Stacy Dragila Earns Spot on U.S. National Team

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Dragila makes U.S. team

Stacy Dragila will cap what she insists is her final season by representing the United States once more.

On Sunday at the U.S. track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., the Idaho State graduate finished third in the women's pole vault, which earned her a berth in the world track and field championships set for Aug. 15-23 in Berlin.
"Going through the last couple years thinking where my career's been mentally and physically, I think it's gonna be one of the happiest moments of my life," Dragila said by cell phone late Sunday night.

Dragila captured the first-ever Olympic gold medal in women's pole vault, winning the inaugural event at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. In Berlin, she'll represent the United States in a competition for the first time since the 2005 world championships in Helsinki, Finland.
"I'm really happy to make the team," she said. "It's been a really long time."

During Sunday's competition, Dragila, a former world record holder, was successful on her first four attempts to secure a top-three finish, and she went on to clear the fifth height -- 14 feet, 11 inches -- on her second attempt before missing on three tries at 15-1.
Chelsea Johnson cleared that mark to finish second, while American record holder Jennifer Stuczynski shook off several nagging injuries to win her fourth straight outdoor U.S. title by clearing 15-3.

"After making the team and realizing it, I was like, I can't believe it," Dragila said.
Dragila has won nine outdoor national championships, including seven straight from 1999-2005. She captured world titles outdoors in 1999 and 2001.

Surgery on each Achilles' tendon kept Dragila out of competition for all of 2006 and most of 2007. She came back for the 2008 campaign but failed to finish in the top three at the Olympic trials and went to the Beijing Games merely as a spectator to support her fiancé, Ian Waltz.
Dragila and Waltz moved from Pocatello to Chula Vista, Calif., before the 2009 indoor season to train at the Olympic Training Center. There, Dragila started working under coach Ty Sevin.

On Sunday, Dragila had a little extra help in the stands. Idaho State track and field coach Dave Nielsen, the man responsible for introducing her to the sport and the one who coached her during her Olympic run, was on hand in the Hayward Field crowd.
"It was nice to see Dave there watching and supporting me the whole time," Dragila said. "A few times, I looked over at him like, tell me what to do."

While basking in her effort, Dragila wasn't ready to talk about retirement, but she has said multiple times throughout the season that this is her last.
If it is indeed her final U.S. championships appearance, it ended exactly as planned.

"That's how I wanted to go out," she said. "On my terms."


By Tim Flagstad

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2009/06/30/sports/local/3.txt

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Finishes third and qualifies



Stacy Dragila



June 29, 2009


Eugene, OR --- Former Idaho State Bengal athlete and coach Stacy Dragila will have to put her retirement plans on hold for a little while, as she qualified for the 2009 U.S. National team in the pole vault after finishing third with a vault of 14 feet, 11 inches. She will now represent the United States in the world track and field championships set for Aug. 15-23 in Berlin.

Dragila will be joined in the pole vault by American record holder Jennifer Stuczynski, who won her fourth straight outdoor U.S. title by clearing 15-3, and Chelsea Johnson, who finished second at 15-1.

Dragila has won nine outdoor national championships, including seven straight from 1999-2005. She captured world titles outdoors in 1999 and 2001, and she famously won the first ever women's pole vault title in the Olympics, winning in 2000 in Sydney, earning a USA Today cover photo in the process.

Dragila's run to the world's in Berlin capped off an exciting week for Idaho State, as freshman men's pole vaulter Mike Arnold qualified for the junior Pan American games after finishing second in the junior pole vault. Current ISU coach Paul Litchfield no-heighted in the pole vault in his attempt to make the U.S. national team, and Lois Ricardi-Keller finished 22nd in the steeplechase, finishing with 40 seconds of a national team berth.

http://isubengals.cstv.com/sports/w-track/spec-rel/062909aaa.html