Clovis - Hollis 18-6, Van Meter, Weygandt 13-0

[rainbowgirl28]

http://clovisindependent.com/2010/08/04 ... zed-event/

Over the top: Clovis Street Vault is a nationally recognized event

A pole vaulter at last year's Clovis Street Vault.

The Annual North American Pole Vault Championships, better known as the Clovis Street Vault, return to the Old Town Clovis Farmers’ Market this Friday, Aug. 6. Not just a local event, the Clovis Street Vault is known among vaulting enthusiasts across the nation and competition is strictly limited by invitation only. Despite its small town setting, the Clovis Street Vault is a renowned and celebrated event.
Kyle Fraley is one of the atletes who will be competing at this year’s event. Pole vaulting has always been in his life. The 17-year-old, soon-to-be senior at Lemoore High School grew up in an athletic family with both his father and great uncle being pole vaulters. Sporting events, particularly the track and field variety, were what he grew up watching on television. When he was in the 3rd grade, at the tender age of 9, Fraley started pole vaulting himself. He has become quite an accomplished athlete and is looking forward to the Clovis Street Vault.

“It takes a lot of skill,” Fraley says of the sport. “It’s more challenging. It’s all-around strength.”

His high school coach is Jamison Whiting, who is a pole vaulter himself. Whiting echoes Fraley’s thoughts on the difficulties of the sport.

“It’s one of the hardest things there is to do,” he says. “It’s unbelievably meticulous. You have to have your wits about you. It’s like playing golf in a way, but you’re the golf ball. It’s different than any other sport.”

Going to the Clovis Street Vault is a big deal for Fraley. Not just everyone gets an invitation. There are only a select few who get to compete each year. This will be Fraley’s second year of competition.

“It’s a pretty prestigious thing to jump in that,” Whiting says. “People from all over want to jump in that. You can’t just show up.”

Whiting himself was one of the lucky few invited to compete back in 1998. He was representing his college in New Hampshire at the time. In one of those strange “small world” moments, Fraley actually remembers seeing Whiting jump. Although he only would have been about 5 years old at the time, he still has the autographed piece of cross bar he caught that Whiting tossed out into the crowd. Twelve years later, Whiting had relocated to California and became his high school coach.

And while it may not be quite the same level of coincidence, Fraley’s great uncle, Bob Fraley, is the man responsible for starting the Clovis Street Vault at the Farmers Market in 1995. Bob Fraley was a track and field coach for 48 years. He taught at California State University, Fresno for 28 of those years. He specialized in pole vaulting. It became his passion during childhood when he grew up living next door to Cornelius “Dutch” Warmerdam, one-time pole vaulting world record holder.

Warmerdam went on to be the track and field coach at Fresno State — the athletic field would later be named in his honor — before retiring in 1980, when Bob Fraley took his position. This year’s Clovis Street Vault event is being dedicated to Warmerdam’s memory. Warmerdam grew up in Hanford. Team Hanford, which Kyle Fraley will be a member of and named as a nod to Warmerdam’s legacy, will be throwing out autographed pieces of bamboo poles in Warmerdam’s honor. Bamboo poles were used for pole vaulting before being replace by the carbon fiber poles used today.

Tonight’s competition in Old Town Clovis will be a unique opportunity to see athletes from across the nation in a sport that is enjoying a renaissance of sorts. In addition to Kyle Fraley, 10-year-old Mondo Duplantis from Louisiana will be participating. Duplantis is the youth world record holder for pole vaulting. Television star Erik Estrada’s son, Brandon Estrada, will also be among the competitors.

“It’s not uncommon to have people come from other countries to see how we do it,” says Shawn Miller, business development manager for the city of Clovis. He says last year there was a contingent from Japan. “It’s very different, very unique. The bar they jump over is as high as a lot of the buildings down here.”

Whether there are visiting dignitaries in attendance or not, Kyle Fraley doesn’t care. He is just excited about this second opportunity to compete in the prestigious Clovis Street Vault.

“It’s different than a regular track meet because it focuses on pole vaulting,” he says. “To be in it is a real honor, a real privilege.”

The Clovis Street Vault is 5:30 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6, in Old Town Clovis.

[SmurfonaStick]

Is there a start list yet? I Know Brandon Estrada, Shade Weygandt, Kyle Ballew, I think Gio Lanaro and Mark Hollis. Jeff Ryan was there last year along with Becky Holiday, but theres never any list of Elite athletes competing until after it happens it seems.

[joebro391]

I didn't know that Estrada's was the CHIPS star's, son!!!! That's awesome!!...cause I loved that show! hahaha -6P

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/08/06/203 ... ow-as.html

10-year-old steals vaulter show in Clovis
Posted at 11:37 PM on Friday, Aug. 06, 2010
By Andy Boogaard / The Fresno Bee

Nick Hysong has been here. And Tim Mack. And Stacy Dragila -- USA Olympic gold medalists them all.
Crowds ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 arrive annually for the most intimate pole vaulting competition in the land.
For 15 years, they've stuffed the intersection of Pollasky Avenue and Fourth Street in Old Town Clovis, clapped rhythmically, high-fived participants, howled and had a heck of a time at what is commonly referred to as the Clovis Street Vault. Then came the 16th edition Friday night, and it got better.
It came at 7:35 p.m., in 90-degree heat and a setting sun casting long shadows over the throng as the little guy from Louisiana -- 10-year-old Mondo Duplantis -- gripped his pole, gritted his teeth, sprinted down the narrow, elevated runway and sailed toward a crossbar hanging nearly three times his height on his third and final attempt.
The 4-foot-6, 80-pounder clipped the bar on his way down. The bar bounced. The kid landed in the pit, watched above and waited anxiously.

The bar settled, stuck, and it was official -- 12 feet, 8 inches and another age-group world record, breaking his own of 12-71/4. And, understand, his standard is good for 11- and 12-year-olds as well.
For all the emotional crowd response in the history of the event, perhaps never has there been one like this. And Mondo answered by literally running into their arms, then throwing them T-shirts and then beads -- fitting on a night the state of Louisiana dominated with high school vaulters from a Mardi Gras Track Club coached by former Fresno State All-American Doug Fraley.
"It was pretty great, amazing," Mondo said while signing autographs afterward.
He had closed the evening by missing three attempts at 13-11/4, but it didn't matter -- the show had been stolen by a fifth-grader.
And such attention agrees with him, said his father/coach Greg Duplantis, a former national high school record-holder and 19-foot pro.
"He's funny," dad said, "he likes crowds and people looking at him."
This came a day after his son arrived for a meet news conference at the Doghouse Grill in suit, tie and fedora.
"That's his call, all him, it has nothing to do with me," dad said. "We usually go out to dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and he always wears a suit. That's him, man."
The high school competition, matching two-male, two-female teams from Clovis, Hanford, Los Angeles, San Diego, Reno and New Orleans, was interrupted so Mondo could vault consecutively, without competition.
Hardly taking a breather between attempts, he blew over 10-0, 10-6, 11-0, 11-6 and 12-2 before missing twice at 12-8.
He would take 11 attempts in all, spread over 20 minutes, leaving him gasping for air.
"It was OK," he said. "The adrenaline was rushing."
Other highlights:
*Winning the Elite Division was Mark Hollis, the recent USA National Track and Field champion. He cleared 18-6 and narrowly missed his second attempt at a Clovis Street Vault-record 19-1. Two-time Olympian Kory Tarpening has the record at 18-101/2.
The Elite Division's top female mark was a 14-2 by UCLA's Katy Viuf, an ex-Bruins cheerleader who picked up the sport only three years ago.
*Team New Orleans, as expected, won the high school division with a total of 58 feet. What wasn't expected was a 9-inch personal improvement from Dalton Duvio (16-4).
His brother, Dylan Duvio, filled in for Team Hanford as a late replacement and cleared a nation freshman class-leading 15-0 while wearing a red, white and blue Uncle Sam top hat.
He wore it in honor of a late friend, Josh Bertrand, who shared the hat with him at an Independence Day Meet vault July 3 in Louisiana.
Two weeks later, Bertrand was killed when his truck was hit by a train.
Then, at his funeral, his parents insisted Dylan Duvio keep the hat: "If I can, I'll wear it at every single meet. I don't know why bad things happen to good people."





13th Annual North American Pole Vault Championship
RESULTS
ELITE DIVISION
North American Pole Vaulting Association Championships
Men
Mark Hollis, Unattached, 18-6; Brandon Estrada, Unattached, 17-6; Kyle Ballew, L.A. Valley College, 16-4; Giovanni Lanaro, Mexico, no height.
Women
Katy Viuf, Unattached, 14-2; Shade Weygandt, Texas Tech, 13-0.
HIGH SCHOOL DIVISION
1. Team New Orleans (58-0 total): Andreas Duplantis 16-4, Dalton Duvio 16-4, *Merritt Grace Van Meter 13-0, *Morgann Leleux 12-4.
2. Team Los Angeles (50-8): Evan Barr 15-8, Adam Bragg 15-0, *Amy Loschiavo 10-4, *Sidney Rodkey 9-8 (before injury).
3. Team San Diego (50-0): Dillon Fox 14-4, Alex Hamidzadeh 13-8, *Siera Hearne 13-0, *Tiffany Leigh Smith 9-0.
4. Team Reno (49-4): Connor Pate 15-0, Nick Maestretti 13-0, *Amanda Brazeau 11-0, *Madison Mills 10-4.
5. Team Hanford (40-4): Dylan Duvio (15-0, replacement), Andrew Ramay 14-4, *Claire Goodson 11-0, *Gabby Giuliano, no height.
6. Team Clovis (34-8): Caleb Gagliardi 15-0, Scott Greenman, no height, *Anginae Monteverde 11-8, *Kayli Gabeli 8-0.
* -- Female
EXHIBITION
Mondo Duplantis, 10, Lafayette, La, #12-8
# -- World age group record for 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds.
Record set during Clovis Street Vault

[Brandon.Estrada]

Unfortunately, Katy no heighted in the competition; I don't know why the newspaper wrote 14-2...the bar went up by 6 inches so it never reached 14-2...I guess they confused her personal best with what she actually jumped on that day. Merritt Van Meter won the women's competition with a first attempt at 13-0... Just had to set that straight

[rainbowgirl28]

Thanks for the correction!

[SmurfonaStick]

Mark Hollis 18-6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efz7ibGo ... re=channel

Brandon Estrada 17-6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnbNKBih ... re=channel