vaulting in college?

[4 18 PM Eastern Time]

how good do you have to be at pole vaulting (male) to pole vault at a division III university without being recruited in high school? I kind of want to keep pole vaulting in college but I never really got recruited because I only got good recently and I havn't been vaulting for long. My PR is 12' 6'' but my coach says if I got healthy and got the right pole I would have a lot of potential. Could I still join the track team at a place like Carnegie Mellon even though I havn't talked to the coach there? Would they want me or have a spot for me? I guess I want to know how division III athletics works really.

[rainbowgirl28]

how good do you have to be at pole vaulting (male) to pole vault at a division III university without being recruited in high school? I kind of want to keep pole vaulting in college but I never really got recruited because I only got good recently and I havn't been vaulting for long. My PR is 12' 6'' but my coach says if I got healthy and got the right pole I would have a lot of potential. Could I still join the track team at a place like Carnegie Mellon even though I havn't talked to the coach there? Would they want me or have a spot for me? I guess I want to know how division III athletics works really.

You could probably join the team at most DIII schools that have pole vault with 12'6", especially in the northeast.

The important thing is to contact the coaches now, so you know before you start school! I think most DIII schools wouldn't mind having you, as long as you were willing to show up to practice every day and work hard.

But every school is different, there is not a blanket answer for each school. Don't be afraid to email coaches They want you to contact them now so they can make sure you are in the loop with paperwork and physicals when school starts. Practices start in the fall.

Here are the stats for Carnegie Mellon this past year: http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/E ... olID=20705

[birdi_gurlie]

Also, coaches look for:

-good person?
-coachable?
-academics?

For example, if Suzie Jane steals other runner's iPods and tags the schol, she PROBABLY won't be on the team. If Billy refuses to listen to the coach, [and I mean on more than one thing, not just a minor thing.] then he probably won't last very long. If your grades are below [X] grade, you won't be allowed to compete anyway.

[souleman]

I guess the big question is, are you going to pick your school because they have a spot for you to jump? Or have you decided that Carnegie Mellon is where you ARE going to go to school and if you can jump there, that's all the better. If the latter is the case then the time frame for contacting them isn't that imperative. As a freshman at the University of Arkansas I got the hair brained idea to walk on to the number 2 football team in the nation. I just went down to the field house and found somebody connected with the team and (because I didn't know any better) just told them I was a kicker and wanted to play football. Danged if they didn't help me get all of it figured out to play spring ball and like Becca said, through hard work I was one of 5 walk ons that was asked back for the fall practices. So anything is possible. So, if you're registered and accepted at Carnegie Mellon, when you get there, just walk into somebodies office and tell them you're a pole vaulter and would like to be on the team. Whether you're one of their starters right away or not is as important as being part of the team. You'll benefit from the college coaching you'll get and (once again) with hard work you'll get there if it's meant to be. Later.......Mike

[rainbowgirl28]

Mike, the paperwork is a lot more complicated now with physicals and clearinghouse. It actually is really helpful if incoming freshmen contact the coaches now, not when school starts.

Plus, some high school athletes don't realize how early in the fall training starts, and how mandatory those practices are. Some coaches may also have summer workouts that they recommend to ensure you are fit enough for fall training.

[VaultPurple]

Mike, the paperwork is a lot more complicated now with physicals and clearinghouse. It actually is really helpful if incoming freshmen contact the coaches now, not when school starts.

Plus, some high school athletes don't realize how early in the fall training starts, and how mandatory those practices are. Some coaches may also have summer workouts that they recommend to ensure you are fit enough for fall training.

this may be best and the easiest thing to do (contacting now)... But I know some schools do not have walk on tryouts till end of August (after school starts)

[rainbowgirl28]

Mike, the paperwork is a lot more complicated now with physicals and clearinghouse. It actually is really helpful if incoming freshmen contact the coaches now, not when school starts.

Plus, some high school athletes don't realize how early in the fall training starts, and how mandatory those practices are. Some coaches may also have summer workouts that they recommend to ensure you are fit enough for fall training.

this may be best and the easiest thing to do (contacting now)... But I know some schools do not have walk on tryouts till end of August (after school starts)

I don't think too many DIII schools have tryouts.

[4 18 PM Eastern Time]

yea i've already commited to carnegie mellon and just wanted to pole vault as a plus

[souleman]

Dog gone you Becca! Ya just had to remind me that the world has past me by didn't you? He He. Well, as long as our hero is scheduled to attend Carnegie Mellon. Then most of us should be able to agree that a short contact to the coach asking him to keep a pole warm for him would be in order don't you think? Later......................Mike