Sarah Landau ponders the future

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Geneva pole vaulter ponders Olympic push
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June 29, 2009
By RICK ARMSTRONG rarmstrong@scn1.com

Sarah Landau raised the bar and went out in style as an All-American.

But is she done?
» Click to enlarge image
As a senior at Arkansas this spring, Sarah Landau took eighth place in the pole vault at the NCAA Division I Women's Track and Field Championships. The Geneva native holds the IHSA record, which she set five years ago.
Courtesy of the University of Arkansas

BIG NUMBERS

13 feet, 9 1/4 inches

The pole vaulting mark that secured eighth place for Geneva native Sarah Landau at the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships.

13-3

Landau's IHSA record, set in 2004

It's hard to say. When that question comes up, the pole vaulter from Geneva says she's still up in the air, so to speak.

"It was an awesome performance to end the season in front of almost 6,000 people, to (set a personal record) and get All-America," the University of Arkansas senior said after she cleared a personal best 13 feet, 9 1/4 inches to place eighth in the NCAA Division I Championships two weeks ago in her home stadium in Fayetteville, Ark.

After earning her degree in communications this spring, Landau landed a sales job with the ABC television affiliate in Fayetteville; she starts next week.

"I would really like to continue (vaulting)," she said. "Even though it's something I've done for nine years, there's still so much I can learn.

"I ended my season on a good note and really started putting it together the last three weeks of the season."

And because she's cleared 14 feet in practice, she'd like to find her limit.

"As an account executive for the TV station I don't know if I'll be able to balance work and training," she said. "But I'd like to try. By August, after a couple months on the job, I should have a better idea."

She'd like to keep working at it with an eye set on qualifying for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

"To qualify in 2008 you had to clear 14-1 (in competition) and it may go up," she said. "I know a former Arkansas vaulter, April Steiner-Bennett, who finished eighth in the Olympics last year and she doesn't practice until 5 p.m."

A teacher, Steiner-Bennett trains after her workday is done.
Still the standard
Earning All-America honors capped a long journey for Landau that included three states. The two-time high school state champion continues to hold the Illinois record in an event that has a brief eight-year history for girls.

Landau won the IHSA Class AA state title in 2003 as a junior by clearing 11-6 and repeated by clearing 13-3 in 2004. That mark is nine inches better than anyone has done in Illinois high school circles before or since.

She moved on to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where she won two Mid-American Conference titles and two NCAA Mideast Regional championships before transferring to the Southeast Conference power.

"My first year here I learned so much (under vault coach Bryan Compton)," said Landau, who was slowed late in her junior season by a sprained ankle.

And competing in Fayetteville, whose residents embrace the sport, is different from some U.S. locales, where it is little more than tolerated.

"We have so much support from the community and the facilities are some of the best, both indoor and outdoor," Landau said. "It really makes a difference."

The nationals appearance drew Landau relatives from five states to see her perform.

"My mother and I were grocery shopping when a lady from here in town just came up and started talking to me, telling us how she and her husband were hoping to go to the meet," Landau said. "People will go and watch even if they don't have sons or daughters competing. That's kind of nice."

What's also nice is her college coach will be close by if she chooses to keep training.

"I'm going to be rooming with a couple of girls who are still vaulting," said Landau, who doesn't know if she'll stay in sales or pursue other broadcast interests. "It's just a start. My boss has been in broadcasting for 30 years. I have to see where I want to go next."

Chances are, it will be her usual direction: up. Track and Field