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Elite Sportz is Always “in the Mix”
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College Connections
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The Well-Rounded Bearcats of UC
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Planning, Experimentation & Patience
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HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE VAULTS TO SUCCESS IN BUSINESS WORLD
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University of Cincinnati Edition
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August 2013. issue 17 $9.95 college issue
Elite Sportz is Always “in the Mix”
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College
Connections
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Planning
Experimentation & Patience
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE
VAULTS TO SUCCESS Page 36
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The Well-Rounded Bearcats of University of Cincinnati $9.95 / AUG 2013
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Photo by Chris Wineberg
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FROM THE EDITOR In this “lost month” (as named by Bubba Sparks) of August, many of you may be wondering what to do with your time. Bubba Sparks has an article for us to help with just that. It is our hope that this month’s words of wisdom by Bubba will get all our vaulters planning for the future and upping their game for this coming season. He always has such great advice, but this one is definitely a feature you can’t miss.
Another exciting addition to this issue is the story of Bruce Caldwell - a successful high school athlete who made it big in the business of sports equipment. Caldwell has proven that there can be more to the world of sports than just competing. Those of you who are looking for ways to stay involved in sports past your competing days will not want to skip this story. It will inspire and uplift you. Elite Sportz, also known by its club name – Texas Pole Vault, is our featured club this month. Located in the backyard of Coach George Rodriguez, Elite Sportz has been putting out some great vaulters. Please make sure to read about what this club is up to. You won’t be disappointed. The high school graduating class of 2014, along with any following classes, will be happy to read Penny Hanson’s article on the Common Application. The reintroduction of this wonderful application process will do wonders for college applicants. For those applying to college, there is
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good information here to get you started on your way to higher education.
And, of course, we have our cover story on the University of Cincinnati. Coach Kris Mack shared a lot with us about their program and they have great things going on – just like all of the other schools we are always proud to feature. What is great about this school is how well-rounded the training and life lessons are. They have done a great job, and we know you will understand why once you read through the information. Whatever you are choosing to do this August, we hope you enjoy our stories this month and enjoy the last half of summer. Thank you again for reading. We will see you next month.
Editor Doug Bouma editor@thevaultermag.com Daichi Sawano
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Madison (Maddie) Mizell
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Elite Sportz is Always “in the Mix” By: Michelle Walthall
“Texas Pole Vault is our club name,” says George Rodriguez of Elite Sportz. “We are registered as both a USATF and AAU Club. The facility, which is located in my back yard, is EliteSportz.”
“Our club is located in Haslet, Texas just north of Fort Worth, about 13 miles up I-35W,” Rodriguez continues. “Our mailing address is in Fort Worth. We are located in one of the fastest growing areas in North Texas. There is a partner facility in San Antonio, Texas.”
The “About Us” section at www.elitesportz.com reads, “Elite Sportz is the result of joint efforts by George Rodriguez and Glen Dickson to bring yearround, quality indoor training to the North and South Texas area. Our goal is to provide a facility where pole vaulter performance, based on speed, strength, and jumping ability, is frequently measured and used as the basis for development
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of the vaulter’s performance improvement plan. Elite Sportz is committed to continuously improving its knowledge of teaching the pole vault. We strive to have an environment where pole vaulters of all skill levels can come and learn how to ‘run faster, jump higher and safer’.” We learned quite a bit about the men who do most of the coaching with Elite Sportz. George Rodriguez shared his coaching background with us first:
“I started jumping in the 9th grade at private school and I believe I jumped 9’ in the 9th grade. My sophomore year I moved to Arlington High School and first met Coach Bill Carter who now lives in Marlow, Oklahoma. Bill was one of the best influences in my life. Bill was, and is still, quite an athlete. The proof is in the fact that he consistently sets world
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he jumped 7’6’’ at that meet and took third place. The next year at the city meet in the 8th grade, he jumped 10’6” and won the meet. That is where it all started.”
“In the 9th grade Devin attended Fossil Ridge High School where Derek Hood was coaching, we thought. The only problem was that Derek moved to take a coaching job at Bethany Christian University before the EliteSportz Facility Competition
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start of the season. I want to include that Mike Lawryk of Vertical Assault in Pennsylvania shared his system with me at this time. It was a game changer from power vaulting to rhythm continuity, swinging and control. Devin jumped 13’ as a freshman and, with the additional info and tutelage of Mike Lawryk, improved to 14’6” his sophomore year. After that I was contacted by Desiree Hill’s mother. Desiree was an early
female pole vaulter in Texas who jumped 11’9” and was one of the top vaulters in Texas. You have to understand the girl’s pole vault was not a real event until 2002; 2 years after the 2000 Olympics and Stacy Dragila’s Championship. Texas held the event as an exhibition in 2001 and included it as an Official UIL event in 2002.” In addition, continuing the legacy is Devin Rodriguez, the
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son of George Rodriguez. He shares his coaching history with us also: “In high school, my freshman year, I jumped 13’ where I broke the school record at Fossil Ridge in Keller Independent School District. My sophomore year I jumped 14’6’’ and made it to the Regional Meet. Junior year I ended up third at State with a personal best that year of 15’6’’. My senior year I jumped 5 meters which is 16’4’’ and took 2nd at the State Meet”. “I attended college at McNeese State University where I was coached by Russ Buller, Jim Davis, and Ty Sevins. If that is not a group of champions and excellent coaches, I do not know what is. I know that many of my major tenets are based on experiences and information shared with me during that time by this outstanding group of individuals. I jumped 17’1’’ my sophomore year in college after red shirting my freshman year.”
“My memory of how the club started is when I told my dad I was jumping in 7th grade, and from there he started helping me. As time went by, kids started asking my dad to help them. Soon enough we had a good-size group of vaulters around a pit. We then would do little small clinics and camps on
the weekend that turned into a club session, which we jumped four to five times a week. We would hop around from high school to high school just to find a place to jump since schools normally store their pole vault pads away during the summer. I would say by my sophomore year we had a good-size group
of kids that jumped every day. From then on, it has been solid with vaulters coming from all over the state, and many of us qualifying for the State Meet. When I went off to college my younger brother was just starting to jump and my dad found a facility where he put up his first indoor training facility.
Lakan Taylor, Desiree Freier, Zoe McKinley
It was perfect; when I would come back for Christmas break, I had a place to jump and would help out with the Christmas camps; which I believe was the foundation of my coaching career. I graduated from UTA with a degree in health and human performance with a minor in sports marketing.”
George and Devin Rodriguez may do most of the coaching, but they also have help from time to time. The coaches say, “We normally will bring in collegiate talent or ex-Texas Pole Vault athletes to assist in our camps and clinics.” Rodriguez goes on to say, “We do not have a formal parents’ program.
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Left to Right: Coach Devin Rodriguez, Gabe McAdams, Logan Freeman, Amalie Brewer, Sara Hall, Desiree Freier, Zoe Mckinley, Savannah Harvey, Lakan, Taylor, Kyla Buskirk, Jaydee Tolda, Emily Weissmann, Kelsey, Haertling, Chloe Griffen , Peyton Weissmann,Coach George Rodriguez, George’s wife Rachel Rodriguez
simple gymnastics equipment, as well as various sprinting equipment for speed and resistance training. We have weight lifting equipment and ropes for specialized drills and training of pole vaulting athletes.” EliteSportz FTW holds about 12 camps a year, during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring break and summer each year. Additional coaching clinics are provided on request with one or two free beginner clinics each year.
Coach George Rodriguez continues: “Over 10,000 square feet are utilized for athletic training. The Astroturfcovered facility is constructed of manufactured sand with floor level wooden runways; there is no concrete in the training facility. Equipment to develop your swing, ropes, hurdles, timers and custom vault training apparatus are utilized. Plyometric and Core training equipment are used in the facility to condition and
strengthen athletes. Everything a vaulter needs to excel is located in one place. Our indoor facility is available 365 days a year; come rain, snow, heat or wind.”
The current highest PR vaulters at Elite Sportz are as follows, as given to us by Coach George Rodriguez: Lakan Taylor (13’10”, 2012 and 2013 Texas 4A State Champion), Desiree Freier (13’9”, 2012 and 2013 Texas 5A State
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Champion), Zoe McKinley (13’3”, 2012 Texas 5A Silver Medalist, 2013 Texas 5A 4th Place), Hawk Griffin (16’6’’), and Gabe McAdams (15’9”). Coach George Rodriguez also adds, “this years state high school competition was the toughest competition for girls I have ever seen with 5 girls still left in the competition at 13’6”. “This year at the Texas State Track Meet we had two girls break the state record
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on back-to-back days,” Coach Devin Rodriguez proudly tells us of his year with his vaulters. “Lakan Taylor jumped 13’8’’ on Friday, May 10th and Desiree Freier, George’s stepdaughter jumped 13’9’’ on Saturday, May 11th. We also had two girls make the USA youth national team where they went and competed over in the Donetsk, Ukraine IAAF Youth World Championships. Desiree Freier placed 9th and Zoe McKinley placed 11th.”
Also added by the coaches is the fact that Elite Sportz had three girls in the top 10 in the nation, 10 Regional qualifiers, 2 Regional champions, and 5 State qualifiers and that is only the FTW location. In addition, at State they had 2 gold, 1 silver, and a 4th place. “We are consistently in the mix at all levels,” says Coach Rodriguez. With all that has been shared with us about this wonderful pole vaulting program, it is easy to see why Elite Sportz is always “in the mix”.
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College Connections If you have had older children apply to college in the past, you may be familiar with the Common Application. If this is your first go-round, you will soon become familiar with this somewhat complicated tool! The Common Application Membership Association was established as a non-profit in 1975 by 15 private colleges. This group introduced a college application that allowed students to complete one “common application” that could be sent to multiple colleges. 38 years later, the Common Application membership has over 500 member institutions (private and public colleges in the US and abroad) and has received over 3 million applications. You may be reading this and thinking “OK….What does this have to do with us?” It has to do with you, the Class of 2014, because after 38 years of growth, on August 1st, the Common Application, 4th Edition (CA4) is being
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reintroduced as an entirely new application vehicle. And THAT has everything to do with you! For the first time, the application will have “smart questions”, meaning that applicants will be presented with only a few questions at a time. The answers to these questions will generate other questions in drop down format only when relevant to the applicant. Students will have expanded opportunities to provide more information about citizenship, languages, colleges and step-parents. All of this information will generate a more student specific application based upon the answers submitted. In addition to the expanded information collection system, there will be more opportunity to submit art, music and theater portfolios
through Slideroom.com. In the past, these additional materials were sent to the college under separate cover. It is now possible for application media to be uploaded through YouTube or Dropbox. If requested, your pole vault videos can be submitted this way! Colleges will access this material directly through your personal Slideroom account.
Penny Hanson
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One of the biggest changes in the CA4 is THE ESSAY! There are five new essay prompts designed to provide students with an opportunity to tell their unique stories. The essay is a large piece of the holistic selection process that many colleges are now using which considers the applicant as a “whole person� rather than
focusing strictly on GPA and standardized test scores.
The Common Application is currently closed pending the launch of the CA4 system on August 1st, but you can still access the website to find out more about the new application. The website is www.commonapp.org.
Thank you for your interest in the college process. Please e-mail me at penny@ hansoncollegeaccess.com with any questions you may have. I will answer all of them in this column. Next month I will discuss essay writing! Penny Hanson Hanson College Consultants
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The Well-Rounded Bearcats of UC Leap to Great Heights By: Michelle Walthall
Mackenzie Fields
As both the men’s and women’s pole vault coach, Coach Kris Mack is working hard with the Bearcat vaulters of the University of Cincinnati, located in Cincinnati, Ohio up on the hill in the community of Clifton (about 2.5 miles from downtown and the Ohio River). Coach Mack brings much experience to the table, and is leading his team to great heights. He tells us this about his history with vaulting:
“I started my coaching career while I was a vaulter at Cal Poly, SLO. I worked for Jan Johnson at his club, Sky Jumpers. I had the great opportunity to coach my wife, 1999 NCAA Champion in the vault, Paula Serrano, to a 14’ PR and a 2000 Olympic Trials Finals. After undergrad, I had the opportunity to be a graduate assistant coach at Indiana University while I pursued my Master’s in Sport Biomechanics. While I was there, I coached Dino Efthimou to his first All-American honor indoors with a vault of 17’11”. I also guided Emily Tharpe to freshman indoor and outdoor school records. My first collegiate position was at Stanford University where I coached the ver-
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tical jumps, the javelin and the multi-event athletes. Over the six seasons I coached at Stanford, I coached Graeme Hoste to three All-American honors and a PR and indoor school record of 18’5”. Two other men and NCAA runner up Heptathlete Josh Hustedt vaulted over 17’ for me. On the women’s side, I had the opportunity to coach Leila Ben-Youseff (2008 Olympian for Tunisia), and recruit and coach Katerina Stefanidi (The world junior record holder at the time and eventual 2012 Olympian and NCAA Champion). I am now in my fourth season as the jumps coach for the University of Cincinnati and will be taking over as the Head Men’s Coach next year. I also help with the USATF Pole Vault Development and volunteer every other year at the National Pole Vault Summit.”
An impressive fact we learned from Coach Mack is that there is no parent volunteer program, but the vault team does not let this get in their way. They see this as an advantage instead. Coach Mack says, “No we do not [have a parent volunteer program], but I am a strong believer that each of my vaulters should be able to teach our system at camps and clinics. I was always told I would become a better vaulter if I could teach someone else how to.”
Top three from left to right: Coach Kris Mack, Josh Dangel, Nathan Alexander Middle three from left to right: Mackenzie Fields, Colt Robinson, Sarah Rasnick Bottom: The University of Cincinnati Bearcat, Alyssa McBride, Michael “Spice” Nwankwo
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From Left to Right: july 2013 issue Mackenzie Fields, Alyssa McBride, Sarah Rasnick, Coach Kris Mack, www.thevaultermag.com Nate Alexander, Colt Robinson, Josh Dangel, Michael Nwankwo.
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“My walk-on standards at the University of Cincinnati are 12’4” for the women and 15’6” for the men,” says Coach Mack of his requirements to join his well-rounded team. “Sometimes I will take a chance on someone that has not achieved these marks if they display great all-around athletic ability, have speed, and perhaps did not have a HS coach. In order to be considered for scholarship, recruits need to vault at least 12’8” to 13’ for the women and 16’+ for the men. We recruit both nationally and internationally, and I enjoy bringing young men and women from all over the world together so that they can learn about other people, cultures and traditions.”
Men: Josh Dangel (junior, HS PR-15’6”, current PR-17’6.5”), Tommy Marks (senior, HS PR16’, current PR-16’6.75”), Colt Robinson (sophomore, HS PR15’, current PR-15’7”), Kyle Kubera (senior decathlete, HS
PR-14’6”, current PR-15’7”), Dillon Risser (sophomore, HS PR-15’, current PR-15’5”), Cody Curry (sophomore, HS PR-14’, current PR-15’5”), and Nathan Alexander (freshman, HS PR15’7”, current PR-15’7”).
The Bearcat vault team is currently made up of six women and seven men. The vaulters this year are as follows, according to Coach Mack:
Women: Mackenzie Fields (senior, HS PR-12’, current PR-14’3.25”), Sarah Rasnick (junior, HS PR-12’6”, current PR-13’10”), Alyssa McBride (freshman, HS PR-13’, current PR-13’1.5”), Emily Clay (sophomore, HS PR-12’6”, current PR12’8”), Chelsea Vaughan (freshman, HS PR-12’7”, current PR12’7”), and Amanda Hotaling (freshman, HS PR-12’6”, red shirt due to injury).
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Back Row: Dillon Risser Alyssa McBride, Josh Dangel, Colt Robinson Front Row: Chelsea Vaughan, Mackenzie Fields, Tommy Marks, Emily Clay
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ing opportunities. Coach Mack says, “We have over 250 poles and continue to grow our series each year. A safe pole series is very important to me. Depending on the length of pole, we have both UCS Spirit poles as well as Pacer Carbon FX poles. I try not to mix brands when creating my series. We have an indoor track that has two pits, an in-ground runway as well as a raised board runway. We have a set of gymnastics rings, a high bar, and a swing up invert apparatus. We have slide boxes, weighted poles, training poles and stubbies. Our next addition will be a strap-bar for swinging giants and learning to do clear hip to handstand to giant.” When it comes to division and competition for this year, Coach Mack tells us, “We are a Division 1 program currently in the Big East Conference. Next year we will be joining the newly formed American Athletic Conference (AAC). The schools in our new conference will be UConn, Temple, Memphis, Houston, South Florida, Central Florida, SMU, Eastern Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa. Next year we will still have Louisville and Rutgers as well until they move into their new conferences.” Josh Dangel
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“Our team conditioning kicks off after the first week of the school year,” says Coach
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Mack of their training schedule. “Both the men’s and women’s teams train together from all events for a month. It’s a great time for teammates to get acquainted with each other and start building unity as a team. Every year’s conditioning is uniquely updated but some of the classic UC training remains including; 2-a-day morning runs/workouts and lifting (6:30am), stadium steps, hill runs and the ever-popular ‘Cincinnati Death Circuit’, which is based on the Crossfit competitions. Following conditioning, the vaulters continue strength and power training incorporating pole vault-specific exercises. Training does not stop with the season for the Bearcats. Coach Mack continues: “In the off-season, the vaulters help with the University of Cincinnati track and field summer camp and pole vault camp later in the summer. Though many of our student athletes go home for the summer, many of our vaulters stay in Cincinnati and train with each other in preparation for the upcoming track season. The vaulters get along great and often
have jumper dinners/outings and their annual pumpkin carving tradition for Halloween.”
“We have had a great list of contributing pole vaulters here at UC,” brags Coach Mack. “The men’s current school record is still held by Mike Albrinck at 17’9.75’’ set in 1994. Mike is a Cincinnati native and coaches at Lasalle High School. He coached current vaulter Josh Dangel, who just became a 2013 All-American at the NCAA Track and Field Championship. Josh still aspires to break his coach’s record (he is 1cm away). The indoor record is held by Chris Smith at 17’9” set in 2005.”
“Since the women’s team is relatively new (established in the early 90’s), the women’s side continues to set records yearly and proves to be leaders in the Big East and nationally,” Coach Mack continues. “Other key vaulter alumni include: On the women’s side: Brittany Kilma (2008 former school record holder/Big East Champion/first female PV national qualifier-15th, PR13’7’.75”), Michelle Eby (2012 former school record holder/ Big East Champion/ second female PV national qualifier17th, 13’8.5’’), Tara Meier (Big East Champion, PR-12’11”), Stefanie Ponte (4th place at Big East-12’3.75”), and Kayla
Coach Mack Left
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Dunn (National Preliminary Meet qualifier, PR-12’10”).
“And on the men’s side (college PR’s): Mike Albrink (outdoor school record holder, PR-17’9.75’’), Chris Smith (indoor school record, Conference USA Champion, 5th at USATF, PR-17’9”), Dan Albrink (PR-16’8.75’’), Chris Wineberg (decathlon school record with decathlon PV PR-17’1’’), Matt Botos (PR-16’8.75”), and Chad Beamer (PR-16’4.75”).” All this history of great vaulters at UC really helps the current team as well. Coach Mack says, “We do not have an elite pole vaulter that trains locally, but we do get to watch UC alum and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Mary Wineberg, and UC Alum and 2008 Olympic silver medalist David Payne train. Mary’s Husband, Chris Wineberg, was a decathlete legend here at UC (did quite well in the vault) and now serves as an assistant coach in charge of 400/800 and multis. It is great to work with a staff that is well informed with the vault and can contribute.” As with most of our featured teams, there is fun to be had on the Bearcat vault team. “Both men’s and women’s teams have great camaraderie
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and frequently have team dinners and game nights,” says Coach Mack. “The men’s team also likes to head out into the country and go 4-wheeling and blow stuff up at one of the member’s farm. Every other year we go to the National Pole Vault Summit in Reno, NV. Even though the marks do not count for NCAA qualifying, I still think it is an experience that all pole vaulters should have and we support the student-athlete experience here at UC. The teams also spend time with each other through countless hours of community service working with charity organizations and schools including; Girls On the Run, Corryville Catholic Elementary School, The Freestore Food Bank, and The Veterans Hospital. An event that many of the student athletes participate in is the annual ‘gatorade-pong’ tournament to raise money for MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving). It is put on by our student athlete advisory committee, of which Josh Dangel and many more of our track and field athletes are a part of. Our annual Halloween pumpkin carving and BBQ at my house is also a great event. Nothing like a good night of carving, bbq, live music, and s’mores by the bonfire!”
One other majorly exciting fact we got from Coach Mack is that programs and scholarships are being reinstated, which is big news. He says, “I believe we are one of a kind at UC. While many schools are cutting men’s programs, we will be adding men’s indoor track next year and will reinstate men’s track scholarships (they were cut 4 years ago due to budget concerns). I can’t thank our Athletic Director Whit Babcock, and UC President Santa Ono enough for the support they have shown the Olympic sports here at UC.” “It was also pretty cool that we swept all the pole vault competitions at this year’s Big East Outdoor Championships. Mackenzie won the women’s vault, Josh won the men’s vault, and Kyle Kubera won the decathlon men’s vault,” Coach Mack adds to his list of exciting things going on this year. The University of Cincinnati vaulters have a great thing going. We are proud to feature them this month and wish them much continued success.
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Planning, Experimentation & Patience By: Buba Sparks August is many times the “lost month” for vaulters. For most of you the summer meets are ending, your pit was put away; you are taking time off and/or going on vacation etc. For me it’s always been the month I refine my plan and goals for the next year.
Everyone has heard, “failing to plan is planning to fail” and there is some truth to that. However, the biggest issue I see is what I call random planning. Take what you did last year and make a few changes here and there and off you go. The list of negative impact results from this approach is too long for me to list here. Planning - Something I always tell vaulters is that impatience means you have no confidence in your plan. I start by making a list throughout the year of things I want to do the next season. Then I take my program from the year
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before and item by item defend its inclusion in my plans. It is not unusual for me to sit down with the kids with a blank piece of paper and start over. What is the first thing we want to do in our warm-up sequence? Do we really benefit from that drill or do we do it because we always have? What can we add to fix _____ and_____? We do this until we have the entire week mapped out. Experimentation - no matter how much and how careful you plan, some things just are not going to work when you get out on the field. We are smart enough as a team to call it what is and make the proper refinements until we have a plan we believe in. August is a great time to go out and do a fun walk through of your new plan. You do not even have to do it as a workout. Just go through all of the components in your order and see if there is natural function and flow.
For example, most of our kids vault all year but in the summer I take away the running, lifting and bars and let them work on new technical goals. It is important to go vaulting for the fun of it just as if surfers go surfing. However, because there are no other demands we attack specific areas of technical weakness for each vaulter. Small poles and short runs with the focus on trying new stuff. However, that is not the only reason we do this.
Former USATF PV Development founder and Hall of Fame coach, Bob Fraley says that once you know how to vault that 70% of your improvement will come by how fast and strong you can get. Kids who are excited by their new technical advancements are a lot more willing to begin the work to add horsepower to their new abilities. That said, if there is no functional flow to the training, and they have
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HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE VAULTS TO SUCCESS IN BUSINESS WORLD By Ericka Brown
When Bruce Caldwell was winning the pole vault in high school meets more than 44 years ago, he never imagined that his interest in the sport would one day take him to the Olympics (1976-1980-1996) — not as a competitor, but as companies that make and sells some of the world’s finest sports equipment. It all started in the his back yard as a child, at age 13, Bruce started swinging on the casted T clothes line pole to see who in the neighborhood could swing out the farthest distance. Wanting to get a letter in a sport he tried out at Raytown South Junior High for the 100 yard dash, the mile, the high jump, the shot and discus, and became 10th or last in each event. The leftovers who could
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not be in an event hung out at the pole vault pit and one day Bruce picked up a very large greenish clear sky-pole and said I am taking three tries at the lowest bar and if I clear it, I can be a pole vaulter, if I miss three times, it is time to find a vocation/job.
Little did Bruce know as he ran down the dirt runway managing the pole he stuck the pole in the wooden narrow box and road it up and lifted his hips over the bar on the first try, that he had in fact, chosen a vocation at such an early age. Seven feet one inch was the measure and he became a pole vaulter on the team with only 2 meets left in the season. At the first meet Bruce jumped 7’6” to take 2nd and no-heighted as the second meet started at
eight feet. The school letter he received in Track and Field motivated him to study hard and train to go on to be the best jumper in the indoor season in Kansas City 1969. As a pole vaulter at Raytown South High School he jumped 13’6” and Bruce attributes his foundation of vaulting to his track coach, the famous USA coach Bob Craddock who was one of the few who understood and knew the art of pole vaulting. This accomplishment in High School enabled him to get a pole vault scholarship at Central Missouri State University Warrensburg Mo. where Bruce jumped a lifetime best of 15’8”.
Bruce spent two years in college preparing to be a coach or a sports therapist, but when
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the company public on the OTCBB trading in 2001 under the symbol of ESXS. The company sponsored many sports camps and competitive events and provided advice and assistance to athletes and coaches. In 2004, the company bought its way out of the public arena and became private. With the concept of the ESSX consistency many great vaulters such as Olympian Kellie Suttle, Jillian Schwartz, and top vaulters like Tracy O’Hara, Tye Harvey, Jim Davis, and Bubba McLean went to the trials on ESSX poles. Master’s vaulter Bubba
Sparks has jumped on every concept and design vaulting pole Bruce has ever made such as Sky-pole, FiberSport and ESSX and he is currently the 59 year old Masters World Record holder.
Most recently Bruce’s manufacturing equipment, designs and name ESSX has been acquisitioned by United Sports Technology and Composites a division of UST Mamiya. A Dallas TX based major golf shaft manufacturer with satellite manufacturing in Bangladesh and offices in Japan. UST Mamiya has
retained him to sell poles for the next two years to help in the transition.
Of the 13 new products he has introduced to the sporting goods industry over the years, this last week was the first time he chose to submit a patent on one of his ideas. His new PV BODYGUARDTM is a box collar on steroids that will greatly improve the pole vault event and reduce injuries. This item and many other new products will be introduced for sale in the oncoming months. If you’re a teenager who would like to take your sport or hobby to the Olympic level, Bruce Caldwell advises you to search for challenges that test your ability. “I never thought what I did in high school would be important to my future,” he says, “but the same qualities that were required for success then are important in the business world today” Ericka Brown
Bruce Caldwell left and Right Bill Sheskey
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july 2013 issue
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Bruce Caldwell 1969 MIssouri State Meet
2013 the vaulter magazine
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75 SC STATE CHAMPIONS, 10 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, AND 3 “TEAM USA” (WORLD TEAM) SINCE 1998.
www.ShealyAthletics.com Rusty@ShealyAthletics.com
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