http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0&u ... rnd=252322
Burney is getting a big lift
BY STU POSPISIL
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WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Seth Burney's remarkable progress in the pole vault means his baseball glove is gathering cobwebs.
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Seth Burney's best vault of 15 feet, 6 inches is 11/4 inches from the all-time chart and 10 inches from the state record of 16-4.
Burney is vaulting three feet higher than a year ago, having cleared 15-6 three times, and has thoughts of getting to at least 16 feet by season's end. The Beatrice junior might get there today at the Gene Kruger Invitational in Elkhorn.
"I feel real good this week," Burney said. "I'll go from 15 feet to 15-6 to 15-9. And if I make 15-9, I'm pretty sure I can get 16. It's one of those barriers. You get over 15-6 and the sky's the limit after that."
He's 11/4 inches from a spot on the all-time chart and 10 inches from the state record of 16-4 by Grand Island Central Catholic's Gable Baldwin in 2003.
Off-season work is what transformed Burney into a college vaulting prospect. He drove three times a week to Crete to work indoors with Doane College Coach Ed Fye. He spent part of Christmas break at a three-day camp at the University of Nebraska with Rick Attig, who coaches the Huskers' vaulters, learning the proper way to plant the pole. He also vaulted in four college indoor meets as an unattached competitor, clearing 15-6 in the last meet.
"Nobody had a clue who I was until I cleared 15-6," Burney said. "I was a nobody last year and a somebody this year."
He gave strong thought a year ago to changing his spring sport to baseball, which he's played in the summer in Beatrice's American Legion program. He talked to Beatrice's coaches in both sports and to some athletes. His buddies encouraged him to stick out track another year.
"They said, 'You never know how high you might go,' " he said.
Burney said he'll probably bypass summer baseball to continue vaulting.
Arnie Cerny, Beatrice's co-head coach for boys track, said Burney's devotion to the fine points of vaulting is unusual.
"He's able to tell our other vaulters things they need to improve. As a junior, he's become a coach for us," Cerny said. "He's become a real practitioner."
Burney's not a specialist, either. He's a 21-6 long jumper, a Class B state-caliber hurdler and a runner on the 1,600 relay for the defending Class B team champion Orangemen. Track athletes can compete in no more than four events at a meet, and Cerny said it's a continual battle to choose the four for Burney to enter.
"I have to stay longer at practice than most people," Burney said. "It's a 2, 21/2-hour thing."
At last week's Aurora Invitational, Burney set the bar at 15-9 after clearing 15 feet and "just brushed it off," Cerny said. "I'm confident that he'll get that mark to put him on the all-time chart pretty quickly."
Seth Burney Article (NE)
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rainbowgirl28
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rainbowgirl28
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http://www.journalstar.com/articles/200 ... 923786.txt
Beatrice pole vaulter reaches new heights
BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Seth Burney lives for the apex of a vault.
"Right at the top when the pole's energy throws you, you're free. You're gliding through the air, and then gravity suddenly grabs you and you're sucked back down into the pit," Burney said.
Burney, a Beatrice junior, is soaring at heights few Nebraska high school vaulters have reached. Last week, he vaulted 16 feet, ½ inch at the Gene Kruger Invitational in Elkhorn to move into third on the all-time Nebraska boys charts. He narrowly missed clearing 16-4½, which would have taken him to the top of the charts.
"When you go vertical and get your toes pointed up, you know you're going to fall somewhere in the pit," he said. "Most people think they will fall on their head, but you have to trust your pole. Once you turn your body and clear the bar, you know you're home free.
"Some guys play poker for adrenaline. You give me a pole, and I'll vault all day."
Burney, a 6-foot, 145-pounder, vaults on 15-foot poles tested to 170 and 175 pounds. At Elkhorn, he went to a smaller pole (14-foot, 160-pound) and altered his 16-step approach to eight steps to clear 12 feet.
"I didn't have any warmups because I was in the finals of the long jump. I won that on my last jump at 21 feet and then raced back to the pole vault pit," he said. "I cleared 12 feet and then I went to the 110 hurdles and won them. I came back and moved the bar to 15 feet. People looked at me like I was crazy.
"After the pole vault, I ran the 300 hurdles and was in about second or third place when I clipped the second-to-last hurdle and rolled. I came up laughing and finished. When I crossed the finish line, a guy came over to ask if I was OK. I told him I just scraped my right knee and then he asked how high I went in the pole vault. I thought that was an odd question to ask someone who just fell, but I guess he recognized me as the vaulter and didn't know how high I'd gone."
Burney's success this year comes after the disappointment of a sophomore season. He cleared 13-6 last year, but at the district meet in Seward, he cleared 13 feet before he had to leave to run a hurdles race.
"My mental aspect wasn't there when I got back to pole vault, and I couldn't go any higher," he said. "I didn't make it to state in any of my events, so my coaches took me along as an alternate on the 1,600 relay because they wanted me to experience the atmosphere. Not making it was a slap in the face, and it motivated me."
Burney attended a camp at Nebraska with Rick Attig, the Huskers' vault coach, and then he contacted Ed Fye at Doane College and drove to Crete three times a week to work with Fye and the Doane vaulters.
"I grew a little and got a little muscle and I've been in the weight room a lot, lifting every day I wasn't pole vaulting at Doane," he said. "At the end of the winter, I was going 15-6 and went to some collegiate meets as an unattached athlete."
Burney said once he got to 15-6, though, he couldn't seem to get past that height.
"I flew over 14 and 15 feet just fine, but I couldn't get past 15-6. I knew if I got there, it would open another door," he said. "And then at Elkhorn, I got 15-9 and then 16-½. That was huge, because it showed that all my work paid off. We have video and pictures of my vaults and there is great room for improvement. I cleared 16-½ by about four inches so that's a huge confidence booster."
Burney said it's not the vaulting at meets that is a problem, but practice.
"I'm working on my running and plant. The pole's throwing me up there. Some days it's hard to control the 170-pound pole, let alone the 175-pounder," he said. "In meets you've got adrenaline pumping, but in practice it's a little harder. The school bought one pole, and my dad bought me a second one.
"Before that, we were asking schools around us if they had poles I could use. Crete was really gracious and let us borrow 170- and 175-pound poles."
Burney has five meets before state to try to pass Gable Baldwin of Grand Island Central Catholic, who cleared 16-4 in 2003. The Orangemen are at York on Saturday, at home in the Willis Jones Invitational Tuesday, at the Crete Invitational April 29, at the River Cities Conference meet at Omaha Skutt on May 6 (the pole vault competition is at Omaha Burke, the site of the state meet) and at the district meet May 12 in Seward.
"Some guys have said it would be awesome to get the state record at state, but I don't know. There's so much pressure there. You have to make sure you win state first," he said. "There's some good competition. Dakota Cochrane (Fairbury) is someone that if you're not paying attention or having a good day, he'll get you. I've been cheering for Sam Ogden (Grand Island Northwest) all year, trying to get him pumped up.
"He went 15-6 at state last year and I don't want him to repeat, but I want him to get back up there. It's great when you have competition."
Ogden has cleared 15-1; Cochrane and Adam Teniente of York each went 15-0; Mason Pohl of McCook has cleared 14-0; and Caleb Meyer of Seward and Eric Covalt of Gering are at 13-6, so the Class B pole vault competition at state should be spirited.
"Once you get in a rhythm, things go well. I got into my rhythm early," Burney said.
Beatrice pole vaulter reaches new heights
BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Seth Burney lives for the apex of a vault.
"Right at the top when the pole's energy throws you, you're free. You're gliding through the air, and then gravity suddenly grabs you and you're sucked back down into the pit," Burney said.
Burney, a Beatrice junior, is soaring at heights few Nebraska high school vaulters have reached. Last week, he vaulted 16 feet, ½ inch at the Gene Kruger Invitational in Elkhorn to move into third on the all-time Nebraska boys charts. He narrowly missed clearing 16-4½, which would have taken him to the top of the charts.
"When you go vertical and get your toes pointed up, you know you're going to fall somewhere in the pit," he said. "Most people think they will fall on their head, but you have to trust your pole. Once you turn your body and clear the bar, you know you're home free.
"Some guys play poker for adrenaline. You give me a pole, and I'll vault all day."
Burney, a 6-foot, 145-pounder, vaults on 15-foot poles tested to 170 and 175 pounds. At Elkhorn, he went to a smaller pole (14-foot, 160-pound) and altered his 16-step approach to eight steps to clear 12 feet.
"I didn't have any warmups because I was in the finals of the long jump. I won that on my last jump at 21 feet and then raced back to the pole vault pit," he said. "I cleared 12 feet and then I went to the 110 hurdles and won them. I came back and moved the bar to 15 feet. People looked at me like I was crazy.
"After the pole vault, I ran the 300 hurdles and was in about second or third place when I clipped the second-to-last hurdle and rolled. I came up laughing and finished. When I crossed the finish line, a guy came over to ask if I was OK. I told him I just scraped my right knee and then he asked how high I went in the pole vault. I thought that was an odd question to ask someone who just fell, but I guess he recognized me as the vaulter and didn't know how high I'd gone."
Burney's success this year comes after the disappointment of a sophomore season. He cleared 13-6 last year, but at the district meet in Seward, he cleared 13 feet before he had to leave to run a hurdles race.
"My mental aspect wasn't there when I got back to pole vault, and I couldn't go any higher," he said. "I didn't make it to state in any of my events, so my coaches took me along as an alternate on the 1,600 relay because they wanted me to experience the atmosphere. Not making it was a slap in the face, and it motivated me."
Burney attended a camp at Nebraska with Rick Attig, the Huskers' vault coach, and then he contacted Ed Fye at Doane College and drove to Crete three times a week to work with Fye and the Doane vaulters.
"I grew a little and got a little muscle and I've been in the weight room a lot, lifting every day I wasn't pole vaulting at Doane," he said. "At the end of the winter, I was going 15-6 and went to some collegiate meets as an unattached athlete."
Burney said once he got to 15-6, though, he couldn't seem to get past that height.
"I flew over 14 and 15 feet just fine, but I couldn't get past 15-6. I knew if I got there, it would open another door," he said. "And then at Elkhorn, I got 15-9 and then 16-½. That was huge, because it showed that all my work paid off. We have video and pictures of my vaults and there is great room for improvement. I cleared 16-½ by about four inches so that's a huge confidence booster."
Burney said it's not the vaulting at meets that is a problem, but practice.
"I'm working on my running and plant. The pole's throwing me up there. Some days it's hard to control the 170-pound pole, let alone the 175-pounder," he said. "In meets you've got adrenaline pumping, but in practice it's a little harder. The school bought one pole, and my dad bought me a second one.
"Before that, we were asking schools around us if they had poles I could use. Crete was really gracious and let us borrow 170- and 175-pound poles."
Burney has five meets before state to try to pass Gable Baldwin of Grand Island Central Catholic, who cleared 16-4 in 2003. The Orangemen are at York on Saturday, at home in the Willis Jones Invitational Tuesday, at the Crete Invitational April 29, at the River Cities Conference meet at Omaha Skutt on May 6 (the pole vault competition is at Omaha Burke, the site of the state meet) and at the district meet May 12 in Seward.
"Some guys have said it would be awesome to get the state record at state, but I don't know. There's so much pressure there. You have to make sure you win state first," he said. "There's some good competition. Dakota Cochrane (Fairbury) is someone that if you're not paying attention or having a good day, he'll get you. I've been cheering for Sam Ogden (Grand Island Northwest) all year, trying to get him pumped up.
"He went 15-6 at state last year and I don't want him to repeat, but I want him to get back up there. It's great when you have competition."
Ogden has cleared 15-1; Cochrane and Adam Teniente of York each went 15-0; Mason Pohl of McCook has cleared 14-0; and Caleb Meyer of Seward and Eric Covalt of Gering are at 13-6, so the Class B pole vault competition at state should be spirited.
"Once you get in a rhythm, things go well. I got into my rhythm early," Burney said.
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rainbowgirl28
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http://www.journalstar.com/articles/200 ... 002716.txt
Beatrice's Burney burns up pole vault pit, track
BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
YORK â€â€
Beatrice's Burney burns up pole vault pit, track
BY RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star
YORK â€â€
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rainbowgirl28
- I'm in Charge
- Posts: 30435
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- Lifetime Best: 11'6"
- Gender: Female
- World Record Holder?: Renaud Lavillenie
- Favorite Vaulter: Casey Carrigan
- Location: A Temperate Island
- Contact:
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/200 ... 361970.txt
Beatrice vaulter off to good start
BY BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star
So, in case you’re new to the track world, let’s set the scene for how you know an athlete has had a good first track meet of the season: The pole vault bar is set at 16 feet 4½ inches, about 400 people are clapping their hands in unison with all eyes glued on you and coaches are digging through manuals to figure out how to verify what would have been a state record.
Yep, it was a pretty good day Friday for Beatrice senior Seth Burney.
Burney won the pole vault at the Nebraska Wesleyan Class B High School Indoor Invitational at Knight Field House with a vault of 15-6. His vault was the best in the state this season, and he later took two attempts at 16-4½, a mark that would have topped the all-time chart.
“When I got in a groove I started moving up poles, and I felt probably the best I’ve ever felt pole vaulting,â€Â
Beatrice vaulter off to good start
BY BRENT C. WAGNER / Lincoln Journal Star
So, in case you’re new to the track world, let’s set the scene for how you know an athlete has had a good first track meet of the season: The pole vault bar is set at 16 feet 4½ inches, about 400 people are clapping their hands in unison with all eyes glued on you and coaches are digging through manuals to figure out how to verify what would have been a state record.
Yep, it was a pretty good day Friday for Beatrice senior Seth Burney.
Burney won the pole vault at the Nebraska Wesleyan Class B High School Indoor Invitational at Knight Field House with a vault of 15-6. His vault was the best in the state this season, and he later took two attempts at 16-4½, a mark that would have topped the all-time chart.
“When I got in a groove I started moving up poles, and I felt probably the best I’ve ever felt pole vaulting,â€Â
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rainbowgirl28
- I'm in Charge
- Posts: 30435
- Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 1:59 pm
- Expertise: Former College Vaulter, I coach and officiate as life allows
- Lifetime Best: 11'6"
- Gender: Female
- World Record Holder?: Renaud Lavillenie
- Favorite Vaulter: Casey Carrigan
- Location: A Temperate Island
- Contact:
http://www.journalstar.com/articles/200 ... 838336.txt
Burney flies to pole vault record
BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
OMAHA â€â€
Burney flies to pole vault record
BY RYLY JANE HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
OMAHA â€â€
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rainbowgirl28
- I'm in Charge
- Posts: 30435
- Joined: Sat Aug 31, 2002 1:59 pm
- Expertise: Former College Vaulter, I coach and officiate as life allows
- Lifetime Best: 11'6"
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http://www.beatricedailysun.com/article ... ports2.txt
Burney ready to be Husker
By Jane White/Daily Sun sports editor
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:20 AM CDT
As a track and field athlete at Beatrice High School, Seth Burney knows something about titles.
Burney's titles this past spring included all-time state record holder and state champion when it came to the pole vault.
While those titles are important, Burney's next “titleâ€Â
Burney ready to be Husker
By Jane White/Daily Sun sports editor
Wednesday, June 28, 2006 11:20 AM CDT
As a track and field athlete at Beatrice High School, Seth Burney knows something about titles.
Burney's titles this past spring included all-time state record holder and state champion when it came to the pole vault.
While those titles are important, Burney's next “titleâ€Â
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