt.
"He said, 'With a sweatshirt like that, you should try the pole vault,'" Gray recalled. "So I did."
It's been a good match. Gray has only lost one meet this year, and has cleared 12 feet in practice on two occasions. That mark would tie her for second on Nevada's all-time list, behind only Reed's Ashley Feinberg, who vaulted 12-7 in 1997.
She said her gymnastics training has been perfect preparation for the pole vault.
"You have to have a good sense in both sports where your body is in the air, so that's a big help," she said. "And, you have to be very motivated in getting into the specifics of each sport."
Gray's father, Allen, was a football and baseball standout at Reno in the late 1970s and has many of the same personal attributes.
"Casey's parents have done an outstanding job with her,"
McKnight said. "They've instilled all of the right things in her. She has that special something that you find in so many great athletes."
For her part, Gray said having good role models and coaches have made all the difference.
"Coach Sambrano is a great coach," Gray said. "Working with a great athlete and person like Ali has really helped me get stronger and faster. And Cameron Kroll, well, he's a person to look up to. He's so supportive of all of the other athletes on the team."