Cauble to tread the path laid by his sister (part 2)
(This is a continuation from part 1 of this article)
LPS pole vault coach, Chris Johnson, stated, “that height gives him advantages with the angle of takeoff and the ability to get on longer poles”. Johnson is an accomplished coach who has worked with nine young athletes, and helped them get to Class A state pole vault gold medals. He went on to say, “now it’s just a matter of getting him more confident on the longer poles and handling the mental part of it. It’s going to be fun to see what he can do at state next weekend and then all of next season.”
In the previous season, Cauble placed in position five; a position he tied with another athlete. He achieved this placement by clearing a height of 13 feet and 6 inches. He may have been using a high quality mean green skypole vaulting pole, but this may have been a result of more than his tools. He not only participates in pole vault, but also in wrestling. He was a member of the wrestling team during his first two years of high school. He decided, however, to proceed mainly with pole vault and focus his time and energy on that, instead of wearing himself thin across multiple sports.
To improve his burst and speed down a runway, he spent a lot more time in the gym and weight room. The results are evident now. He also worked on becoming more powerful off the pole, which he also achieved from putting in the work. All this effort, plus the experience that he has accumulated in the past year, has resulted in an improvement of his personal best. It now stands at an impressive 14 feet and 4 inches. This is such a good height that only one other pole vaulter in Class A has topped this: Austin Telecky,
of Grand Island, managed to clear 15 feet and ¼ inches earlier in the season. Cauble went head to head with Telecky a couple of weeks ago at a track and field meet (Heartland Athletic Conference meet), and came out victorious in that match up. This gave Cauble the very important bump in confidence, which is very useful as he heads into state.
Rocky is a talented young man with a bright future, and he is not doubtful of this. Here is a closing quote from him to prove it: “I’m not where I want to be yet,” Rocky said. “The Southeast school record is 15-2, so my goal this season is 15-4. I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of putting it all together, and hopefully I can do that at state.”