Ben Cogdill Article (OR)

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http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregon ... xml&coll=7

Cogdill's vaulting is looking up
The Estacada senior-to-be will focus next season on pursuit of the Class 3A meet record of 16-7
Thursday, July 21, 2005
JERRY ULMER
ESTACADA Ben Cogdill is afraid of heights.

That much became clear to him in his first -- and only -- bungee jumping experience.

"It's not something I want to do every day," he said. "I'm not real big on heights."

It's not exactly a shocking revelation, but it seems inconsistent with Cogdill's high-flying profile as a track and field standout at Estacada High School.

As a junior last season, Cogdill pole-vaulted higher than anyone in the state -- 15 feet, 9 inches -- and won the Class 3A title. The 16-inch improvement from his sophomore year tells Cogdill that 17 feet is within his reach, and he has become single-minded in his pursuit of reaching those heights.

Cogdill has decided to forgo his senior football season and extend his training to year-round with coach Rick Baggett, the pole vault guru who trains athletes at the new 12,000-square foot facility at his home in Oregon City.

"I want to have a good season next year, and I'm an average football player at best," said the 5-foot-10 Cogdill, who played running back and safety and was the team's starting kicker. "I don't want to take a chance on getting hurt my senior year."

Cogdill is balancing his summer job as a stock boy at an Estacada liquor store with workouts at Baggett's.

He also has vaulted in three events. He cleared 15-7 to finish sixth overall June 12 at the Golden West Invitational in Folsom, Calif., and made it over 15-0 in two exhibitions -- the Freedom Fair in Tacoma on July 4 and the Swashbuckler Beach Vault on July 9 at Alki Beach in Seattle.

The consistency is a good sign, "but I should be going higher," he said. "At California, I was going maybe 16-4, 16-5, but whenever I got up to that height, I was so tired, I fell apart. I start too low. I'm going to start higher from now on, see if I can save my jumps for the higher heights."

Cogdill cleared 13-4 as a freshman and 14-5 as a sophomore before making another leap to 15-9 last season. He owns Estacada's school record.

"I've gone 16 a few times in practice," he said. "I know it's there, especially after watching some of my films. I have plenty of room over 15-9, 15-6."

Baggett said he isn't surprised by Cogdill's progress.

"For the last few years, he's accomplished the goals we've been setting for him," Baggett said.

"As he's gotten older, he's gotten more committed to the training part of pole vaulting. He's done all the things that all the other kids who've been successful have done."

Tommy Skipper, a Sandy graduate and University of Oregon standout who also trains with Baggett, owns the national high school record at 18-3. That's probably out of Cogdill's reach, but the Class 3A meet record of 16-7 (Matt Petz, La Pine, 1997) isn't far off.

"That's my goal. I want to get that record," Cogdill said.

With a few technical tweaks, Cogdill "should be able to jump 16-6 to 17 feet as a senior," Baggett said.

Cogdill, whose sister Brynn won the 1,500 meters at the Class 3A meet as a senior at Estacada in 2002, was a distance runner until trying the pole vault during the summer before his freshman year. It changed his whole outlook.

"I don't know if I would have kept doing track in high school if I didn't start pole vaulting," he said. "I got burned out on distance running, and one of my old coaches talked to me about pole vaulting. I was absolutely terrible at it. I went about eight feet. The first time I bent the pole I was so scared. I had no idea where I was going."

He started learning the pole vault from Clackamas High School cross country coach Randy Walruff, whose daughter Natalie pole vaulted at Clackamas and at Clackamas Community College. Walruff steered him toward Baggett before his freshman season.

Cogdill watched several elite pole vaulters train under Baggett's eye. The group included Skipper, the 2005 NCAA indoor champion, and former Clackamas Community College and Oregon standout Becky Holliday, the 2003 NCAA champion.

"Every time I went to practice, I got to see these world-class athletes pole vaulting," Cogdill said. "I thought it was amazing. I never thought I could go that high."

Cogdill paid his dues.

"My sophomore year I'd miss the pad at least once every practice, maybe twice," he said. "I was trying to get on big poles, and I didn't know what I was doing, and I was missing the pit left and right. My dad was always having to move out of the way."

Gradually, he started raising the bar and raising his goals.

Cogdill's improvement was slowed by his battle with exercise-induced compartment syndrome in his shins. The sheath around the swelling muscles failed to expand during workouts, causing extreme pain.

"I couldn't even walk after practice," he said. "It took me probably about five minutes to walk 50 feet up to my house. I couldn't put any pressure on my toes. My doctor told me that I was actually really lucky that they didn't burst, because I pushed them so hard."

In surgery to correct the problem after his freshman season, the sheath was cut to allow it to expand. He is careful to keep his calves loose and wears compression wrap around his shins if the problem flares up.

Despite soreness in his shins and back, Cogdill has continued to climb this year. His junior season, in which he made dramatic improvement and helped lead the Rangers to the Class 3A team title, couldn't have worked out any better.

"After I saw my sister win state a few years ago, I realized I wanted to win state," he said. "I wanted to go 16 feet. But being a state champion meant more to me than going 16 feet."

He dealt with the pressure of being the favorite at the state meet with help from his girlfriend, Molalla's Becky Horace, who ended her high school career by winning the Class 3A title in the 400.

"I was trying to keep her calm, so I kind of forgot about me," he said.

Cogdill wouldn't mind following the footsteps of Horace, who landed a track scholarship to Idaho. He said he would prefer to compete at a Division I school but would accept a scholarship to a smaller school.

Baggett said Cogdill's future is bright.

"He's going to have to get faster on his runs," Baggett said. "That's one thing he's got to work on in the next five years. He's strong enough to jump high, and his strength will develop. The question is, after four years of development, can he compete at the national level and the U.S. Open championships? The answer is yes."