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56 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, March 27, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 27, 2005 Until he got to Southern Oregon University, Robbie Johnston had been stuck on 16 feet as a personal best in the pole vault. But a number of factors have enabled the former Eagle Point High star to reach new heights each time out as a freshman. Mail Tribune / Andrew Mariman Soar subject Southern Oregon freshman pole vaulter Johnston has set or tied the school record five times By TIM TROWER Mail Tribune ASHLAND — You don’t hear much about the "go-to" pole. Until, that is, it’s gone to. "You always have a pole you’ve never been on," says Don Gray, a pole vault guru and volunteer track and field coach at Southern Oregon University. "It’s what you go to if you really have a breakthrough. "If you don’t have that in the bag, then you miss the day you might go six inches higher." Advertisement Some vaulters may never get to their go-to pole, but early in his college career, Robbie Johnston needs a new one. Again. The SOU freshman from Eagle Point, last year’s Class 4A state champion, has already blown through a half-dozen poles because he’s reached new heights with every competition. Johnston astonished onlookers at the Oregon Preview meet last weekend when he broke the school record for the fifth time with a vault of 17 feet, 3 inches. He did so in winds of 20 to 30 mph and against a field rife with NCAA Division I athletes he wasn’t supposed to dominate. Johnston, who made one attempt at 17-6 before shutting down out of safety concerns, won the event by 8¼ inches. Vaulters have several poles to choose from, depending on conditions, and Johnston went to a 16-foot pole that supports 190 pounds. It is 5 pounds stiffer than the 185-pound pole he had been using. A tail wind increased his runway speed and enabled him to make the pole change, but staying under control once he left the ground was dicey. The wind was so strong it occasionally moved the standards and required attendants to hold the bar in place until the last possible moment. Johnston didn’t expect to win, let alone have a breakout performance. Some of the other vaulters had personal records of 17-6, far better than his 16-10. "I didn’t have anything to live up to," says Johnston. "That was a bonus." That will no longer be the case. Johnston was head and shoulders above most of the prep competition while at Eagle Point, but his personal best didn’t improve after his junior year, when he set the district meet record of 16-0. He hit that mark as a senior last spring but couldn’t surpass it. It wasn’t until the Pole Vault Summit, a world-class clinic in Reno, Nev., in January, that Johnston improved his PR. He went 16-7 to easily win his collegiate flight. That was the first time he broke the Raider record, and he hasn’t stopped since, going 16-7, 16-8 and 16-10 before the Oregon meet. There are a variety of reasons that Johnston burst through the barrier that was 16 feet: training regimen, fitness level, confidence, weather. He’s been able to bring the pieces of a complex discipline together and enjoy remarkable success. But regardless of how it appears, it has not been an overnight development. "I’ve expected to get better because I haven’t bettered myself since my junior year," says Johnston, who has dropped about 10 pounds and weighs 172. "It’s taken two years to get anything more. It’s really long past due." Johnston’s father, Rick, was a high school vaulter and made sure his son had a solid foundation in the sport. Robbie’s athleticism made it all work. "Everyone says they’re all daredevils," Gray says of the perception of vaulters. "I have a hard time buying that. You have to have a sprinter’s speed and a decathlete’s mentality, I guess. But when you get to where Robbie is, above 16 feet, it isn’t all just jumping." At Eagle Point last year, Johnston worked predominantly on his runway speed. Since then, the focus has been on form and technique, with Gray showing the way. Gray has been a masters vaulter for 30 years and has a vault-specific workout area at his Talent home. It includes a 26-foot tower, 8-foot platform and oversized pit. A rope and bungee cord hookup allows vaulters to bounce and soar and work on moves in the air, like rocking back, shooting the hips, pushing off and rolling over. "It’s a way to work on the top end of the vault without having to run down the runway 25 times, which you can’t do," says Gray. If the large contingent of SOU vaulters — former Hidden Valley star Ryan Musselman and a half-dozen others are in the fold — aren’t working there, they might be sprinting on the track or inside doing gymnastics, such as the high bar. "He told us before the season started he’d have us doing gymnastics," says Johnston. "I didn’t understand how it would help, but it’s really paid off." Maybe too well. Johnston has improved so much, he may have to pull back a little. The goal is to have him peak in May at nationals, not in March. The intensity of practices will increase in the next few weeks, and the emphasis will shift from endurance to speed, which could throttle Johnston’s ascent. "I don’t want to bring on too much too early," says Johnston, "because it’s hard to maintain that." But pulling back won’t be easy, either. "Having so much success makes me want to go more and more and more," he admits. "But it’ll be best in the long run if I slow down and have more gradual success." Mindful that Johnston is but a freshman, Gray is reluctant to predict how high his prot�g� might go. He’ll say only that he doesn’t think 17-3 is the high-water mark. It’ll come down to a simple equation. "How big of a pole can we get him on and how high can we get his grip without ruining his technique," says Gray. "That’s a fine line." Johnston is the NAIA national leader by a wide margin, but that means little at this point. Gray has taken five No. 1-ranked athletes to nationals in various events, and none won. "He’s going to lead the nation all year on the computer," says Gray, "then he has to go back to Kentucky and try to win. We have to get him to May 30 in one piece and peaking, and that’s not an easy chore. "But Robbie has the mental structure and toughness to do it, in my opinion. I think he has good days when he needs to have good days. He’s done that over the last couple of years." And his go-to pole will be at the ready. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s