February 2013 Issue Vaulter Magazine

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contents FROM THE EDITOR

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Atlas Training Center

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Lenzey Burnell Stidham Keeps Moving Up

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University of South Dakota

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Competition Strategies

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John Altendorf Shows how to Keep Confidence

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Photo by Aaron Packard

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FROM THE EDITOR This month is yet another exciting one for Vaulter Magazine. We are so happy to introduce you to Atlas Training Center- an innovative training experience brought to us by American Record Holder Brad Walker and NCAA Indoor Champion Dean Starkey. Thanks to Atlas, vaulters who might not have the ability or finances to travel for training now have a way to train with elite vaulters right in their own backyard. The timing worked out perfectly for this idea to come about and it is truly changing things for pole vaulting in the United States.

We also feature, the much supported, Desert Vista High School in this issue. More communities should take this school’s outlook on pole vaulting. From the coaches to the parents, there is a lot happening with this unique and good-sized pole vault team.

Pole vaulting is popular at this school in a way that is rarely seen- it’s remarkable.

Next we have the University of South Dakota spotlighted in our already exciting issue. This school has found a wonderful formula for teamwork that is working quite well. This team is also focused on the athlete and individual rather than just the sport- which has created an atmosphere that nurtures success in life as well as jumps.

They are looking forward to another great year, and their enthusiasm is contagious.

Our hope is that you will read about all the accomplishments of these fellow vaulters and feel encouraged. These vaulters featured this month did not give up, and they continue to break through challenges and obstacles. Please keep reading, stay vaulting and be encouraged.

Fabiana Murer

John Altendorf, a vaulter that put pole vaulting aside for 35 years only to come back in a big way, is our page 38 master vaulter for this February. This man, with help from a wonderful coach, did not let his lack of confidence get taken away. He has accomplished so much since 2004, when he returned to vaulting. There is also some great advice in this article that you won’t want to miss.

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MAGAZINE Mary Saxer Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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Fabio Da Silva

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Jill Starkey at AZPVA Photo By rob@yipdogstudios.com

vaulters approach training and help them exponentially improve the height of their jumps.

The Atlas mission statement sums all this up very nicely: “Atlas Training Center is committed to elevating the status of the pole vault in the United States by creating a world-class facility and training environment conducive to helping athletes win Olympic medals and breaking world records.”

“We have put ourselves in a position to change the landscape of how vaulters get access to the right information, resources and coaching advice from a reliable source. We feel this is an incredible benefit to the entire pole vaulting community,” says Coach Starkey.

“The Atlas business concept is to have an elite training center that could sustain itself financially by creating virtual coaches out of the elite athletes and connecting them with

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remotely located athletes and coaches that might not typically have access to coaching and training expertise. Our virtual coaches, our structured training program, video chats, technical reviews and complete video library of all exercises and drills give us the unique ability to help any vaulter that needs a little help improving

their heights no matter where they live.”

Atlas Training Center has come about by what seems to be fate. It has been years in the making, even if the creators didn’t know it at the time. Coach Starkey shared the history of Atlas with us and it is very exciting to learn how this ground-breaking place came

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to be. Here is the whole tale according to Coach Starkey:

“My wife Jill and I originally bought our property in 2008 so that our son Garrett could have a place to jump. Since we wanted him to have people to train with, as well as needing a way to pay for the equipment, we decided to start a small

Dean Starkey at AZPVA Photo By rob@yipdogstudios.com

club called the Arizona Pole Vault Academy (AZPVA). The current facility has 2 pole vault pits, a long jump runway, high bars and a weight room. It has everything needed to train effectively, regardless of the level of the vaulter.

Over the course of 4 years the AZPVA Club grew to a point where I could leave my

corporate office job in favor of coaching kids full-time. This was a big change for me, but it needed to be done. A few months later Brad Walker had called me up out of the blue to kick some ideas around. He was in the process of reevaluating how he was going to train for the next 4 years and he was looking for a place to create the ultimate pole vaulting training environment. He wanted this environment not just for him, but for the benefit of other top U.S. pole vaulters. He has watched the decline of the results over the years and wants to improve the level of the sport in order to keep the U.S. competitive at the international level.

At the time he called me Brad did not know that I had left my job to become a fulltime coach. It was great timing for both of us. I was already moving in the direction of getting back into coaching at the elite level. I had invited Kasey and Annie Burlingham, as well as Nick Mossberg, to come out and train last September.

Brad came out for a 2-day visit which turned into 2 weeks of brainstorming on how we could get the Atlas Training Center concept off the ground. Brad came up with the idea of ‘Atlas’ because of the analogy of carrying the world

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while attending Atlas are the Track and Field Nationals, University of Arizona All- becoming a National Qualifier American Nick Mossberg (PR for Outdoor Nationals in 2010, of 18’2” - 5.55m - with a college being awarded female Athlete PR of 5.46 - 17’10”, was runner of the Year for Stanislaus up at Pac 10 Championships State and team MVP and also and Regional Championships coaching the pole vault for in 2009, took 5th at Indoor USA SJVSC Summer and Winter Nationals in 2010, took 3rd at camps since 2005) is another Outdoor USA Nationals in 2011, elite athlete working with Atlas, was Provisional Qualifier for along with All-American and World Championships team in Team Captain for UCLA Dustin 2011, member of the 2011 Pan Deleo (PR of 18’1” - 5.51m, took American team and 2012 Olympic April Steiner Bennett at AZPVA Trials Qualifier) Photo By rob@yipdogstudios.com and Kasey Burlingham (PR of 17’8” -5.40m, was the 2007 California JC Champion while competing for Cuesta Community College and the 2009 NCAA D2 National Champion and two-time All-American while 6th place at the USA Olympic competing for California State Trials in 2012 and 4th Place at University Stanislaus who the USA Indoor Championships named him 2009 and 2010 in 2012) and 2008 Olympic Male Athlete of the Year and team member and University of 2010 Track and Field MVP).

Arkansas alumni April Steiner Bennett (PR of 15’2” - 4.63m).

Annie Burlingham (who’s accomplishments include: a PR Athletes that decide to join of 12’9” - 3.89m, taking 3rd for the Atlas Training Center will Cuesta Community College at certainly not be disappointed. the Californian Junior College Their group of superb vaulters State Meet in 2006, becoming combined with training that All-American for D2 Indoor can reach any athlete year-

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round is truly ground-breaking.

For those thinking they might want to check out the Atlas program here is what Coach Starkey tells us the coaching plans include: “…weekly Skype meeting, weekly game plan, nutrition, injury prevention, technical review, mental preparation and anything else you want to know!” Also included is: “…a weekly video review of your jumps (or your athletes) via email, a structured training plan (linked to our video library), access to our video library (every exercise and drill we do is linked to a d e m o n s t ra t i o n video) and exclusive access to regular webinars with Brad Walker and Dean Starkey.”

So if you are an athlete looking for some help with your vault, or a coach looking to help your pole vault team, Atlas looks like the place to be. Visit www.atlastrainingcenter.com to find out more. Dean Starkey and Brad Walker have put together something wonderful and we hope they reach their goal of helping many elite vaulters reach their potential.

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Lenzey Burnell Stidham Keeps Moving Up By: Michelle Walthall College pole vaulter and model, Lenzey Burnell Stidham, says, “The biggest impact so far in my career is becoming National Champion!” Stidham has chosen Siena Heights University as her school of choice and is taking her decision very seriously, as her national champion title shows.

There is no questioning this athlete’s focus, and she has some ambitious educational and career goals. She tells us, “I am in school to get my degree, and to pole vault…I am a Biology student and Siena has one of the best Pre-Med and Nursing programs in the Midwest. I plan on using my degree to go off to Grad School.

I am currently taking business classes to help me if I decide to go into pharmaceutical sales.”

Like any young adult just starting out, Stidham had to face hard decisions about

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school and career.

Here’s what she says about her choice in schools: “The Director of Track and Field, Coach Tim Bauer, made it easy to choose Siena Heights University. I can honestly say he was the single most reason why I chose to come to Siena over the other D1, D2 schools. I thought he could help me become a better student and athlete. He seemed like the type of person who wants to see you grow and improve, and he would take the time to make sure you took the steps to become better. I wanted to go down South, or to a West Coast school, but no coach I came across was like Coach Bauer.”

The supportive atmosphere Stidham has found at SHU is a big factor in her success. She has found a coach to bring out the best in her. “Coach Richards has had a lot to do

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Photo by Fred Prose exposedbeautyimaging@gmail.com

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at anything and everything, but he has never beaten me at vaulting. Growing up I always compared myself to him, and in every sport he was faster, stronger and better than me.

He supports me by being my competitor.”

“I also have a baby sister and brother, Taylor (13) and Peyton (10), at my track meets. They cheer and yell after every vault.

I have my own fan section of little ones and they always bring a friend. They are the love of my life. It is hard for

my family to travel to my away meets- my family lives about 3 hours away, and most of my meets are 5-8 hours away from them. This year I hope that my family can make it to a national meet.”

In addition to all the support, Stidham says that her modeling career also helps with her pole vaulting. “Modeling helps your self esteem, and builds your confidence,” Stidham says.

“While you’re shooting you have tons of people saying to you, ‘WOW!’, ‘Beautiful!’, ‘Awesome!’,

‘Great Job!’ ect. It feels good to hear that. I think it has carried over to pole vaulting; I have confidence, which leads to the confidence in my vault. I am not scared to take up any pole my coach puts in my hand. I don’t even look at the length, or weight, I just do it. If I get rejected, I do it again till I don’t.

I do not get intimidated, and I don’t get nervous like I use to.”

There are big plans for the future brewing within Stidham, so all the support she has behind her will come in handy.

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Here’s what she has to tell us about what’s in store:

“My training is going well.

From short on a 13’ 145 Carbon Mystic I am consistently going over 13’. If I can ‘catch a ride’ on a 14’ pole I will reach my goal this season of 14’ plus. I want to hit the indoor record for my school at the first meet of 13 feet. And I would like to hit 14 feet mid season of outdoor season...I would also like to be a three-time national champion of NAIA.”

“I plan to do both [pole vaulting and modeling], but the season is now here and I have to vault at Kent State in two weeks and I hope to PR. Over Christmas break, I have jobs lined up to supplement my income. Modeling is my college job for now. It also helps my confidence and to meet new people…and I hope to apply to Wilhelmina soon as an athletic model. If I were to make the Olympic team, I know Wilhelmina represents many Olympic athletes. That is the main reason why I want to apply to Wilhelmina over the other agencies like Ford or Elite. My dream could come true; MODEL Athlete, at the same time… I want to go to Grad School as well.”

Photo by Fred Prose exposedbeautyimaging@gmail.com

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With the amount of dedication this young woman

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has, she could very well reach her goals. For those looking to be where she is on her way to, here is some sound advice she left us with:

To pole vaulters looking to make the difficult choice of where to attend college she says, “The college has to have the right major for you. Next, find the coach that makes vaulters better…If you don’t think your coach can take you to the level you want then you most likely will not get there... in the end you’re there to get an education. You’re a student athlete; as in student first, athlete second.”

To vaulters just starting out, Stidham says, “Be tough.

You have to move through poles.

Take vaults up even if your step or drop is not perfect...I HATE RUN THOUGHS, they mess with your head, they can only mess you up, they will never help you in anyway. The vaulters that run through do not make it. Just ‘Take it up’ as Coach Richards says. You have to be determined, and be ok with getting rejected or breaking a pole. Big things will happen if you push yourself. Be aggressive, run fast, plant tall, jump up, swing deep, tuck back, shoot up, turn, and pull! It’s easy- just do it… Listen to your Coach. Be consistent in training and get faster and stronger. Be

patient it will come. Make your practice worth your time. Be there to achieve something, and work on something, don’t leave till you got it.”

And to those who want to take the modeling route, this is what she has to say: “I asked Kid Rock (Bobby) his advice on how he made it big. He told me to find someone bigger and better than me. Then stick to them, make them your best friend, learn from them and use everything they have to offer.

Then, once you’re at their level, find the person who they look up to and who are bigger and better to them.

Keep moving up the line, and you will run into something big. I honestly take this advice to heart when it comes to Pole vaulting and Modeling.

In pole vaulting, I will not hang out with athletes who party, I only hang out with the people who are dedicated to their sport, who want to go somewhere, and have a future.

If you hang out with low life’s they will bring

you down. You should always associate yourself with people who will bring you up. Same in modeling- find someone to bring you up and to take you to the next level. Then move keep moving up.”

We hope to see Lenzey Stidham in the Olympics and on lots of magazine covers in the future. She is certainly a positive role model, with great advice, for young athletes to look up to. We will look forward to seeing what 2013 will hold for her.

Photo by Fred Prose exposedbeautyimaging@gmail.com

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Left – right bottom guys: Preston Perkins, Kevin Sarehkhani, Kyle Ballew, Peter Chapman MAGAZINE Left – right girls: Bethany Buell, Emily Grove, Derek Miles, Hunter Wilkes, Megan Meyer, Madison Mills Photo by Aaron Packard

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VAULTER

MAGAZINE Renaud Lavillenie Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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Another Big One is coming for the University of South Dakota By: Michelle Walthall

The pole vault team at the University of South Dakota is yet another university team with extraordinary talent. The Coyotes of USD, located in Vermillion, South Dakota, have the benefit of a coach and staff with a lot of experience and knowledge, which surely is a main reason they are in the noteworthy position they find themselves. Vault Coach Derek Miles tells us how active the USD vaulters are in competing: “USD is a Div. 1 program located in the Midwest competing in the Summit League Conference. USD also falls into the West Region for the NCAA Championships so we travel extensively for good conditions and to compete against the best in the nation on a regular basis.”

Here is the impressive profile of Coach Miles that was given to us by the USD coaching staff: “Derek Miles has coached for 10 years. From 19962001 he coached as a graduate assistant and assistant coach at USD, coaching conference champions as well as a national champion. From 2001 to 2008 he relocated to Jonesboro, AR to train at Bell Athletics. During that time he focused on his professional track career, ranking top 5 in the world 6 times while also helping and coaching fellow professional vaulters at the training center. Following surgery

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Kyle Ballew

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but gets the opportunity to see what a close, family-like experience being part of this vault squad really is. Because our goal is to be as competitive as possible at the national level we like to see guys around the 5.00m and higher mark and women at 3.85m or higher.

However, those are just ball park heights and don’t necessarily govern our decision-making process.

Our knowledge of the sport will always guide our decision-making process and remain the foundation of our system.”

complicated event, requiring a lot of time, but additionally, just as important as the runway time, are the details in the other aspects of training from gymnastics, sprint mechanics, weight training, core, stability etc. Having more than around

We also found out some information about the pole vault program at USD from Coach Miles.

When it comes to training, athletes and philosophy Coach Miles says, “Our program has always had a successful tradition of pole vaulting. From national champions, both men and women, to multiple athletes at last year’s Olympic Trials our Bethany Buell goal will always revolve around trying to be one of the best programs in the 12 total vaulters makes it country. We have 5 female difficult to get the one-on-one vaulters and 4 males. Our attention everyone needs on a philosophy is to have a smaller daily basis.” squad for several specific reasons.

Primarily we do “The Dakota Dome is our this because of the nature of home,” Coach Miles said when the sport. The pole vault is a asked about the training

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equipment and facilities at USD. “A multi-million dollar 8-lane 200m track remains the hub for our program in which the pits stay down throughout the year. That same facility houses our athletic training room, weight room, pool, pole-flexing system, rings, bars and video analysis system along with a gymnastics facility just a few blocks away. We also have an outdoor track we train on and plans for a brand new, state of the art track complex in the works for 2013.”

Coyote vaulters keep their training in perspective too. Coach Miles says, “We begin organizing as a team about early to mid September.

Prior to coming back to school, however, they have a 3-4 week prep phase they do on their own to prepare for our fall program. The season can and did extend well into the middle of the summer for some of our athletes with domestic and international competitions, but it’s crucial that they all take some time off during the summer at some point.

During the off-season we like to get away from the vault, be active, have fun and come back the following year refreshed,

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mentor on and off the track.

On the runway, three of our athletes made it to the first round of the National Meet last year with 2 advancing to the finals. Junior Kyle Ballew jumped 5.35m (17’6”) during the 2012 season, but just missed making it out of the NCAA West Regional Championships. On the women’s side, 2 finished in the top 8 to claim All-American status at the NCAA National Championships.

Sophomore Bethany Buell finished third with 4.40m (14’5 ½’) and freshman Emily Grove finished 7th with 4.25m (13’11 1/2”).

Both jumped over 14’2” to qualify and compete at the 2012 Olympic Trials. Emily also went on to win the US Junior Championships and finish 6th at the World Junior Championships.

Off the runway, and perhaps even more impressive, is that the combined GPA of the pole vault squad is over a 3.5.”

USD does offer life-enriching opportunities in addition to pole vaulting, which any athlete would be fortunate to take advantage of. We learned from our interview with the coaching staff that “The University of South Dakota is a mid-major university set in a smaller community surrounded by larger cities.

Distinguished graduates are numerous, but include: Al Neuharth (founder

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of USA Today), Tom Brokaw (NBC Nightly News), Joe Robie (owner of the Miami Dolphins), 9 governors, numerous senators and representatives just to name a few. USD has over 130 undergraduate majors, over 40 graduate programs as well as schools of law and medicine.”

Nothing seems to be stopping the University of South Dakota from continuing to have amazing success. Coach Miles and his team are expecting nothing but great things this coming year. “We felt the 2012 season was a great success and amazing things are coming,” says Coach Miles. “2012 brought 2 All-Americans, a conference champion, 2 competing in the Olympic Trials and the highest American finisher at the World Junior Championships in history. In addition to that, four new vaulters joined the squad this year and all were state champs coming from Wisconsin, California, Nevada and Arizona. Pay attention to signing day in February 2013….

Another big one is coming!!”

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Katerina Stefanidi Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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MAGAZINE Becky Holliday Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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Poles • Standards • Pits • Cross Bars

Pole Vault Headquarters “We wanna take you higher!”

Expert pole selection advice from Jan Johnson.

Chelsea magazine Johnson at 200931 Worlds vsathletics.com • 800-676-7463 2013 the vaulter

Photo: Jan Johnson

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Competition Strategies By: Bubba Sparks Last week at Reno I saw some kids that had their plan pretty well together, some all over the place, and some were totally lost. Never was the old adage, “Practice how you compete, and compete how you practice”, been more apparent.

Why do you start practice from 3-4 strides (6-12 steps) in your basic running shoes, yet get to the meet and put on spikes and go right to 7-8 strides (1416 steps)? You don’t, or you shouldn’t because that is not how you practice.

YES – you need a plan to be successful in your meets and practices so I’ll try to cover a few of these items for you based on my personal or observed experience. I started vaulting when I was 12 years old, and in a few months I will be 60, so I have already made every mistake you will ever make, about five times. Let’s see if I can save you some of that guessing and frustration.

Before You Arrive

• The first thing you need to do is to make a “Mechanical Checklist” of the top 5-7

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technical goals that you must do correctly to assure success. Begin with the run and pole carry and progress through the vault. Do each thing on the list perfectly before going to the next one.

When you go to the next one, make sure you did the previous one correctly also.

• Confirm with your coach what time you vault and ARRIVE at the track at least 1.5 hours before you vault.

This way you can get the poles to vault area, check in, go to the bathroom, warmup, etc., ALL before you get on the runway.

• Check your bag and make sure you have all of the things you need and use daily in practice; tape measure, chalk/tape, runway marker, spikes, etc.

• Check the weather! If it’s hot, cold, windy or rainy, you Bubba Sparks

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• Most no heights (nh) occur from starting too high where you have little or no margin for error, or a rushed warm up.

• Be flexible if you’re feeling really good or the warm up did not go well. It’s OK to start 6” (15cm) lower in order to gain confidence.

Or 6” higher if you’re doing well on a little bigger pole.

Adjustments

• Watch the competition list and find out who you are behind and know when you are going to be up.

Before you start, see who is jumping before you on the list who is not passing.

• The wind typically causes the most need for an adjustment. No matter what it’s doing, someone still wins and they still give out the medals. Vaulting in strong wind conditions can be easily accomplished by relaxing your run. Do not fight the wind because you will not win that battle.

Relax and stay rhythmical.

• Relax your hands and upper body so that wind gusts don’t move your entire body around. Relaxed hands may move the pole but not

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interrupt pattern.

your

running

• In the case of a crosswind, widen your hand spread by ½ hand width to give you a little better control.

• Changing poles can be tricky. As a general rule you want to make a pole or run adjustment one height before you need to so that you have a little more room for error.

• You also want to make changes after your first jump so that you have two jumps left to work out the new timing.

Final Notes

• Meets and competition should be fun. In practice, I never allow myself more than three jumps to make a bar. Just like a meet, if I miss three times I have to change run length, poles or both. This makes you accountable to the three jump limit in a meet. I know one guy who will take 8-10 jumps at a bar to make it in practice. No surprise he nhs a lot because a meet only gives him three shots.

• Use crossbars, not bungees in practice. If the last person

down the runway puts the bar up for the next one, the practice can move quickly.

Bungees let you be sloppy and give you a false feeling that you are jumping higher than you are. REALITY – you can only clear a bar 2’ (60cm) below what you can get over (not touch with your toe) using a tight bungee. I had the privilege of working with all of the 1996 Olympic vaulters in Atlanta over the last five weeks during their final preparations for the Games.

Everyone used a crossbar except Bubka (who was attempting 20’ 8” (6.30m).

The recurring quote was, “When they start allowing bungees in meets then I will use one. Until then I’ll use the crossbar.” If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right. Though I can make an argument that there are a couple of different scenarios where bungees are good for training, young to intermediate vaulters need to get over the fear of hitting the crossbar.

• Standards are all of the way back. Whether you are throwing a baseball or hitting a golf ball, maximum speed is achieved PAST vertical. The harder and faster you swing the higher

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you jump. Close standards cause you to cut off your takeoff and pick up your feet. At the Olympic final in 1996, we had off and on rain at the beginning and swirling winds, yet the closest standard setting I saw was 70cm or 28”. Here is a test for both coach and athlete – I will promise you that if you move the standards in, that within two jumps you will actually come down on the bar even harder. You’re better to focus on a better takeoff, or even move your grip down 2” (5cm) in order to get more pole speed for the better swing you get when the standards are deeper.

• If you have video from the meet, study the vaults alongside your mechanical checklist. Make sure that on jump #3 that you did item #3 correctly.

• Good practice habits make for good meet results. BOTH should be fun!

Enjoy!

Bubba

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Melissa Gergel Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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Jack Whitt Reno Pole Vault Summit 2013

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John Altendorf Shows Vaulters how to Keep Confidence By: Michelle Walthall

Since being noticed by Coach Al Miller his sophomore year (1962) at The Dalles High School in Oregon John Altendorf has left quite mark on the pole vault world. Altendorf says, “Al Miller, the track coach, observed me doing tricks and fooling around on the trampoline. He approached me and asked if I knew anything about pole vaulting.”

This coach and vaulter duo did not always see eye to eye in this situation, but Miller convinced Altendorf to keep going and it sure paid off.

Coach Miller’s methods with Altendorf are rather interesting. He says, “With no one else around, he [Miller] tied twine around the standards, not much over knee-high, and we started there. I used a small diameter Swedish steel pole; the other vaulters used a larger aluminum pole. The pit was sawdust/woodchips with sandbags around the perimeter to help keep the sawdust in place. The pitchfork was always nearby to ‘fluff up’ the pit, but I didn’t need to worry about that at first.”

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However unique the method, it worked.

“My sophomore season I didn’t compete in the first 4 meets, but in the 5th meet I competed as JV and placed 3rd with an 8’0” jump,” says Altendorf. “I improved throughout my first year, finishing at districts with a 10’6” jump that tied for 6th place. As a junior, I progressed slowly, but culminated with an 11’11.25” school record jump.

At that time, my high school measured after you cleared the bar; I suspect the standards were set for 12’ even. That year we got our first fiberglass pole, the only one in the school district at the time. No one knew how to use a bendable pole, so we experimented and learned on our own, which may account for us breaking the pole. During my senior year, I increased my school record 3 times, about 5 inches at a time, with the final height being 13’4.5”, a record that stood for many years.”

Al Miller is a significant factor in Altendorf’s success. He has admiration for the 16 and 17

foot jumps of Brian Sternberg and Bob Seagren, But Coach Miller is the one he credits with pushing his vaulting career forward. “Of course, without Al’s persistence, I would not have stayed with the sport.

That was significant,” he says fondly of his coach.

After college, Altendorf put pole vaulting in the back of his mind for 35 years and Coach Miller was even able to bring him back to it in 2004.

The accomplishments Altendorf tells us he is most proud of are: “my first age group world record in 2006 at 3.91m…it broke a 35 year old record set by Herbert Schmidt of Germany in 1971, my first 13’ jump- it was the first time anyone 60 or older had jumped 13’, my first 4m jump- it was the first time anyone 60 or older had jumped 4m, my masters PRs and WRs of 4.05m indoor and 4.04m outdoor at age 64 and my double WR (65-69 age group) at the Summit 2013 because it has rekindled my confidence.”

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