Newburyport's Ronan upholding family tradition in vault (MA)

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Raising the bar: Newburyport's Ronan upholding family tradition in pole vault

By Dan Guttenplan , Sports editor
Daily News of Newburyport
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Newburyport junior Meghann Ronan broke the school's pole vault record last Thursday with stress fractures in her back and shin and a diagnosis of compartment syndrome in her legs.

The latter requires surgery, which will help increase the blood flow in both legs. She developed the syndrome through years of applying pressure to her muscles while pole vaulting and figure skating.

But the greatest pressure of all for Ronan may be her quest to match the pole-vaulting success of her ancestors.

Her great-grandfather, J. Clifford Ronan, was a champion pole vaulter who was inducted into the Mass. State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in the inaugural class (1976). Her grandfather and father were both All-American pole vaulters at Bowdoin College.

Now Ronan's father, Patrick, monitors each of Meghann's vaults closely - both in practice and in meets - thanks to his role as Newburyport's volunteer pole vault specialist.

"I feel the pressure to live up to the family tradition," Meghann Ronan said. "But at the same time, I know they're happy regardless of my performance. They know I'm doing it because I love it and not because they want me to."

And there will come a day when it becomes Meghann's responsibility to pass down the family tradition.

According to her father, the key to a pole-vaulting family is that each generation of Ronans passes down the tradition to the next.

"It's primarily a function of coaching," Patrick Ronan said. "My grandfather knew the event and taught my father. My father taught me. Any good athlete with good coaching can be a good vaulter."

Newburyport appears to have found the right coach in Ronan. Over the past year, the girls pole vault record has been broken four times - once by 2006 graduate Kitri Doherty and three times by Ronan. Clippers senior Garrett Harms broke the boys team's record twice this week - in a meet against Hamilton-Wenham Monday and North Andover yesterday.

Patrick Ronan began working with Newburyport's athletes in 1991. He soon found that few Cape Ann League coaches had a knowledge of the pole vault.

"It's a function of there not being a lot of people in the area that are good pole vault coaches," Ronan said. "I was very lucky in that I grew up in Durham, N.H., so I could work with the (University of New Hampshire) coach and my father."



The event appears to be taking a physical toll on Meghann. She has had three surgeries since the eighth-grade including major foot surgery last year.

"That's an indicator of how hard she works," Patrick Ronan said. "She's hurt constantly. Being able to set records like this is amazing considering what she has to go through in training to get there."

Prior to the record-breaking performance last Thursday, Meghann had been discouraged due to a plateau in her vault performances. After vaulting 8-6 as a freshman and 9-6 as a sophomore, she set a goal of breaking the boys record of 12-0 by the time she graduates. She vaulted 9-7 last Thursday.

"It was a rough start to the season," Ronan said. "I finally got mad enough and said, 'I'm just going to do it.' I know it made my family really happy."

The Ronan Report

Name: Meghann Ronan

School: Newburyport High

Year: Junior

Sport: Track and field

Event: Pole vault

Achievement: Broke school record by vaulting 9-7 last Thursday.

Father: Newburyport track team assistant coach Patrick Ronan, a former All-American pole vaulter at Bowdoin.

Great-grandfather: J. Clifford Ronan, the first coach ever inducted to the Mass. State Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame.

Injuries: Stress fractures in back and shin, compartment syndrome...Has had three surgeries since eighth-grade.