Trials Articles

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http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0, ... 76,00.html

Vaulting into the spotlight

Dad inspires Johnson's Olympic bid


By Jill Painter
Staff Writer


Jan Johnson never pressured his children to try the pole vault.

He figured the atmosphere around his Atascadero home -- a mecca for pole vaulters -- might do the trick.

Two runways and four pole vault pits are mainstays in the back yard of his 3-acre playground. Athletes of all ages were always running through the house for Johnson's camps, high school practice and training.

Johnson, who won a bronze medal in the event in the 1972 Munich Olympics, figured his athletic daughter would have a knack for it, too.

Despite an Olympic medal in the display case, which she frequently used for show-and-tell as a child, Chelsea spent her time as an accomplished athlete in soccer, volleyball and the hurdles.

But when she was a senior at Atascadero High, her father finally piqued her interest.

"When he told me he'd pay me $5 every time I practiced, I started to like it," Chelsea said. "Then he stopped paying."

And Chelsea, who saved that money, was an instant success. In a matter of months after learning technique from her father, she earned a scholarship to UCLA.

Three years later, Chelsea -- one of seven women in the country who has cleared 15 feet -- has a chance to make the U.S. Olympic team. Just like her dad.

"My hope is that she has fun at this and does a good job at school," Jan said. "Anything else beyond those two criteria is gravy. I think the problem with being Jan Johnson's kid or any other famous athlete's kid is that you have famous expectations to live up to.

"That's part of what you buy into when you're young and you do this. I'm glad she got into pole vaulting and she's doing great. She's enjoying it."

And why not? As a sophomore this season, Chelsea set the NCAA record of 15 feet at the Stanford Invitational in March. She won the NCAA West Regional and then the NCAA title last month with a vault of 14-1. Jan won the NCAA title as a sophomore at Kansas in 1970.

Chelsea will compete in the Olympic Trials in Sacramento with preliminaries Friday and finals Sunday. She'll be in the same field as Stacy Dragila, who popularized the sport and won the gold medal in 2000, the first time women's pole vault was in the Olympics.

Dragila won over sponsors such as Nike with her talent, personality and engaging smile. Chelsea has the same star qualities and, with such dramatic improvements, could be the next Dragila.

"I don't think about that stuff," Chelsea said. "I just try to go out and practice hard, jump to what my potential is and see how good I could be."

She could be as good as her father. They've had similar success, starting at an early age. She won the California state title at 13-3 and bettered that mark by nearly 2 feet in two years. Her dad set the world record when he was 19.

Even Chelsea's mom, Jani, ran in the 10,000 meters in the 1988 Olympic Trials. She said she'll be there for support but that Jan is there for advice.

"Of course with Jan having made the Olympics and being a bronze medalist, she'll try to emulate that. But I think she just takes everything a bit at a time," Jani said. "Jan just busts with pride. Sometimes, he gets teary-eyed. I think every parent thinks it's a compliment for their kids to follow in their footsteps. He has so much passion for pole vault. He's done so much for the sport. ... To see Chelsea get into it has been tremendous for him."

Chelsea has never seen video of her father vaulting and hasn't been given an earful on his career exploits. He didn't even get mad when, as a child, she was swinging his medal around and twice broke the chain.

"He doesn't talk about it much," Chelsea said. "I didn't even realize how good he was until my freshman or sophomore year in high school.

"People try to compare us and every time I'm on the runway, they announce, 'Chelsea Johnson, the daughter of Olympic bronze medalist Jan Johnson.' He was afraid I felt the pressure but it's not as much pressure as I've put on myself. I learned that this year."

Jan had plenty of pressure heading into the Olympics in Munich. It was a bittersweet experience, especially when controversy erupted and he learned the pole vaulters couldn't compete with their poles, which didn't meet international specifications. He medaled on borrowed poles.

But Jan is excited about a possible trip to Athens, as is UCLA assistant coach Anthony Curran, who trains three Olympic hopefuls: Johnson, former Bruins star Tracy O'Hara and Mary Sauer.

When Chelsea signed with UCLA, full control of her training went to Curran, who has known Jan for 15 years.

"This is a really neat thing for a coach to be a part of," Curran said. "There's a little pressure being a coach of a former Olympian, taking his daughter under your wing, with him being one of the best coaches in the United States.

"It's been rewarding but it was something where I wanted to make sure I didn't make mistakes and wanted her to be on top of her game. It's been a joy to work with someone who has her personality. She's not a prima donna. She's just another kid out there having fun." l=8s=8 Jill Painter, (818) 713-3615 jill.painter@dailynews.com

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http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... pole+vault

Suttle tries to change Howell's luck in pole vault
By Vahe Gregorian
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/17/2004

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - As a delighted and perhaps distracted Kellie Suttle walked off the track with her pole-vaulting counterparts Friday night, she stopped to discuss her evening's work at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.

"I took one jump, and I made the team," she said, then hastened to correct herself. "I mean, made the final! I don't want to jinx myself."

No wonder, after what befell fellow Francis Howell graduate Jeff Hartwig last week. Hartwig, the American record-holder in the pole vault, no-heighted in a second successive Olympic trials to fail again to make the U.S. team.

"Between that and general anxiety over the unforgivingly decisive trials - I'm not going to lie - I was scared coming in here," Suttle said.

Nor did it settle Suttle to feel a breeze, part of Hartwig's undoing.

But Suttle, who finished 11th at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, vaulted 13 feet 9 1/4 inches to advance to Sunday's final. In 2000, she noted, she also advanced to the pole vault final with one jump, but it was a mere 13-1. At the Olympics, she went 13-1 1/4.

Now Suttle's personal-best is 15-4, and she expects one day to be able to vault 16 feet as Russia's Svetlana Feofanova did earlier this month. Suttle is in her best condition since 2001, when she had surgery to clean up her knee. That limited her competition in 2002.

For now, though, her sole focus is on qualifying for next month's Athens Olympics. Toward that end, she is staying outside the hustle and bustle of Sacramento, in a hotel with a kitchenette in order to avoid distractions and simulate the comforts of home.

Suttle will do a light workout today, then try to make the team for real Sunday.

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http://www.nevadaappeal.com/apps/pbcs.d ... 9/-1/rss03

Pole vault has a Holliday in the finals

Dave Price, dprice@nevadaappeal.com
July 17, 2004

SACRAMENTO - Becky Holliday is exactly where she wants to be right now.

That is, the Reed High School graduate is spending time in the town where she grew up and competing in the women's pole vault at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. And early Friday evening, she took a big step in pursuit of her Olympic dream during qualifying at Sacramento State University's Hornet Stadium.

Holliday cleared her first attempt at 13-feet, 9 1/4 inches to advance to the finals, which will be held Sunday afternoon. She cleared 13-5 1/4 in the only other jump she needed to take.

"I felt good," Holliday said. "The first step is out of the way now. You can never look past qualifying, so now that I'm in the finals, I'm a happy girl going home."

She also sent a small group of fans home toward Donner Summit on a happy note.

"I'm from nearby Penryn and I have 15 friends and family here," she said.

In addition, Holliday felt right at home competing in the same stadium where she won the 2003 NCAA outdoor title as a senior at Oregon.

"I like this place," Holliday said. "I won NCAAs here, I grew up here (before moving to Sparks and attending Reed). I like the runway, I like the crowd. Everything is here you need to make some high bars."

Expect to see some high bars when the finals are held Sunday because Holliday will be part of a field that includes defending Olympic champion Stacy Dragila, 2000 Olympian Kellie Suttle, three-time NCAA champion Tracy O'Hara, and Jillian Schwartz, a fourth-place finisher at the world indoor championships. Dragila and Schwartz cleared 13-11 1/4 to lead the qualifying jumpers.

"I'm going to need a p.r.," Holliday said. "This is my first post-collegiate season, so I'm still getting my rhythm, but my training has been going well. I've been training for a p.r. and I think I'm ready for it." Holliday, a state champion at Reed, posted her second 14-5 clearance of the season just two weeks ago at a meet in Canada. She also cleared 14-1 1/4 to place second behind Mary Sauer at the Adidas Oregon Track Classic in Eugene on June 5. This is also a homecoming for Dragila, who attended Placer High School in nearby Auburn, Calif.

"Sacramento has always been special to me. It's home to me," said Dragila, who holds the American record of 15-10. "I like the heat, I've always done well here."

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http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.asp?ID=5803

Suttle, Schwartz make finals of Trials

SACRAMENTO, Calif. â€â€

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http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_i ... ryID=90808

FHS grad Dutoit places 11th, qualifies for pole vault finals -- barely


By SUN SPORTS STAFF
07/17/2004

At Friday's preliminary round of the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, Calif., two Flagstaff products competed, rendering mixed results.

At the Alex Spanos Sports Complex, University of Arizona graduate Andrea Dutoit, competing unattached, placed 11th out of 22 women in the pole vault. The top 12 advance to Sunday's final round, with the top two from that group making the U.S. Olympic team.

Dutoit, formerly Andrea Neary when she competed in track and field at FHS in the late 1990s, registered a jump of 13 feet, 9 inches. The top placer, defending Olympic gold medal winner Stacy Dragila, competing for Nike, won with a leap of 13-11.

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There are audio clips as well

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/tr ... 6764c.html

Women's pole vault final: Hometown girl soars to victory


Stacy Dragila fails in world-record attempt after easily winning Trials


By Nick Peters -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, July 19, 2004
Stacy Dragila raised her arms and waved her hands, imploring her abundant fans to cheer on her third and final attempt at a world women's pole vault record of 16 feet, 1/2 inch as the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials drew to a frantic conclusion.

Dragila raised her pole high, ran toward the pit with fans clapping in unison and thrust herself upward. She missed clearing the bar but had no problem settling for a 15-7 mark and a trip to Athens by once again dominating the field Sunday.

"I was feeling that good today," Dragila said, explaining why she attempted to surpass the record 16-foot vault set by Russia's Svetlana Feofanova on July 4. "I wanted to see if I had it in my bag of goods. But then the wind started shifting. I felt I gave it a good shot."

Dragila will be joined on the Olympic team by Jillian Schwarz and Kellie Suttle, who both cleared 14-11.

Dragila worked up to the record attempt by coming through on her third try at 15-7 long after the others had concluded. She didn't come close on her first two half-hearted attempts, but the partisan crowd roared when she soared over the bar for a stadium record.

"There was a lot of emotion there," Dragila said. "Once I cleared the bar, I wanted to keep going. The confidence is there, and I'm raring to go. This was a great day for the pole vault. I'm going with the two other people I thought would make the team."

Suttle, 31, was not a surprise while ranked behind Dragila as America's second-best vaulter at 15-3 3/4. Schwartz, 24, who trains with Suttle under coach Earl Bell in Jonesboro, Ark., withstood a threat from UCLA sophomore Chelsea Johnson (14-9).

"We have a solid team going to Athens," said Dragila, who improved last year by shifting training sites from Idaho to Phoenix, her present home.

But there's no question the Auburn native and former Yuba College student still feels quite at home in Sacramento, where she rose to prominence at the 2000 Trials, followed by Olympic gold at Sydney (15-1) and breaking the world record five times.

"It's great to come here and feel the energy of the crowd," she said. "I was able to spend some time and have dinner with friends in Yuba City. I'm very thankful for the support I get from fans in Auburn, Yuba City and Sacramento."

When asked how she felt being involved in a sport undergoing scrutiny because of drug allegations, Dragila was quick and candid with her reply in front of a large media gathering.

"It's embarrassing to be in a sport with so much cheating," Dragila declared. "But I know we have a clean (pole vault) group here, and I can't worry about it. We can't worry about it. I'm competing with people who are doing it the right way."

And doing it very well.

Women's pole vault
World record: 16-0 (Svetlana Feofanova, Russia, 2004); American record: 15-10 (Stacy Dragila, 2004); Former meet record: 15-2 1/4 (Dragila, 2000); World leader: 16-0 (Feofanova, Russia); Olympic "A" standard: 14-5 1/4; Olympic "B" standard: 13-11 1/2.

Olympic qualifiers: Stacy Dragila, Nike, 15-7; Kellie Suttle, Nike, 14-11; Jillian Schwartz, Nike, 14-11.

Failed to qualify: Chelsea Johnson, UCLA, 14-9; Tracy O'Hara, Unattached, 14-7 1/4; April Steiner, Unattached, 14-7 1/4; Mary Sauer, Asics, 14-5 1/4; Lindsay Taylor, Unattached, 14-5 1/4; Andrea Dutoit, Unattached, 14-3 1/4; Alicia Warlick, Santa Monica TC, 14-3; Amy Linnen, Unattached, 13-9 1/4; Kira Sims, Akron, 13-9 1/4; Elizabeth Metzinger, Indiana Invaders, 13-9 1/4; Becky Holliday, Unattached, NH.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u ... notebook_1

Dragila Fails to Set New Record at Trials

Sun Jul 18,11:22 PM ET



By ANDREA ADELSON, AP Sports Writer

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Stacy Draglia felt good enough to try to break the world record in the pole vault. She just came up short.


AFP

Dragila, the defending Olympic champion, failed in three attempts to break the mark, missing at 16 feet, 1/2-inch. That would have topped Svetlana Feofanova's mark of 16 feet set earlier this month.

Even though she didn't get the mark, Dragila won the event with a clearance of 15-7.

"I was feeling that good and I wanted to see if I had it in my bag of goods today," Dragila said. "But then the wind started shifting. I thought I could do it with the smaller pole. I gave it a good shot."

Dragila said she was emotional after clinching the U.S. title, and had tears in her eyes. But she is ready to compete with Feofanova and Yelena Isinbayeva, who have traded the world record Dragila used to own.

Feofanova's record broke the mark of 15-11 3/4 set on June 27 by Isinbayeva in Gateshead, England.

"I'm not done yet," Dragila said.

She will compete against the two Russians in Europe before the Olympics start, with the hopes to being able to clear 16 feet.

Also making the pole vault team were Jillian Schwartz and Kellie Suttle.

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http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... roken+pole

Suttle lands on team despite broken pole
By Vahe Gregorian
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/18/2004


SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Groans and gasps rumbled through the stands as Kellie Suttle's pole splintered and scattered in three pieces in the finals of the U.S. Olympic track and field trials Sunday.

"That was scary," said Suttle's twin sister, Shellie, one of the onlookers.

But Suttle landed in the pit gently enough to avoid injury and, in fact, grateful that the pole didn't explode in her hand, which it easily could have done. She also landed with her psyche intact - more or less.

"I had no choice. In the middle of the Olympic trials, what are you going to do?" said Suttle, a Francis Howell graduate. "You either suck it up, or you go home."

Two jumps after the near-disaster at 14 feet 3 inches, Suttle cleared the bar again and finished third with a jump of 14-11 to secure her second successive Olympic berth.

When she left the track, she was nearly trembling with joy.

"Oh, dude, I was overwhelmed," she said later. "Most people, that would end a competition for."

In the first few moments off the track, she cried at the mention of everything from the news that her sister is pregnant to a recent slump.

"This was the most amazing thing that could happen to me," Suttle said.

Her resilience was appreciated all over the track, from winner Stacey Dragila, who said "anybody else but Kellie" would have been too shaken to get it back together, to second-place Jillian Schwartz, who called Suttle's response "awesome."

It resonated with her boyfriend, Toby Stevenson, who made the men's pole vault team last week and said "you can't coach that" while noting that he was glad he'd have a date at the Athens Olympics now. And it moved onlookers such as University of Missouri coach Rick McGuire, who was nearby when the pole broke and watched Suttle carefully afterward.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that vaulters are off the scale on risk-taking, but I don't believe that anybody does that and doesn't have this momentary shock go through their body," said McGuire, who watched Suttle's demeanor and knew she wouldn't let her story become one of "if not for the pole breaking ..."

Suttle had been in pole vaulting for 10 years before she broke a pole two months ago.

"Was that as good as the one in Phoenix?" she joked with Stevenson as she walked to drug testing later.

Although she said she jumped successfully in Phoenix afterward, she knew she benefited from having it happen before. Her sister even called the previous break a blessing in disguise.

"I wasn't as shocked," said Suttle, who said her hand has been bothering her since Phoenix but that she had no intention of getting an X-ray of it. "I don't know (if anything's broken). I don't want to know."

Now that Suttle has made the team, she will take aim at Dragila, the American record-holder, and world-record holder Svetlana Feofanova of Russia. Feofanova is the only woman to have cleared 16 feet. Dragila's American record is 15-10.

Asked if she can beat Dragila, who won by eight inches Sunday, Suttle said, "She's definitely beatable, because (Schwartz and I have) beaten her at different times. She's human."

On Sunday, she clearly was victorious, anyway.

"I should win just for breaking the pole," she said, laughing.


Reporter Vahe Gregorian
E-mail: vgregorian@post-dispatch.com
Phone: 314-340-8199

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http://www.jonesborosun.com/story.asp?ID=5821

chwartz, Suttle earn spots on U.S. Olympic team

By Seth Holmun
Sun sports writer
Two-thirds of the U.S. Olympic women’s pole vault squad will be members of Team Bell.
Kellie Suttle and Jillian Schwartz, both of whom train at Bell Athletics in Jonesboro, each jumped 14-11 to earn berths on the U.S. Olympic team Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif.
Stacy Dragila, the defending Olympic champion, won the event with a jump of 15-7 and failed in her world record attempt of 16-01?2 after clinching the top spot in the Trials.
Both Schwartz and Suttle each had to compete through adversity for a spot on the team.
Schwartz aggravated a foot injury on her takeoff and after easily clearing 14-11 on her first attempt, she stopped competing with an Olympic berth in hand.
Suttle broke a pole during the middle of the competition but bounced back strong, slipping over 14-11, barely brushing the bar on the way down to nail down the third and final spot for a trip to Athens, Greece.
“It shook her up a little but that’s one of her strong suits, physical and mental toughness,â€Â

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http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles ... /news2.txt

Dragila back for gold


By Steve Nelson/For the Appeal-Democrat







By Chris Kaufman/Appeal-Democrat
Stacy Dragila, who attended Yuba College in 1991-92, climbs to the bar on the way to a first-place finish in the women's pole vault finals Sunday at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials at California State University, Sacramento. She vaulted 15 feet, 7 inches and will defend the gold medal win she had in 2000.


 

 

It was another happy homecoming party for Stacy Dragila on Sunday at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento.

Dragila, who grew up in Auburn and went to school at Yuba College from 1990-92, easily defended her Olympic Trials title in the pole vault with a winning leap of 15 feet, 7 inches.

The crowd favorite and defending Olympic gold medalist broke the Trials and Hornet Stadium record with that mark, and then took her shot at the world record by raising the bar to 16-0.

Dragila, the American record holder at 15-10, missed on her three attempts to reclaim her world mark, which is currently held by Russia's Svetlana Feofanova, the first women's vaulter ever to clear 16 feet.

"I was feeling that good today and I really wanted to see if I had it in my bag of goods," she said. "I gave it a good shot."

Dragila, who competed at Yuba under her maiden name of Mikaelson, switched coaches and moved from Idaho (she went from Yuba to Idaho State) to Arizona in April 2003, a move she said was required to keep pace with the younger generation of vaulters. She joked after

Friday's qualifying that she felt like the "grandma" of the group at 33, helping her younger U.S. competitors get through the experience of competing in America's biggest track and field meet.

"I wanted to make a transition," she said of her move to Phoenix and coach Greg Hull. "It was getting late in my career and I felt I still had a lot of technical things I could work on. I felt if I'm going to make a push and go for another gold medal, I wanted to tweak some of my technical things. It's been a real positive change for me."

Dragila competed in the hurdles for Placer High School, where she twice qualified for the state meet. She was recruited to Yuba by late coach John Orognen, who trained her to compete in the heptathlon.



Sunday, Dragila said Orognen holds a special place in her heart.

"I started working with John in high school working with the 400 hurdles," Dragila said. "He was the one that really gave me the possibility of going on and gaining a scholarship in college. I didn't know what was really out there after high school. He was the one that planted the seed that I could go on and be a Division I competitor. It was awesome for me."

Orognen died in June of 1992 at the age of 53 of liver cancer. The Yuba track is named in his honor.

"He died my sophomore year and it was devastating because he was such a great ambassador for our sport and all the athletes that came through Yuba College," Dragila said. "Without awesome coaches like that, college systems really take a beating."

Dragila is an Olympic gold medalist and a pioneer in women's pole vault, but she hasn't forgotten her friends back where it all started for her.

"I spent some time with some great friends over in Yuba City this last week," she said. "I had dinner and meet up with some friends I went to junior college with. I have a great fan base in Yuba City, in Auburn, in Sacramento. It's fun for me to be back here because I have so many great memories."