Bartolina confident heading into trials

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Bartolina confident heading into trials
Philomath High grad hoping to make Olympic team in the pole vault

By Kevin Hampton
Gazette-Times reporter

Erica Bartolina’s track and field career took shape in part at University of Oregon’s Hayward Field.

While growing up in Philomath, Bartolina (then Erica Boren) often participated in all-comers meets at the facility.

In high school, she won a state championship and four medals total in pole vault at Hayward.

Now Bartolina is back, looking for a berth in the Olympic Games. The women’s pole vault competition at the 2008 Olympic trial begins Thursday and concludes Sunday.

At first glance, it looks like a tough road. Bartolina has 12 vaulters seeded above her, but they are bunched pretty close together with the exception of top seed Jennifer Stuczynski.

Bartolina knows she has a chance to leapfrog into second or third and land a trip to Beijing.

“I know that what I’m capable of doing on that day is the same as most of the girls are capable of doing on that day,” Bartolina said. “I have a shot at the top three. I just have to do better than I have before. I know I have room to.”

Track and field was a sport that was a perfect fit for Bartolina. She lost her right eye in an automobile accident when she was a baby, so depth perception was an issue.

She was a distance runner when she started at Philomath High, but quickly discovered the pole vault. After a shaky start, the event clicked.

She finished second in the state as a freshman and sophomore, won the title as a junior and was third as a senior.

Texas A&M brought her in on scholarship as its first female pole vaulter.

“We were kind of in it together,” Bartolina said. “I pretty much improved steadily in my growth and technique and them learning how to coach a female pole vaulter.”

She improved an inch over her high school mark of 11 feet during the first year, then went to 12-4, 13-3 and then 13-4 as a senior.

Bartolina won the Big 12 title twice and made three trips to the NCAA Championships.

She wound up marrying pole vault coach Michael Bartolina in 2003. Under his training, she made a significant jump in her marks and consistently vaults over 14 feet.

“I had a lot of improvement working with him,” Erica said. “He knows what other things might influence my performance on the track and he knows what I need to do and what to focus on.”

Bartolina competed in the 2004 trials, but did not finish in the top three.

“I was going into that just excited to be there,” she said. “There were not really any high expectations, unlike this year.”

She finished fourth at the USA Track and Field Championships in 2005 and fifth in 2007 after an injury sidelined her for most of 2006.

Her best vault is 14-5 3/4, and her top mark this season is 14-3.

Bartolina trained heavily in the fall, then tapered off in the spring and worked on her speed and explosion.

She competed in several meets during the past few months, including three from June 17-21 in British Columbia, Canada. The competition helped her focus her adrenaline and get used to applying the techniques she uses in practice to live situations.

“Usually I practice pretty well and then in competition I try to do things better and I start pressing too hard,” she said. “The technique kind of goes out the window when I try to go a little more.”

She’s ready now.

“It’s all about what you do on the day,” she said. “You have to go in there and compete well.”