NewsAthleticsUpper SchoolStudent Life
McCoy soars into pole-vaulting
Apr 16, 2003 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Girls’ pole-vaulting, added just last year by the Georgia High School Association, is the latest thing in track and field competition and allows the girls to compete in essentially the same 16 events as the boys. For decades, the boys have competed in the pole vault, and now the girls have their own shot at it as well. In “the vault,” one hurls oneself over a ridiculously tall height using a bendable pole that is inserted in the “vault box” upon liftoff. A fast run-up carrying the pole in front of you is required. In days of old, athletes like Darlington’s own head groundskeeper Jack McCord can remember vaulting over the bar and landing in “piles of sawdust.” Today at Darlington, the sawdust and other blow-softening surfaces have been replaced by a giant purple pillow called a “pole vault pit.” This huge pad, required by rule by the National High School Athletics Congress, wraps around the vault box and extends over 20 feet beyond the bar on either side, giving the vaulter a nice, big target on which to land.
Senior Catie McCoy is Darlington’s first ever pole-vaulter. Catie has an extensive background in cheerleading and gymnastics, which has given her an edge in learning the event. Pole-vaulting requires, among other things, good sprint speed, excellent upper body strength (to carry the pole down the runway and plant it in the vault box), outstanding total body coordination (for the best vaulters become inverted at the height of their vault), and a good dose of fearlessness. Catie has all these qualities and is still improving her vault skills. She has already cleared six feet, six inches—the new school record— and would like to clear seven or eight feet by the end of the season. “Regardless of high how she goes this season, Catie can definitely be proud that she will have paved the way for other female vaulters of the future,” Ken Wempe, head track and field coach, said.
Senior Catie McCoy is Darlington’s first ever pole-vaulter. Catie has an extensive background in cheerleading and gymnastics, which has given her an edge in learning the event. Pole-vaulting requires, among other things, good sprint speed, excellent upper body strength (to carry the pole down the runway and plant it in the vault box), outstanding total body coordination (for the best vaulters become inverted at the height of their vault), and a good dose of fearlessness. Catie has all these qualities and is still improving her vault skills. She has already cleared six feet, six inches—the new school record— and would like to clear seven or eight feet by the end of the season. “Regardless of high how she goes this season, Catie can definitely be proud that she will have paved the way for other female vaulters of the future,” Ken Wempe, head track and field coach, said.
