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Pole Vault Event Flies Into Dome Next Weekend
By: James D. Cimburek
james.cimburek@yankton.net
P&D FILE PHOTO The five vaulters who participated in the Derek Miles and Friends competition in 2006 (from left) Jeremy Scott, Toby Stevenson, Jeff Hartwig, Derek Miles and Sam Pribyl.
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Over the years, the Derek Miles and Friends pole vault competition has grown into a high-profile, high-flying spectacular. After taking 2007 off, the event comes back next weekend twice as big as ever.
Ten of the top men's pole vaulters in the nation will find there way to the little Dome on the prairie -- the University of South Dakota's DakotaDome -- in what could be one of the most exciting events the sport has seen in the state.
"You don't get that many people at even the largest meets that get aired on ESPN. For example, at the Millrose Games, there will only be like five or six guys," said Miles, a 2004 Olympian and USD grad. "The fact that all these 10 guys are coming here is pretty significant in the sense that it doesn't happen very often. We're excited about it. It should be fun."
In 2006, U.S. record holder Jeff Hartwig cleared 19 feet, 2 1/2 inches, hitting the magic 19-foot mark for the 100th time in his career with what would be the highest U.S. indoor mark of the season. That field also included 2004 Olympic silver medalist Toby "Crash" Stevenson, Miles, and two up-and-coming vaulters, Norfolk, Neb., native Jeremy Scott and Webster native and USD grad Sam Pribyl.
But Miles had surgery in December that year, and wasn't healthy enough to get things put together last year.
"With me being in crutches and laying in bed in January, I thought it's probably not a good time to try to put this together," he said.
All five who were in Vermillion in 2006 will be back, but the quintet will add two Olympic gold medalists, the current top-ranked vaulter in the world, a former world silver medalist and another up-and-coming vaulter.
"I started calling around, and it turned out that most of the guys were in town that weekend and we got early confirmations from everybody," said Miles, who has helped organize the event. "The more people I asked and talked to, the more interest there was. Before we knew it, we had a field of 10 guys, 10 really, really good guys."
Brad Walker, who was born in Aberdeen, was the 2007 World Outdoor champion and the 2006 World Indoor champion. Tim Mack won Olympic gold in 2004. Nick Hysong won Olympic gold in 2000. Tye Harvey earned silver at the 2001 World Indoor. Jacob Pauli, the former Northern Iowa standout, finished third in the 2007 USA Outdoor.
"With the field we have here, there's a 99.9 percent chance that our entire U.S. Olympic team (in the pole vault) this year will come from this group of 10. This is South Dakota's chance to see the athletes we're going to be sending to Beijing this summer at the Olympic Games," Miles said. "These 10 essentially represent the pool that Olympic team that will be chosen from. We're kinda excited to have South Dakota have the opportunity to see who will represent the United States at the Olympics this year before ever actually go."
Besides the chance to see the top pole vaulters in the nation, fans will be treated to quite a show, according to Miles.
"We're going to do some fun things," he said. "We'll have lots of music, lots of announcing, lots of interaction with the crowd and t-shirt throwing out in the crowd and door prizes, things of that nature. It should be a much more intensive deal and much more exciting throughout the whole competition."
Miles didn't give say much more, saying he didn't want to spoil the surprise.
"I hate to use the word 'WWE,' but the theatrics of WWE and the lights and the music and those types of things are kind of the same type of energy we're going to incorporate into our opening presentation. We're going to have a couple presentations from different groups or different entertainment packages," he said. "I'm kinda being secretive because I think it will be kinda fun to surprise for everybody.
"But it's definitely going to be a show, an opening show presentation where the lights in the Dome are off and we're using some dynamic lights and things of that nature," he added. "It should be fun to be a spectator, and it will help us generate even more energy for the event itself."
Part of that atmosphere is bringing fans right to the pole vault area, which is part of the appeal -- not only for the fans but for the vaulters.
"Pole vaulters are always looking for good places to jump. Atmosphere and facilities are just as much a part of jumping high as your basic physical conditioning. I think if you're physically fit and you have the right conditions and the right atmosphere and the right facilities, you can make some interesting things happen, Miles said. "I think that's been the case for this meet in the last couple of years. We've got a good facility here, it's a fast runway, and then you add a couple thousand people right on the pit cheering you on, it's twice as exciting.
"Vaulters, in spirit, are pole vaulters first before they're businessmen. We all do this for a living, but what it really comes down to, we want to have good performances and we want to have a good time. I think word has spread that, not only is it a good place to jump, but the people and the fans that come to support it just have a blast. The vaulters feed off that and we have really good performances."
Miles was quick to credit not only his alma mater, but several others who are helping to make the event possible.
"We did have to do a considerable amount of fundraising to get these guys here. We have three great corporate sponsors that have helped us out: The Orthopedic Institute in Sioux Falls, Scheels in Sioux Falls and Mount Trucks out in Meckling," he said. "All these three sponsors, as well as private donors, have contributed quite a bit to really make this happen.
The budget for this thing, to get everybody here, is pretty large. We've been very fortunate to have their support," he added. "Really, without them, this whole event wouldn't be coming together at all."
The event begins at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19, following the Bill Hillenbrand Invitational track and field meet. Fans will be An autograph and photo session will follow the event.
Listen to James D. Cimburek and KYNT sports director Brady Donovin on 1450 AM KYNT's "Breakfast With The Coaches," live from Yesterday's Cafe, beginning at 9 a.m.
