Quintana Beach Vault

[rainbowgirl28]

http://stories.thefacts.com/story.lasso ... 507b9e16ff

Pole vaulting contest on track

By Joel Luna
The Facts
Published July 22, 2008

From area youngsters to an NCAA champ and even an Olympian, the Quintana Beach Pole Vault competition is attracting a wide array of competitors.

So far, close to 40 pole vaulters will venture onto Quintana Beach, including 2008 Olympian Erica Bartolina and Big 12 outdoor NCAA champion Maston Wallace.

“We were hoping to get close to 50 vaulters, but gas prices might be putting a strain on some,” organizer Mark Herns said. “Still we got Erica, who is an Olympian and Maston, who is an NCAA champion on board. We have a lot of local athletes from Alvin, West Columbia, Angleton, Brazoswood, Brazosport, but also groups from Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, UH, Texas A&M and all ages.”

Bartolina, from Philomath, Ore., qualified with a 14-foot, 11-inch jump at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials to place third and qualify for Beijing. Wallace, a Friendswood native, attends the University of Texas and won the Big 12 outdoor title with a personal best of 18 feet and a half inch at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in May.

The outdoor venue starts at 9 a.m. Saturday and will continue until the last pole vaulter performs.

“Most of them are going to camp out the night before at Quintana Beach, and we will have one runway,” Herns said. “We have a youngster as young as 8, and our oldest master jumper as of right now is 67-year-old Steven Warr, who coaches kids up in the Houston area. There are also some other master jumpers and most of them are going to try to get some personal records while some will try for their age records.”

Master pole vaulters will begin the competition followed by an exhibition showcasing Bartolina and Masters. Then the junior high athletes will compete followed by high school and then college vaulters.

“We’ve always had this competition in back of our heads, and finally this year Marc started telling the kids it was going to happen,” organizer Bob Crites said. “This first one is probably going to be bigger than what we expect it to be. A success for us will be if we don’t have bad weather and get enough jumpers who have some fun that they will want to return next year.”

Master competitors will be Herns (51), Crites (54), Warr, Don Curry (51), Helen Croskell (35), Ally Daum (26), Grant Merriman (36) and Bubba Sparks (55). Cristy Turner (28) also is in the competition but will be jumping in the open level.

Placings will be first through third for everyone except for high school competitors who will place first through sixth. Elimination from the competition will happen only if a pole vaulter misses three jumps in a row.

“One of the main things is that we will have some good wind at our back, a fast runway and a good pit to land in,” Crites said. “Bartolina will jump this event and then head to China next week. Maston just came back from a competition in Poland.”

Both Crites and Herns have jumping backgrounds. Crites from Indiana cleared 17-10 1/2 by the time he was done as a Hoosier. He was a part of the 1976 Olympic Trials and after a 17-year hiatus, Crites started coaching the sport to local youths before picking up the pole again and competing at local masters events.

Herns of Lake Jackson won the high school state title in 1975 at Brazoswood and went to UT before transferring to the University of Houston. He was an All-American and qualified for the 1980 Olympics. His personal best in college was 18 1/2 feet. In 2000, Herns was going to attempt to qualify for the Olympics but leg problems prevented the comeback.

“We are going to score them by age groups and then continue to raise the bar,” Herns said. “If anyone still wants to get in they can show up Saturday before we start raising the bar.”

Pole vaulters can register at www.elitesportz.com or by calling Herns at (979) 480-5642 or Crites at (979) 864-0046.

[vaulter870]

well i am sitting in the truck looking out on the beach and runway and it is gunna be an awesome day of jumping!! big tailwind and great runway

[htheodore]

I hope you are going to have this again next year! I had obligations at the TAAF meet in San Antonio. Next year I will definately come loaded with vaulting poles and fishing rods. Surf fishing AND pole vaulting! I am all over that.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://stories.thefacts.com/story.lasso ... ca892cb73a

Participants enjoy Quintana Beach Vault

By Jim Levesque
The Facts
Published July 27, 2008

QUINTANA — More than 100 spectators clogged a corner of the Quintana Beach County Park on Saturday to watch a slew of athletes — young, old and world-class — fly high at the first Quintana Beach Vault.

“We’ve been trying to do this for a while now and finally were able to put it together,” said event organizer and vaulter Marc Hearns. “It’s great to get these pole vaulters out here and have a competition. We think it’s a great location and are going to do it every year.”

About 60 athletes participated in the pole vault competition, some from as far away as Houston, San Antonio, College Station, Dallas and Louisiana.

“We were really excited to get people to come to Quintana to an event like this,” said Jones Creek vaulter and event organizer Bob Crites. “There’s competitions like this across the state but the first time we’ve had one here. It gives you a different atmosphere near the beach with the wind. It seems like people are enjoying the site and that’s what we hoped to do — put something together where everybody has a good time.”

Dinah Anderson traveled from Houston to vault and was very happy with the event.

“Its a wonderful thing,” she said. “For the first time there’s a lot of people out here and a lot of people participating. And it’s a great place. I’ll definitely be back again.”

Steve Warr made the trip from Hockley to compete. The 67-year-old vaulted early in the day and was pleased with the setup.

“This is great,” he said. “I’m always looking for stuff like this. At 67, you do it because that’s what you love. If I wasn’t doing it, I wouldn’t have any fun.”

The event included men and women jumpers in a variety of age divisions, ranging from masters to junior high groups. The highlight of the day was a exhibition led by U.S. Olympic pole vaulter Erica Bartolina.

“These kind of things are great,” Bartolina said. “You know all these guys from the pole vaulting community and it’s always fun when everybody gets together.”

Bartolina grew up in Oregon and was the first female vaulter at Texas A&M University. She’s competed around the world and finished third in this year’s Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing.

She lives in Hammond, La., and was excited to come to Quintana for a last warm-up and to try out some new equipment before heading to China on Wednesday.

“I’m used to the big arenas going against a bunch of other athletes,” Bartolina said. “But when you come to something like this and put on an exhibition in front of a lot of people you know, it’s more like you’re entertaining them. Sure, I’m here to work on some things, but I fell more like a performer for these people. It’s a great thing.”

[vaulter870]

just want to add that marc and bob did a great job putting on this meet and it was alot of fun!! the runway they made was the fastest thing i have ever been on and some people couldnt get their steps it was so fast it was crazy but i am sure we will be seeing this agian next year and i know that i want to go again

[rainbowgirl28]

Please join us for the 2nd Annual Quintana Beach Vault. It will take place on June 6, 2009 near Freeport, Texas.

Awards will be given to the top 3 competitors in the following categories: Masters Women, Master Men, Pre Junior High, Junior High Girls, Junior High Boys, High School Girls, High School Boys, College/Open Women, and College/Open Men. (Masters will be age-graded.)

Schedule will be rolling starting at 9AM and beginning with Masters, Pre JH, JH, HS, And College/Open.

Entry Fee $30 per competitor and will include a custom T-shirt and BBQ sandwich with chips and drink. Extra shirts will be available for $15 and extra meals for $5.

Registration HYPERLINK "http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1716516" http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1716516 or event day

Information: Contact--Bob Crites (979) 864-0046 Marc Herns (979) 480-5642, Brian Simpson (979) 417-3719

Benefits the High Humidity Vault Club

[htheodore]

Need to reschedule for a later date.

[bobcanjump]

SIGN UP FOR THE QUINTANA BEACH VAULT
QUINTANABEACHVAULT.COM SIGN UP ON ACTIVE.COM FROM WEBSITE

ALL AGE DIVISIONS, MEDALS AWARDED TO TOP 3 PLACES
MASTERS WILL BE AGE GRADED
CUSTOM T-SHIRTS AND BBQ SANDWICHES WITH ALL ENTRIES

GREAT BEACH TAILWINDS, MUSIC AND FUN. (BRING BIG POLES) FAST BOARDS WITH MONDO SURFACE!!
CAMP OUT OR RENT BEACH HOUSE ON THE BEACH.

ALAN LAUNDER WILL BE ON HAND WITH HIS BOOK "BEGINNING TO BUBKA"

ANY QUESTIONS EMAIL ME BOBCANJUMP@HOTMAIL.COM

SEE YOU THERE.

[bobcanjump]

To All That Came to Jump!

We had a Great turn out at our Beach Vault, right at a 100 jumpers from all over!! It was a super day at the Beach! The tail wind was awesome, and the runway was FAST!
For those of you that got caught in the dark and had to jump with the head lights... it was like no bad effects other than what you were probably wondering what you could have done if you had the day light? We had some aswesome jumps at 16' 16'6" and 17'... We didnt realize we would have so many.. next year we will be looking at having 2 runways and pits!
There were a varitey of things happening around the beach area, there were 2 weddings , a reunion, and the Beach Vault going on at the same time!
Bubba Sparks went for a new American Record of 13'8", had a few close jumps, Gary Hunter, went to break his world record of 15'7" and did with a jump of 15'8" for 50yr age group, then went for 16' !!! Looked great at it. Don Islet,American record hoder for 70yr olds, looked great as well coming close to matching his record.
There is really so much more with all of the groups, a number of stand outs that will be coming up the ranks. The pre Jr high kids were awesome, they are serious, and will be exciting to see what they do down the road.
To All thanks again, and i welcome all comments good or bad, I had a great time and we will try to do better on the timing.

Thanks,
bob (bobcanjump@hotmail.com)