True Pole Vaulting Stories

[natdog]

Moral of the story "Don't open up at the district meet at 11 feet if your a 12 foot vaulter" ?

I believe that Lindsey would want you to remember her story and for you to do everything possible to avoid her type of gut-wrenching experience during a state qualification meet.

From the Joplin Globe, May 16, 2001
By Craig Hull
http://www.joplinglobe.com/archives/200 ... tory5.html

As a two-time state defending champion, it was not supposed to end like it did for Lindsey Bourne.

Granted, nothing is completely through for the Joplin High School senior who will continue her career at the University of Oklahoma.

But on Saturday, at the Class 4A district meet at JFK Stadium, Bourne’s prep pole vault career ended in a way that no one predicted — with a no height.

With all other vaulters done and Central’s Jennifer Wolf finished after clearing 10 feet, all Bourne needed to do was clear her opening height.

She decided to go for 11-0 as her opening height, a mark she has cleared hundreds of times in practice and in competition. To Bourne, it was almost as easy as making an open layup, grooving a fastball on a 3-0 count or kicking a PAT.

However, every once in a while, the layup is missed, the fastball misses outside and the PAT sails wide right.

Bourne missed her first attempt. On the second one she all but cleared it as her knee clipped the crossbar on her way down.

“Actually watching the video of it makes me more sick,” Bourne said. “Both times I was over it so far, a foot or more at least.”

On her third and final attempt, Bourne made her jump, got up in the air only to be held up before deciding to ride the pole down.

That was it, it was all over.

No district title, no sectional qualification, no return trip to Jefferson City and most importantly, no chance at a third straight state title.

“I cried. I had never cried before at a meet, but I got back up, congratulated everyone else because they had worked hard to get there also,” Bourne said. “But I was definitely heartbroken.

“But there are no excuses and none can be made. We did ask to have the mats moved to the other end of the runway because we thought there was a head wind, but the decision was overruled. Still, there are no excuses because everyone had to deal with it.”

As she prepared for her final attempt, Bourne said she started to think about what might happen if ...

“I think I pysched myself out of it,” Bourne said. “Right after I missed the second attempt, I got frustrated. I started to think about what might happen and that put added pressure on myself. I got upset and started to worry, if anything, I learned not to take anything for granted.”

While it hasn’t been easy for Bourne to deal with the fact that her prep career is over, some good news did arrive on Monday to help soothe the pain.

She received an invitation to compete in the Golden West meet in Sacramento, Calif., on June 9. The meet invites by letter the nine best athletes in each event.

Bourne, who cleared 12-4 during the winter, had a best of 11-11¾ during this past prep season.

“It’s time to pick up the pieces, put it all back together and move on,” Bourne said. “I need to learn from this, continue to improve and keep it from happening again. The best thing about this is, I’m not through. I’m far from being done.”

After the Golden West meet, Bourne will travel cross country to the 19-under U.S. Junior Nationals in Virginia on June 16. A top-two finish there will qualify her to compete in Scotland in August and in Argentina in October.

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And Lindsey Bourne did recover from this experience to vault 12-0 at the Golden West, 12-0 at an AAU summer meet in Manhattan, Kansas and to become a solid performer at Oklahoma University her freshman year.

[vaultfan]

Hey PvaultinGirl, those were great stories!

I’ll continue looking for magazine or newspaper articles which I think might be of interest to some of you. But it is the “personal experienceâ€Â

[smokinvaulter1]

MY Brother wrote that story

[vaultfan]

This was written over three years ago by Bruce Caldwell and is something that I feel that most of you will enjoy:

In 1969, in high school at Raytown South High School, Raytown, Missouri, I discovered a place that made fiberglass poles for power and light companies. Climbed the fence and borrowed (LOL) two from the scrap pile. Took them home cut them to 12’4â€Â

[wacky274]

interesting...what a find though

[PvaultinGirl]

that is a really neat story!! here is a cool little story about a great vaulter from VA. by the name of Davind Sullivan. The rifle-like sound was heard throughout the stadium when David Sullivan broke his pole. The pole lay on the ground in pieces, exposing the surprisingly thin layer of fiberglass that composes the cylinder. But Sullivan pulled another pole out of his rack and proceeded to make 15-1.25, 15-5, and 15-9 in succession to become champion of the Penn Relays. One piece of the pole hit Sullivan in the shin, and he seemed to limp slightly after his last good clearance. Sullivan switched to a smaller pole to get more speed on the runway on his gimpy leg. The Centreville VA sr is signed to attend the University of Virginia next year. David won the state meet with a vault of 16'4(easy) and vaults for uva now. what a great guy! i think that it takes a lot of courage just to take up a new pole and vault some more after yours has just shattered! maybe it's just me though, because i must admit that i would be freaked out if my pole just all of the sudden broke and i probably would be afraid to vault for the remainder of the meet.

[wacky274]

i know this sounds sappy, but it's like something my dad has taught me is that if you do something and crash, get scared etc. (assuming you can) get right up and do it again....for instance, i remember he crashed his dirtbike one time off of a jump, he instantly got back up, went and did it again...otherwise that fear brews in you...it's like, if you just get up and do it again, you win over your fear...

[vaultfan]

For the record, I feel that it is inappropriate for athletes to bare themselves for additional publicity. However, I do feel that most of you will get a chuckle upon learning how the “famousâ€Â

[vaultfan]

Here's a nice four-page article entitled "History of the Fiberglass Pole, by Debbie Chappell:

http://www.ustrackcoaches.org/Mainwebsi ... ew75.2.pdf

[wacky274]

really interesting story...yes, i read it all, lol, what can i say, i'm a pole vault junkie, but arent we all? anyway, if you havnt read it, and really care to know where the poles that you jump on have come from, and how they came to be what they are today, i strongly suggest you read it

[PvaultinGirl]

yeah, it is an interesting story. now i feel all dumb tho...no one else posted any of their stupid pv stories about things they have done before. oh well, maybe i am the only one out there who has dumb stories about the things i did...or i am just the only one stupid enough to share them. oh geez...

[lonestar]

:) yeah, it is an interesting story. now i feel all dumb tho...no one else posted any of their stupid pv stories about things they have done before. oh well, maybe i am the only one out there who has dumb stories about the things i did...or i am just the only one stupid enough to share them. oh geez...

Don't feel dumb. I've done a few dumb things myself over the years.

For example: during an indoor meet at Syracuse University about 6 years ago, I was on my 3rd attempt at 4.60 and had blown through my pole on my first and 2nd attempts. On my 3rd I decided to go up a pole, so I grabbed the next pole and went. After blowing the bar past the end of the track and nearly landing off the pit, I said "What the hell happened?" My teammate Tom was just shaking his head and grinning at me when he said "You dumbass - you grabbed the 21.2 instead of the 19.2!" Just goes to show, never grab a pole based on how it "looks" - check the flex number first!

Kris