Thank you to our Advertisers. The partners that help our cause, the companies that bring this magazine to you every month! Please help us by supporting these companies when you think about your track and field needs.
May is that time of the year when your anxiety starts to grow for the end of school and start of summer. Summer meets, summer fun to include the sport of pole vaulting. From this year on May, we will begin our annual month of Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement awardees for the magazine.
With that said, we had a Vaulter Magazine Hall of Fame celebration for Don Hood and Carl Erickson at Baylor University for this occasion. The event was epic with the awards given to each of the recipients by Olympic Gold and Silver Medalist Jenn Suhr at Baylor University. Friends and family gathered to see these men that provided such prestige to their athletes in their younger years. Pole vaulters from the past came to mark this celebration and Stuart Kantor wrote and excellent article annotating the event.
“Says Payne of the Golden Age at Baylor: “The combination of coaching and those three guys [Hodge, Cooper, Shafe] is kind of what got me going.” Payne, mentored by Erickson, set and still holds many Baylor records. “
A great friend of Vaulter Magazine a supporter from day one and a confidante that can be counted on. “While many elite vaulters begin to coach in place of competing when they retire, few are lucky enough to make as much of an impact on the pole vaulting community as Bob Olsen.” Bob Olsen is a Masters Vaulter now and has vaulted his way through a majority of his life. Kreager Taber takes the time to write about Bob and open a window into his life as a pole vaulter and a coach. Good job Kreager!
John Clark is back, and he never ceases to make us laugh and think about his journey as a Masters Pole Vaulter. “When I woke up around 8 o’clock that Sunday morning to the sounds of howling wind, booming thunder, and pouring rain outside my hotel room, I pretty much knew the Texas Senior Games vaulting competition was going to be a wash-out.” Read the rest of the story and see what John is up to and who he is writing about this month.
As we finish may and honor those pole vaulters of the past, we will get some insight into the club world and the pole vaulters that make the summer season happen. See you all in June!
