New Classifications To Shake Up Florida Vaulting

The Florida High School Activities Association recently, October 21st, released the new classification lists for the 2009 - 2010 year.  Among the biggest surprises include St. Thomas Aquinas and Wharton High Schools moving from 3A to 4A.  St. Thomas returns one of the premier vaulters in the state, David Shepherd, and Wharton returns the defending 3A state champion, London Enos.  Moving from 2A to 3A was Citrus High School who returns Caleigh Boyington, who vaulted 10′6″ at last year’s state meet. The class 2A girls still looks to be the cream of the crop with the top 7 girls returning from last year, of which the lowest of the 7 vaulters was 10′.

The move from 3A to 4A will bring challenges to St. Thomas Aquinas, who was the defending boys state champions, and Flagler Palm Coast, who is the defending 4A boys state champions.  FPC has 2 outstanding vaulters and STA has multiple outstanding vaulters.  St. Thomas will be in region 3 and Flagler Palm Coast will be in region 1.  The key will be to see who gets the most vaulters out of their region.  Good luck to everyone this season.  Hope to see everyone at the Winter Pole Vault City Camps.

Pole Vault Time Rules Are Critical To Know For Competition

There seems to be some confusion when it comes to how long a pole vaulter has for his or her turn.  First of all let’s go over the actual time restrictions on pole vaulters.  This rule can be found in your rule books under Rule 7-2-5.

• 1.5 minutes will be allowed for each vaulter to initiate a completion, this is the rule for when there are more than 3 competitors remaining.
• 4 minutes will be allowed for each vaulter to initiate a completion once there are 3 or less competitors remaining in the pole vault competition.
• 6 minutes will be allowed once a single competitor is remaining in the pole vault competition.

Having said that, let’s go over a few of the specifics for this rule.  The time begins once the standards are set in place, not once your name is called.  It is the responsiblity of the vaulter to make sure the standards are set correctly.  You must begin a successful completion within the allotted time in order for the vault to count.  If there are 4 competitors remaining and you begin your approach within the allotted 1.5 minutes then you are ok.  If you begin your run with 10 seconds remaining and you stop your approach run, then return to the origin of your approach, and try to run again, chances are you will be given a miss, unless you are super fast getting back.  The rule does not specify how many times you abort your run, as long as you are within the alloted time frame.

If your standards are set, you are on the clock and may not elect to pass that attempt.  This is common on windy days, especially with a swirling wind.   You have to elect to pass before your standards are set, remember that.

Get Your Replacement Pole Vaulting Pole Labels Before Districts

According to NFHS rule number 7-5-3 “The competitor’s weight shall be at or below the manufacturer’s pole rating. The manufacturer must include on each pole: the pole rating that shall be a minimum of ¾ inch in a contrasting color located within or above the top hand-hold position; a 1 inch circular band indicating the maximum top hand-hold position with the position being determined by the manufacturer.
Prior to competition, the coach must verify that all of the schools’ pole vaulters meets these requirements.”

This year there has been an addition to the rule stating: “visible etchings appearing on poles shall not meet the requirement of the manufacturer’s pole rating appearing on the pole in a contrasting color.”  This addition to the rule could affect many vaulters as they head into their district, region, and state meets.  It is a terrible sight to see a young pole vaulter frantically running around searching for a pole to use because their pole isn’t properly marked from the manufacturer.  In fact, I witnessed this exact thing at the Florida Relays this past weekend.  Get your ducks in a row now!  If you have a pole that is either improperly marked or not marked at all, you still have time to fix the problem.

The major three pole manufacturers in the US: Gill Athletics, UCS Spirit, and ESSX are aware of this problem and are willing to help you.  For Gill Athletics, you can request a new label through a link on their front page.  Gill Athletics produces Pacer fx, Carbon fx, Skypole, Mystik, and Carbon Mystik poles. If the pole has a serial number embedded in the pole, meaning that it was manufactured since 2003, you will fill out the form differently than if it was manufactured prior to 2003.  For a Spirit Pole, you have to send in a clear digital photo of the engraved markings on the pole, which may take a little work on your part depending on if the etchings are clear.  If the etchings are not legible, you can try to clean the pole up so the etchings are more legible.  According to Bruce Caldwell at ESSX, you need to provide the flex number, pole size, and serial number along with your address to receive a new pole label.  Lablels for ESSX poles are FREE, contrary to other published posts, however, labels for Fibersport, Catapole, and Maxima poles are $10.

Altius poles are a completely different category.  If you’ve ever purchased an Altius pole, you know that they only have a piece of red tape on the pole that signifies the maximum handhold.  If you have one of those, you better contact Altius, because that pole definitely will not work.  With the new rule change this year, Altius is putting labels on their poles that meets the standard, but most people have the older ones.

Most districts won’t catch this rule, but most regionals will, and if they don’t I guarantee you that the state officiating crew will catch it.  Contact the appropriate manufacturer to get your replacement labels.

Contact information for each of these manufacturers is as follows:

Gill Athletics
1 800 637 3090

UCS Spirit
New number: 1-800-537-7117

ESSX
1 877 367 3779

Altius Poles
Jeff Erickson
1-800-374-7653

Rule 7-5-29 Revised For Vaulter Safety

The rule change, 7-5-29, set forth by the National Federation of State High School Associations is a reversal of a ruling set forth in the 2008 rules revisions.  The 2008 rule revision matched the USATF, NCAA, and IAAF rule that a vaulter could leave the ground, and as long as the vaulter did not land beyond the plane of the box, could continue their attempt as long as they were within the time restrictions being enforced. Many pole vault safety activists voiced their stern objection to this rule, knowing that this rule would greatly increase the risk for injury.  The rationale of safety activists is simple, if a high school pole vaulter leaves the ground and can’t make it beyond the plane of the box, by hurriedly scampering back down the runway and trying the attempt again, the next attempt is almost always going to result like the first.  At this point, the rule has now doubled the chances of the vaulter being injured.

The new rule states: “It is a foul if the vaulter leaves the ground in an attempt and fails to clear the crossbar.
•Exception:  The competitor aborts the approach and in stopping, plants the pole and momentum causes his/her feet to leave the ground
•The vaulter may stop the approach and have the opportunity to restart the approach within the allotted time for the trial”

The new rule with the exception clearly laid out, exemplifies what the NFHS has intended all along.  The original rule, before the 2008 revision, stated the same thing the 2009 rule stated, without the exception.  The exception gives the vaulter a chance to stop and not be penalized because their momentum caused both feet to come off the ground.  This rule clearly states the vaulter must be aborting the approach.  This is a decision that must be made by the official in charge of the pole vault.

I support and applaud the NFHS in their continuing efforts to make pole vaulting as safe as possible.  They realized that a mistake was made in the rule and changed it for the following year.  Vaulters and their coaches and parents should be aware of all pole vaulting rules and any changes that occur from year to year.  If you do not have a copy, please get a copy of the NFHS rules book.

Running Off The Pit Will Not Result In A Make!

Myth: If a vaulter bobbles a crossbar and runs off the pit, it counts as a clearance as long as the vaulter has exited the pit before the bar falls down.Attention pole vaulters, coaches, and parents: If you run off the pit and the bar falls down - IT’S A MISS! I can’t count the number of times that I attend high school meets and inevitably, a vaulter scrambles to run off the pit because they heard that it would count as long as they were off the pit. All this does is put the vaulter at risk of rolling their ankle or possibly even worse. The rule states that the crossbar must steady itself. If a vaulter or their pole comes into contact with the bar and the bar is wobbling, the best thing to do is lay down in the pit and wait for the official to declare a make. If the bar falls down, then you know you have a miss on the scorecard. This myth is definitely BUSTED!