20 NCAA Men Have PR's of 5.50+

[PV2020]

There may actually be more, but that is all I could find of the athletes that are currently ranked in the top 50 right now (14 have jumped it this outdoor season). There may be red-shirted athletes or injured athletes that have not jumped this year.

Some people have posted on PVP that the college coaches are not holding their own given the facilities they have to work with. I would argue that is not true. Not all of these athletes are US Citizens, but most are. The problem with US pole vaulting is not lack of college coaches, it is the lack of elite coaches and elite training groups with these coaches.

These college athletes have it better than 99.9% of professionals, but they are still young and developing. When they get to the age they should start to peak they lose their training centers, their poles, their coaches, and their athletic trainers. College pole vault coaches (that are not volunteers) get paid. Not always the best. Sometimes just enough to live off of, if that, but if you are an assistant at a BCS school it may be 50K or more a year, and if you are the head coach it may be well into the six figures. There is no intensive for these top coaches to coach elites. Occasionally you can let an elite use the facilities or travel as a volunteer coach, but they still do not get the same attention they would as a college athlete, and they still have to make their own money too.

Out of these 20 or more athletes that jump 5.50, maybe 1 will make enough money from pole vault to not need a job right out of college. And odds are, the #1 college vaulter does not have the biggest upside. If #15 actually has the most potential, but he never gets a chance to jump after college, then the USA vaulters will never be as good as they could be.

[jcoover]

Nailed it. We post collegians for the most part don't and shouldn't complain, as we've chosen to do this and most of us enjoy the hell out of it, but you've nailed the problem with the system.

As a post collegiate athlete, your jumping high benefits nobody but yourself. The meets can always find another guy to jump, and your coach likely makes $0 from you having a high SB or world ranking.

Of the 16 or so guys that jumped at last year's outdoor USA's, there weren't two that train at the same track. That will change just a bit this year, but will remain consistent with the post collegians.

[rainbowgirl28]

Can you make a list for us?

[jcoover]

1 Brad Walker - Phoenix, AZ (pfaff)

2 Jeremy Scott - Jonesboro, AR (bell)

3 Jack Whitt - Tulsa, Oklahoma (dial)

4 Jeffrey Coover - Cedar Falls, IA (pauli)

5 Dustin DeLeo - Costa Mesa, CA (woepse)

6 Andrew Irwin - Fayetteville, AR (case)

7 Victor Weirich - Provo, UT

8 Sam Kendricks - Oxford, Mississippi (kendricks)

9 Mark Hollis - Knoxville, TN (mack)

10 Jordan Scott - Lawrence, KS (hayes)

NH Nick Mossberg - Phoenix, AZ (starkey), now Tuscon (blockburger)

NH Nikita Kirillov - Atlanta, GA (kirillov)

NH John Prader - San Luis Obisbo, CA (ashcroft)

NH Logan Cunningham - San Marcos TX

NH Jake Winder - Naperville, IL (winder)

NH Sean Young - Tampa, FL (marsh)

[PV2020]

1 Kendricks, Sam JR-3 Mississippi 19' 0.75" 5.81m 2013 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 3/27/2013
2 Barber, Shawn SO-2 Akron 18' 10.25" 5.75m NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships 03/14/14
3 Irwin, Andrew JR-3 Arkansas 18' 9.25" 5.72m SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championship 05/10/12
4 Ross, Colton SR-4 Stephen F. Austin 18' 8.25" 5.70m Longhorn Invitational 05/03/14
5 Woepse, Michael SR-4 UCLA 18' 5.25" 5.62m UCLA vs USC 05/04/14
6 Blankenship, Jake SO-2 Tennessee 18' 4.75" 5.61m 2013 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 3/27/2013
7 Geraghty, Peter SR-4 Eastern Illinois 18' 2.75" 5.56m EIU Tuesday Tweener 04/22/14
8 Cato, Japheth SR-4 Wisconsin 18' 2.5" 5.55m Tyson Invitational 2/14/2014
9 Pujats, Pauls JR-3 Memphis 18' 2" 5.54m Memphis Invitational 03/29/14
10 Siegmeier, Zach SR-4 Minnesota 18' 1" 5.51m Musco Invitational 05/03/14
11 Watson, Reese SO-2 Texas 18' 1" 5.51m Texas Invitational 04/12/14
12 Babits, Max SR-4 Eastern Michigan 18' 1" 5.51m Hillsdale Tune-Up 2/22/2014
13 Uhle, Joey JR-3 Air Force 18' 1" 5.51m 2013 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 3/27/2013
14 Wait, Kyle SR-4 Kansas State 18' 1" 5.51m 2013 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 3/27/2013
15 Bowen, Casey JR-3 Kansas 18' 0.5" 5.50m 2014 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 03/26/14
16 Pillow, Chris JR-3 Rice 18' 0.5" 5.50m 2014 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 03/26/14
17 Viken, Michael SR-4 Eastern Illinois 18' 0.5" 5.50m 2014 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 03/26/14
18 Wolfle, Chase SO-2 Texas A&M 18' 0.5" 5.50m 2014 Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays 03/26/14
19 Hinch, Derick SR-4 Arizona State 18' 0.5" 5.50m NCAA Division I Indoor Championships 3/8/2013
20 Thoirs, Jax SO-2 Washington 18' 0.5" 5.50m New Mexico Classic 2/7/2014
21 Munz, Stephan SR-4 Virginia Tech 17' 10.5" 5.45m ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships 4/17/2014
22 Kirillov, Nikita JR-3 Georgia Tech 17' 10.5" 5.45m Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Invitational 3/30/2012
23 Laidig, Torben FR-1 Virginia Tech 17' 10.5" 5.45m NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships 3/14/2014
24 McCune, Alex JR-3 Akron 17' 10.5" 5.45m NCAA Division I Indoor Championships 3/14/2014
25 Dangel, Josh SR-4 Cincinnati 17' 10.25" 5.44m All-Ohio Track & Field Champs 4/12/2014
26 Juilfs, JJ JR-3 Washington 17' 10.25" 5.44m Pac-12 Championships 5/12/2012
27 Brannon, Chase SR-4 Tennessee 17' 9.25" 5.43m Virginia Tech Challenge 2/21/2014
28 Arnold, Seth JR-3 Texas State 17' 9" 5.42m Texas A&M Invitational 2/14/2014
29 Duplantis, Andreas JR-3 LSU 17' 9" 5.42m SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships 2/22/2013
30 Meyers, Kyal SR-4 Texas Tech 17' 8.75" 5.41m Tyson Invitational 2/8/2013
31 Lazas, Kevin SR-4 Arkansas 17' 8.75" 5.41m Tyson Invitational 2/8/2013
32 Cahoy, Steven FR-1 Nebraska 17' 8.5" 5.40m 2014 Drake Relays presented by Hy-Vee 4/23/2014
33 Uhle, Chris JR-3 Virginia Tech 17' 8.5" 5.40m Winston-Salem Street Vault 7/13/2013

[KYLE ELLIS]

I think Krillov jumped 5.54 at Junior nationals or some meet in the summer.

"At the 2012 United States Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, set a new personal record, school record and US Junior meet record en route to a first place finish in the pole vault with a leap of 5.54m (18-2)."

[PV2020]

I think Krillov jumped 5.54 at Junior nationals or some meet in the summer.

"At the 2012 United States Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, set a new personal record, school record and US Junior meet record en route to a first place finish in the pole vault with a leap of 5.54m (18-2)."

Yeah, that was the year that 3 Americans made the finals. The 2 born in the USA were representing other nations (Barber and Duplantis) while the one in the USA kit was born over seas (Krillov). I am not complaining that Krillov was jumping for America, just thought the situation was funny.

[KYLE ELLIS]

So would that make it 21? I think 15 of those are from the west region. That makes it scary going into regionals knowing there are 15 guys over 5.50, and top 12 advance.