Bill Halverson Returns Home to Teach Vaulting

[Bubba PV]

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/p ... /807220321

One of the best pole vaulters in Montana prep and collegiate history, Halverson will be among 50 speakers at the 40th annual Montana Coaches Association Multi-Sports Clinic, set for Aug. 6-8 at Great Falls High.

Halverson graduated from GFH in 1976, after winning two state Class AA pole vault championships and setting the school record of 15 feet, 9 inches — a mark that still stands today. He was also a fine sprinter and long jumper for the Bison track team, and was a standout in football.

In 1975, Halverson became the first Montana prepster to vault 15 feet. The following year he was nationally ranked after clearing 15-7 1/2 at the Simplot Games, an indoor meet in Pocatello, Idaho, and going 15-9 at the Golden West Invitational, an all-star outdoor meet in Walnut, Calif.

In 1974, Halverson became the only sophomore to win the Owen Loftsgaarden Outstanding Performer Award at the Montana Track & Field Meet of Champions.

As a freshman at the University of Montana, he vaulted 16-9, a school record that would last for 25 years.

In 1978, at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., Halverson broke former Olympian Bob Seagren's school record with a vault of 17-1. That mark stood until 2001.

Three years later, at San Diego State, he broke the school record with a leap of 17-6.

A 2004 inductee into the Montana High School Association Hall of Fame, Halverson currently resides in Charlotte, N.C., where he coaches vaulters at Charlotte Latin High, as well as members of his vault club.

He's a four-time Masters pole vault champion and twice has been named National Masters Field Event Athlete of the Year. He will compete in the National Masters (50-54) meet in Spokane, Wash., on Aug. 10.

Halverson is the son of Ralph Halverson, the longtime GFH track and field coach who now lives in San Diego. Ralph Halverson has served as director of the Montana Coaches Association for many years, and will be in Great Falls to direct the 40th anniversary celebration of the MCA Multi-Sports Clinic.