Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 24, 1994 TAG: 9403260014
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``It's one of the most beautiful events in track,'' says John Edwards, a former state champion pole-vaulter and father of PH vaulter Jack Edwards. ``There are 32 separate movements in pole-vaulting, and I've heard it takes seven or eight years to master.''
Besides being difficult to master, the somewhat risky, and considered by some, dangerous, event can be difficult to get into. Region IV forbids schools to have pole-vaulters, despite the fact pole-vaulting is a state-meet event. Group A schools across the state don't permit it at any level.
Three schools in the Roanoke Valley - PH, Northside and Lord Botetourt - had pole-vaulters last spring.
At PH, two very good vaulters are hoping, at the very least, to place in the Group AAA state meet this year. One is Randy Burch, who was fourth in the Northwestern Region outdoor meet a year ago and third in the state indoor meet this past winter, when he cleared 13 feet, 9 inches. The other Patriot vaulter who has come on strong is Jack Edwards, who was third in the Northwestern indoor meet behind Burch.
The Patriots also have a third senior, Robert McGrath, and a junior, Jerry Germond, who give them depth in the event. PH track coach Jeff Johnson has used pole-vaulting to gain an advantage in dual meets against some strong Group AA teams, such as Christiansburg a few years ago, that don't participate in the event.
``It's probably the most technical event in track and field, and you have to be very sound fundamentally to compete in pole-vaulting,'' Johnson says.
Johnson gets help from volunteer assistant Don Cass, who had two sons vault for PH when Larry Carter, now the athletic director at Lord Botetourt, was the Patriots' track coach. Burch and Edwards credit Cass with being their main help.
Burch is the best PH pole-vaulter since Danny Thompson won the state championship with a vault of 15-3 in the early 1980s. He and Edwards say they didn't even think about pole-vaulting until they were recruited by Johnson when they were sophomores. Now they love vaulting, which has to be one of the scariest events to try for the first time.
``I just thought it would be fun, and I wanted to do it,'' Burch says, recalling his first conversation with Johnson about becoming a pole-vaulter. ``I had just finished [junior varsity] basketball and needed something to do. I was scared at first that I would fall and hurt myself. But now I'm used to doing it, and it doesn't bother me anymore.''
Burch's best jump is a 14-0 in an indoor dual meet. He cleared 13-9 this year in the state indoor meet. To place in the outdoor state meet, Burch probably would need to clear 13-6. Last year's outdoor state champion, Herndon's Robbie Tomlinson, cleared 15-0, which is Burch's goal this spring.
Since becoming a vaulter, Burch has given up basketball. He played H-back and cornerback for the PH football team that advanced to the 1993 Group AAA Northwestern Region playoffs. He hopes to continue to compete as a pole-vaulter in college.
Edwards, another two-sport athlete, is one of PH's better soccer players and plays on a Roanoke Star select team in the fall. Soccer is a spring sport on the Group AAA level, causing a conflict with track.
``I like both sports a lot. I'm sure I'd be better at vaulting if I didn't play soccer. I try to go to soccer practice two to three days a week and work out on my own inbetween on vaulting,'' Edwards says.
Jack's father is John Edwards, a member of the Roanoke City Council and the winner of the Group AAA state indoor championship in 1962, the year Patrick Henry opened as a high school.
John Edwards says it was his wife, Cathye, who got their son interested in pole-vaulting.
``She kind of mentioned to one of the coaches that they might want to try Jack out in the pole vault, that I was a state champion, and if they get Jack interested, maybe I could help out [coaching],'' John Edwards says.
Jack Edwards says, ``I wasn't planning on being a pole-vaulter. I didn't do it because my dad did it, I did it because I liked it. He does help me and points out some things I might be doing wrong.''
The younger Edwards remembers the first time he tried to vault.
``There's a fear of it, because you're up in the air. You're not sure what it feels like [until you try it]. You have to get comfortable with it,'' he says. ``The first time, I wasn't scared of falling or hurting myself. I was just scared of the unknown.''
Edwards will attend Princeton and plans to vault there as his father did. He probably will continue to play soccer in college, too.
Edwards' goal for the state meet is to place and to clear 13-6.
If Burch and Edwards perform well in the state meet, they might provide a spark for some other youngsters in Roanoke to give pole-vaulting a try and help the event become more popular.
by CNB