Stuczynski 4.60 in Ontario, attempts AR

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/app ... 60396/1007

Stuczynski sets Hamilton Indoor record

Staff report


February 16, 2007 6:38 am â€â€

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp ... 2274690734

Pole vault record falls


Kaz Novak / the Hamilton Spectator
GOT GAME. Canadian Dana Ellis, above, failed to set a Canadian record but American Jennifer Stucynski's 4.6m vault broke the Hamilton Indoor Games record.


American breaks local record, falls short of U.S. record

By John Kernaghan
The Hamilton Spectator
(Feb 16, 2007)
What goes up must come down and when American Jennifer Stucynski went up yesterday, the Hamilton Indoor Games pole vault record went down.

The relative newcomer to the event cleared 4.60 metres, bettering the 4.38 of Canada's Kelsie Hendry, but didn't get a shot at the main prize, the U.S. indoor record of 4.82.

"We were hoping to get to 4.75 for a good run-up to the record but couldn't get by it," said Stucynski, who switched from college basketball to the field event just three years ago.

The pole vault mark fell in front of a sparse crowd at Copps Coliseum during the 82nd version of the indoor games.

Stucynski, 25, had just started a Masters program in Rochester, N.Y. when she made the switch. She progressed so rapidly toward the U.S. women's pole vault title, setting the indoor record of 4.81 metres, that she put the degree on hold.

But her visit to Hamilton was literally a pain in the neck. She woke with a tight neck and received some treatment at Copps before her event.

To adjust to the ache, she sacrificed takeoff power by going to a smaller pole and focusing on the push to clear the bar at the top end.

She switched to the pole vault from hoops in 2004 because her college basketball coach, who also coached several national high school pole vault champions, saw her potential.

Kitchener's Dana Ellis also missed her goal of bettering her own Canadian indoor record of 4.41 when she couldn't get over the 4.42-metre mark after passing on 4.30.

"I should make that easily based on my training so I'm disappointed. I've done that height twice already this year. I think I might have made a bad judgment call in passing at 4.30 because there was a long wait before the next jump."

Ellis nicked the bar on her second shot and prayed the bouncing bar would fall back into place, but it came down after her.

"I noticed some lucky bounces with that bar. It was very forgiving, but not for me."

Ellis was so ticked at failing to top her mark, she's considering trying again at the Ontario Track & Field Association senior event in Toronto tomorrow.