THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 9, 1996 TAG: 9605090543
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 116 lines
First Mariel Brown marveled at the sight of boys using a 14-foot hunk of fiberglass to catapult themselves skyward. Then the Deep Creek junior imagined experiencing the flight-like sensation herself and asked: ``Why not?''
Meanwhile, thousands of other area girls, after witnessing the same spectacle, seemed to have collectively shrugged and surmised: ``Why bother.''
Not even the event's staunchest advocate expected a stampede to the state's pole vault pits when the Virginia High School League sanctioned girls pole vaulting for the first time this year. But in South Hampton Roads, it's as though nobody got the word.
Heading into May, Brown was the only area girl to attempt a vault in competition. And with a little over a week left in the regular track season, South Hampton Roads' female pole-vaulting contingent numbers only three. The event has only exhibition status in district meets, and will not be held in the Eastern Region or state meets.
And it's not like women's pole vaulting isn't gaining momentum on other fronts. It is a scored event in NCAA meets for the first time this year, although it's still not an NCAA championship event. It will be an exhibition event in this summer's Olympics, and will be fully recognized in the 2000 Games. This is the second year it's been a part of the European Championships, and it will be a part of the 1997 World Championships.
Brown, for one, doesn't understand why Virginia lags behind.
``I'm having so much fun,'' said Brown, who cleared 7-0 for the third time this season during a meet in Gloucester Saturday and reigns as the area's top vaulter. ``I don't know why more girls don't do this.''
Actually, in these parts, not even a lot of boys do it. Group A schools no longer hold the event, and only three schools in the Southeastern District have a pole vaulter of either gender. Kyle Bishop, a Richmond-based coach who specializes in pole vaulting, said the same state that produced national collegiate champion Lawrence Johnson (Great Bridge) currently has only about 100 active high school vaulters.
``Vaulting's been floundering around here for the past 10 years,'' Bishop said.
According to Bishop, some coaches lack the expertise to train people in what is a highly technical event. Others feel it's too dangerous. And some schools cite the prohibitive costs involved. A pole-vaulting pit costs $5,000.
Bishop was among those who felt that the inclusion of women into pole vaulting would help invigorate the sport.
Women have been pole vaulting unofficially and in exhibitions for years - the first American women's record was established in 1980. And schools in Oregon and California - where 300 girls competed in the event two years ago - began allowing girls to compete in state meets in 1994.
Until this year, the VHSL had resisted attempts to include girls pole vaulting among its sanctioned events.
``Our catastrophic insurance company wouldn't cover it,'' VHSL assistant director Claudia Dodson said.
In January, however, the National High School Federation, reacting to the growing popularity of the event among girls on the West Coast, added girls pole vaulting to its approved events in its 1996 rule book.
The VHSL followed suit, clearing the way for Brown, who had spent the past year quietly yearning for the chance.
A ballet dancer for nine years and the co-captain of Deep Creek's gymnastics team, Brown saw pole vaulting as a natural extension of her other pursuits. She became familiar with the sport's mechanics through workouts with friends and Hornets boys vaulters Will Brinson and Chris Boyce.
``Then one day, I was just joking around and I said, `Man, I wish I could compete in this,' '' Brown said.
``This year, you can,'' replied Hornets coach Richard Cox.
Brown's gymnastics-honed body control and her boundless enthusiasm helped her to become competent in the sport almost from the start. Seven feet may be a modest jump - the national high school record is 12-6 - but Brown competes in tennis shoes instead of spikes and with a boys pole with a length (14 feet) and stiffness suitable for a 155-pounder. Brown weighs 114.
Grika Moses and Jasmime Wilson, Indian River teammates who also use boys equipment, have each cleared 6 feet this season.
Brown seemed poised for major improvement Saturday as her specially designed, thinner, more flexible pole - a bright red-and-yellow number labeled ``Ms. Stic'' - arrived via rush delivery to the Gloucester meet two hours before the competition. But Brown struggled with Ms. Stic in practice vaults, as the lighter model made it difficult for her to clear 5 feet.
``When she learns how to do this with a girls pole, she's going to clear 8 feet with no problem,'' Cox said.
But for many girls in Virginia, the crossbar isn't the only obstacle to becoming a pole vaulter. Ron Lester, who's been coaching pole vaulting for 17 years in the Richmond area and brought three girls to the Gloucester meet, said he received a letter from the James River High School athletic director stating he shouldn't encourage girls to come out for the event since it would not be held in 1997.
``I don't know about that, but I do know we scored 24 points for the team in (an invitational) meet a couple of weeks ago,'' Lester said. ``Coaches see that and they go `Wow!' I think they might change their minds.''
And at Menchville, Don Mollenhauer - whose wife, Skip, coaches the school's gymnastics team - assembled a team of five girl pole vaulters and promptly asked his principal to call for a vote to include the event at the district level. The Peninsula Principals Association returned with a vote to ban the entire event next year - for boys and girls.
``That seems pretty extreme just to keep girls out of this,'' said Mollenhauer, who coached the 1995 indoor boys state champion.
``We thought that a whole new group of pole vaulters would only help,'' Bishop said. ``But it seems like the idea of adding girls may have backfired.''
Still, as controversy and politicking swirl around her, Brown is focused only on clearing the one additional foot that would qualify her for the high school nationals next month in Charlotte.
``That would be a great deal if I could make it in my first year,'' Brown said.
``I don't know about everyone else, but this sure is fun to me.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo L. TODD SPENCER/The Virginian-Pilot
``I don't know about everyone else, but this sure is fun to me,''
says Deep Creek's Mariel Brown. Also a gymnast, her best vault this
year is 7 feet.
by CNB