July 2016 Issue of Vaulter Magazine by VAULTER Magazine

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CONTENTS y l u J 12 FROM THE EDITOR

SCOTT HOUSTON: COLLEGE COACH, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE, AND OLYMPIC HOPEFUL

TIPS FOR YOUR TRIP TO RIO

TEAM KENDRICKS ON THE ROAD TO RIO

KYLIE HUTSONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S JOURNEY TO RIO

WHO WILL IT BE?

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8 Cover photos by Doug Bouma

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FROM THE EDITOR It’s already July! The Olympics are next month! The Olympic Trials will be fun to watch and see who will make the Olympic Team. There is definitely going to be an intense competition for the top two spots. This month we have a quick article of who you should keep your eye out for at the Trials. There are some great vaulters headed to Eugene. We also have an article from Adele San Miguel about Scott Houston. Scott is a college coach as well as a pole vault Olympic hopeful who will be in Eugene competing for a spot of the Team. Scott has been and influential coach to his athletes and has helped vaulters become the best they can be. He has a great story you will not want to miss. For all of you traveling to Rio, we have a little guide to help you with some lastminute plans. You already have your tickets and

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accommodation, but there are a few things you will not want to miss while you’re in Brazil. Be sure to know how you are going to travel place to place. We have a few suggestions for you to consider. You will have a fantastic time! Check out our guide, hopefully it will help you with your trip.

One of our featured vaulters this month is Sam Kendricks. He’s been preparing for the Olympic Trials the last few months and is ready to earn his spot on the Team. He and his coach, his dad, have a good story and have a great relationship that they built throughout the years. Young in age, but wise beyond his years in this great sport, Sam gives great advice to young vaulters and sets the best possible example. We all love this vaulter, don’t miss his story! Our other featured vaulter is Kylie Hutson. Kylie too is getting ready for the competition in Eugene. Kylie

had some struggles last year, but she came out on top stronger and ready to fight for a spot on the Team. She too sets a great example for the younger vaulters, and gives great advice. Check out her story, and keep an eye out for her at the Olympic Trials! That’s all this month! Keep flying high at all your summer meets. Don’t miss the Trials this month and don’t forget to support the pole vaulters competing for a spot to compete for your country! It’s going to be a great competition. Until next month, keep it up with you summer training and meets, and don’t forget to have fun! Editor Sadie Lovett Sadie@vaultermagazine. com

Melinda Owens at the OTC 2016

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SCOTT HOUSTON:

COLLEGE COACH, PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE, AND OLYMPIC HOPEFUL By: Adele Correale San Miguel Division 1 college coach, professional athlete, and Olympic hopeful Scott Houston will bring North Carolina to the national stage in early July when he competes for a spot on Team USA.

Scott Houston Clearing Olympic Qualifying Standard at Vault in the Ville © Keith Webber

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Scott’s is a familiar name in the Tar Heel state’s pole vault circles. He attended Northwest Guilford High School, and still holds the alltime state best mark of 16’10.75” for a high schooler. At UNC Chapel Hill, he jumped 17’6.25”, red shirting after the indoor season of his junior year. As a graduate student in sports management at Indiana University, Scott won the Big Ten Indoor Conference Championships in 2013, qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and earned All-American status. He stayed with the Hoosiers for two years post-graduation, volunteering as a coach in the multis and training in the heptathlon to bring a higher level of preparedness to his vaulting. During his collegiate years, Scott

Scott Houston Clears Bar at Vault in the Ville © Drac Williams

learned much about himself and what it takes to compete at the apex of the sport.

Last year, Scott, now 26, returned to North Carolina to coach the vaulters at High Point University.

Scott is the first coach at HPU dedicated solely to the pole vault. He instituted a regimen of goal-setting and targeted strength-training drills. The work paid off. Recent graduate, Jill Marois, took Scott’s insight in the vault to heart and improved her PR from 12’6 (3.81m) to 13’10 (4.22m), a score that merited a second place finish at the Penn State National Indoor Track Meet, as well as a trip to the NCAA Division 1 Preliminary Round. “Pole vault is an extremely mental sport and anyone who has competed before knows that there will be off days. The best thing I learned from Scott was to listen to my body and focus on something small or easy, and the rest would come. He helped build a confidence that was executed in competition, telling us to always compete and look to beat the athlete in front of us, no matter the conditions,” said Jill.

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tryout from the mile down. When he crushed the 10 pull-up requirement needed to prove his upper body strength, a pole vaulter came to be, and Scott learned what accomplishment takes.

Scott balances the developmental needs of his athletes with the pursuit of his own Olympic dream. Sponsored by Run Gum, he has surpassed the Olympic qualifying standard of 18’6.5 (5.65m) several times in the past year, including for the recent win at the Vault in the Ville, an annual street vault in Louisville, KY. Scott’s greatest contributions are still unfolding. The life lessons he has learned through his dedication to the sport are being paid forward to the next generation of athletes whose eyes are lit with the possibility of new personal bests.

Scott Houston at Vault in the Ville © Drac Williams

While Scott has it going on now, his vault career did not start out successfully. Small and slow as a 7th grader, he did not make the middle school track team. Fueled by the failure, Scott trained on his own to develop speed and strength. The following year he won every event in the team

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For Scott, “When the bar goes up, your job as a vaulter is to clear it. If you focus on whether things feel great, then you are worried about the wrong thing. Being meet-ready to me means that you can let go of “perfect” and focus on implementing your jump as best you can to clear every bar whether it is pretty or not because the objective of a competition is to win. Winning isn’t everything, but competing to win drives performance and is also what sport is about.”

There are athletes, those with natural agility; and there are competitors, those who use their athletic gifts to continually upgrade what is achievable. Scott Houston walks his talk as a competitive vaulter, and in doing so, prompts his athletes to reach higher for their fullest potential.

Scott Houston Full Invert ÂŠ Keith Webber

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TIPS FOR YOUR TRIP TO RIO All the family, friends, and fans traveling to Rio for the Olympic Games, here is a quick guide to help you with some last-minute plans. All the venues are spread throughout the city, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not that hard to travel to. The best way to get to each venue

Rio Olympics Mock Up

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is by public transportation. There are metro lines, the BRT (bus rapid transit), the new LRT (light rail transit), and an extensive rail network. All modes of transportation are integrated, both in connection points and schedules. Get lost or need help? Each venue will be full of staff wearing greenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;

they are there to help you in any way you need!

All track and field events will take place in the Nilton Santos Stadium, which is conveniently surrounded by public transits. There are still tickets available for all days as of last week. Prices

Rio 2016 Olympic Park

are relatively cheap with the exchange rate. You may already have tickets to the events you wanted to watch, but you may want to check out other sports going on the days you are free. How often are you going to have this opportunity? For the first time, the opening and closing ceremonies will not be held at the same venue as Athletics. In

Rio, the opening and closing ceremonies will be held at Maracanã, the soccer stadium. There are still tickets available, but they’re pretty pricey. But if you don’t already have tickets, and if you’re willing to pay the price, it will most likely be worth your money to see.

Aside from the Olympics, there is plenty to do while you are in Rio. From Christ

the Redeemer, and museums, and beaches, and forests, and mountains, to cathedrals, there will be plenty of culture for you to get lost in. one place that is said to be a must-see is the Horto Waterfall in the Tijuca Forest. This forest is largest urban rainforest in the world. It is also the forest that will lead you to Christ the Redeemer. The hike is about three hours, so if you don’t feel

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2016 Olympic Stadium

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FUN FACT DID YOU KNOW? Men’s pole vault qualifying round competition for the Olympic Trials will be Saturday, July 2 at 10:30am. Men’s pole vault final round competition will be Monday, July 4 at 3:30pm.

RIO Olympic Stadium

up to that, there are mini buses and trams that you can take to the peak. Another idea is going to the Sugar Loaf Mountain, which is reached by a short cable car ride. At the top, you have a 360-degree view of the city and the islands. There are also the cute Marmoset moneys that you will get a close-up view of, and some exotic birds. Definitely try and spend one night out on the town. Rio

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comes alive at night and it’s easy to be swept away by some slinky samba. The Lapa district is full of drums, singing, and dancing where everyone is just looking for a good time. The ancient suburb of Santa Teresa is an area full of beautiful buildings, and is full of restaurants, music, and shops. The Restaurant Aprazivel is a traditional Brazilian food fiesta that is in a series of treehouses in the hills overlooking the

estimated “outbreak” among the Olympic tourists is 1.8 for every million. Yes, Brazil is the hostcountry of the recent outbreak of the Zika virus, but 90% of the confirmed Zika cases have originated in northeast Brazil: not in Rio where everyone will be for the Games. Also, the leading researcher on mosquito-borne diseases at Duke-NUS Medical School, Duane Gubler, says that because it’s going to be winter during the Olympics, the risk is going to be low in terms of mosquito transmission. The Olympic venues have also been heavily treated with insecticides to control mosquito breeding. Travelers are actually more likely to catch the flu or get food poisoning than they are

Zika. The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has ranked all the health threats during the Olympics. They have ranked Zika as “low risk,” gastrointestinal infections (everything from food poisoning to norovirus, campylobacter, salmonella, and E. coli) were ranked “moderate risk,” and influenza was ranked “high risk.” It will be flu season in Brazil during the games. Tourists are more likely to go home with the flu than they are Zika. The flu is a much more dangerous disease, whereas Zika hasn’t killed any Americans. Like you do when you go camping, be sure to wear bug spray for any mosquitos that stuck around to brave the winter. But other than that, enjoy the Games!

city. The dishes are reasonably priced for amazing food. August is winter for Rio— temperatures range from 66-78 Fahrenheit, so bring jackets for chilly breezes and cool nights.

For anyone worried about the Zika virus, don’t sweat it. Your chances of catching it are one in a million—literally, John McConnell, editor of the journal Lancet Infectious Diseases, reports that the

Overview of RIO Olympics

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2016 RIO Olympics

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Sam Kendricks in full swing at the World Indoors 2016 Â© Doug Bouma

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TEAM KENDRICKS

on The Road to Rio By: Sadie Lovett Attending his Papa’s track and field practices at Oxford High School, Sam Kendricks started pole vaulting. Sam’s dad thought that pole vault would be a good event for Sam. It was a high-profile event that ran for a long time during meets, and since Sam was smaller, it was a technical event that would give Sam the advantage if he was willing to work hard. Sam and his dad’s goal was to win state one day and to have fun. Now look at him.

Growing up, Sam always lived close to a track and his church. His dad was a coach and his mom taught at the University. “I had every opportunity to grow in progress here in my hometown, so I took full

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advantage,” Sam says. Sam’s dad had hoped he would become a Razorback, but Sam signed with Ole Miss to stay at home. Sam was coached by his dad’s college coach, Joe Walker Jr., for a year, but always stayed close to his original coach. After Sam’s freshman year, his dad became the volunteer pole vault coach at Ole Miss. That year, Sam went from being and 18’ vaulter to a 19’ vaulter. “That continuity of coaching and training philosophy has helped me to progress pretty steadily. Having met and talked to Joe Dial and Doug Fraley, we understood that the father-son coaching model could really work. Their friendship and encouragement has given us confidence. We still train most of the time at our old high school

track. It’s very low-profile and low-key. Most of the time, we are there by ourselves,” Sam tells us.

As a professional athlete, Sam is always doing everything he can to stay healthy. “It’s not so much avoiding illness as it is about staying fit and dodging potential troubling injuries before they become serious,” he says. Sam tries to stay in shape all year and his goal is to be in a strong physical condition at both practice and meets. When he was younger, Sam struggled with some injuries that took a long time to heal: “Dad was with me during those difficult days and it made us closer.” “Pole vault is a risk-based sport and if you want to per-

Sam Kendricks clearing a bar at the World Indoors 2016 Â© Doug Bouma

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FUN FACT DID YOU KNOW? Women’s pole vault qualifying round competition for the Olympic Trials will be Friday, July 8 at 3:00pm.

form at a high level, you have a good strength-to-weight ratio. Also, as a pole vaulter who has been trying his utmost for years, another difficult aspect for me is patience. I know what I want to accomplish takes time. Hoping that it all stays together long enough to get there, is the hardest thing to wrap your head around. Each competition is a stop on a journey, not a destination. I try to keep that journey in mind. It all takes work, a long-term plan and the continuing support of great and loving people,” Sam says.

Sam and his dad have been a team for 11 years. They are constantly assessing themselves, but never question their preparation: “We evaluate what works for us and what

doesn’t. Even when things are not perfectly right, we have our list of “takeaways.” We always use that information to move forward… Sometimes in the warm-up, we can see that we are not at our best. You have to accept that, do your best, and bounce back for the next one.”

When Sam has a bad meet, he and his dad stay positive and analyze. They figure out why it wasn’t a good day, and find a way to keep it from happening the next time. They don’t focus on what happened, but focus on getting back to where they need to be. They also train (when it’s safe) in weather conditions that they may run into: “We want to be good on days with bad conditions.”

Women’s pole vault final round competition will be Saturday, July 10 at 2:30pm.

Sam Kendricks signing for a fan at the World Indoors 2016 © Doug Bouma

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Sam Kendricks ready for plant at the World Indoors 2016 Â© Doug Bouma

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At the 2012 Olympic Trials, Sam and his dad sat in the stands at Hayward Field. Sam was a college freshman at the time who jumped 18’—he didn’t qualify: “That disappointment drove me for the next 3 years.” Since that day in 2012, with his determination, Sam and his dad have made two World Teams, and have won two USA Outdoor and two USA Indoor titles. “I have always really enjoyed competing at USAs!” Sam says, “So now, we are preparing as we always have. You have to train to put together solid jumps in any situation at the most important bars. I have my poles, we have my numbers, and we have our plan.” Championship season goes for two months, so Sam and his dad have been smart about what meets they pick to compete at. For June, July, and August, Sam is resting and maintaining a high level of fitness. Sam and his dad decided to turn down some meets, but their goal in that is for Sam to stay healthy and to continue their training. As Sam prepares for the Olympic Trials, he mentally prepares like he does every major competition. “I try to enter every major contest with the best plan my coach and I can put together. The longer the prep time, the more solid the plan, I think. I have my regimen that I stick to before each com-

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petition and on every trip. I’ve put together a sort of ‘health protocol’ of exercises and therapies on the road. I think the overseas travel and all the competitions both in the NCAA and internationally have helped me to be less nervous,” Sam tells us. Sam also has a positive way at viewing negative nerves: “I feel negativity is more like waves, than a river. It comes at you from time to time, and accompanies failures and setbacks. It doesn’t flow constantly like the river, though. If you can work through it for a time, stick to your strengths and reinforce your weaknesses, you’ll be just fine. Confidence is so important in jumping high. We do drills and workouts to bolster that confidence. You have to find what made it fun for you in the first place!” What also helps Sam keep nerves away, is that he competes with his friends. “I like getting to jump with my friends abroad. I kind of think of us as a traveling circus. There are some amazing men and women in this sport. Having good friends out there certainly takes the edge off as well,” he says.

Aside from making the Olympic Team, Sam hopes to be jumping for a long time in the future like his role models Jeff Hartwig, Mark Hollis, Kostas Filippidis, and Tim Mack. “Their consistency and longev-

ity encourages me. It would be great to be able to continue to compete at a high level like they have. I would like to be on those Team USA rosters both now and later,” Sam says. As Sam continues on his journey, he leaves all the young

Sam Kendricks on the podium at the World Indoors 2016 © Doug Bouma

vaulters with this advice: “Being an athlete is one of the greatest chances I’ve had to grow, travel, get closer to my family, and devote myself to something healthy. In order to do all that, I had to sacrifice a few things. I don’t drink and I eat healthy. I don’t stay

out late. I listen to sound advice, focus on sound training, and perfecting MY technique. I take safety seriously. You have to know what works, but don’t be resistant to small changes. You can always improve. Doing a lot of little things really well has added up for us. Lastly,

make friends and appreciate those coaches, trainers, agents, and fans who have supported you—especially your parents. Without their love and support, most of us would have never left the ground. See you guys on the track!”

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KYLIE HUTSON’S JOURNEY TO RIO By: Sadie Lovett Kylie Hutson was the track athlete who was not only running on the track, but also running back and forth between events. Only allowed to compete in four events each meet, Kylie would choose between the 100, 200, 400, 4x400, long jump, and high jump. So when her coach mentioned adding another event, pole vault, Kylie said “no.” But later, given the ultimatum of trying pole vault or continuing to run the 400, she quickly changed her answer to “yes!” Kylie had one pole her first year of vaulting, an 11’6 or 12’ 120, and she placed 4th with 11’ at the Indiana State Meet. “I really liked the adrenaline rush that came with pole vaulting so I just did it for fun through high school and ended

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up jumping 11’9” by my senior year,” Kylie says. Track was just one of many sports Kylie was involved in. She competed in gymnastics, volleyball, diving, dance, baseball/softball, and cheerleading. Her family has supported it all. Her brother Max played baseball and basketball, and with all the sports Kylie was involved in, she and her family were always on the road going to a game or meet. If both Kylie and Max had a competition, their parents would split up: mom with Kylie, dad with Max.

“My parents taught me what it meant to be dedicated, to persevere, to be loyal, to be fierce, and to be punctual in the sporting world. They have stuck with

me through it all. One of them would always be present at an event no matter what. Once I got into college and beyond, we traveled a little further, but they still supported through texts, calls, or FaceTime chats. They are always the first ones to ask how the meet went. I know I wouldn’t be here today without their love and support throughout my life. I will be forever grateful,” Kylie says about her parents.

Every pole vaulter goes through some difficulties on their way to success, whether that is in a technique rut, injuries, or working on mental toughness. For Kylie, it was a back injury. In 2015, Kylie spent most of the year fighting back spasms. “I would have a

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spasm, take some time to recover because I couldn’t stand up straight, after about a week or two, I would feel better and try to vault, and then my back would spasm again—It was this evil cycle that didn’t want to stop. I never thought I would get back to jumping healthy again,” she says. After having endless amounts of therapy at Altis where she trains, Kylie had to change everything about her approach down the runway and her takeoff: “I used to run with my chest forward and

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knees down, barreling through the whole run at top-speed and my takeoff was at least a foot and a half under. Now I run with my chest and knees up, pushing through the ground on each step gradually getting up to top speed. My takeoff is now a foot to a foot and a half back from where it used to be.” Because she was changing the way she had always vaulted, it took about a year for Kylie to vault consistently again. But once she got it down, her back stopped hurting and her vault-

ing started to get better: “I was in such a dark place after that year that I never thought I would touch 15’ again, and had a plan that if I didn’t have that fire back by January 2016, I would throw in the towel. I just wasn’t having fun at all anymore and I dreaded going out to the track. I felt like I had to start at the beginning again with my vaulting. Little by little my confidence came back, I was having fun, and I was getting on bigger poles every practice and competition. I hadn’t touched a

14’7” pole in two years and now I am on one of the biggest 14’7” I’ve ever been on. I feel ready for the US Olympic Team Trials here in a couple weeks.” Though it was such a hard time in her career, Kylie learned what it means to never give up: “Never give up on your passion. You might lose it every now and then, but to give up completely would be to give up on yourself. I don’t think I ever would’ve forgiven myself if I would’ve quit vaulting in an Olympic year.”

While Kylie was going through her technique transition, her family was there for her every step of the way. But it’s her fiancé, Jake Conn, who is her rock. “Jake is one of the greatest blessings in my life. He has been there through my ups and downs of the last 8 years, and knows how to talk me down off the cliff and pick me back up again. He knows when I need to be on point with training, nutrition, and sleep, or when it’s time for a cheat day dessert! What I admire most about Jake is that whatever he puts his mind to, he puts his heart and soul into it. Whether it’s a problem that needs to be fixed at work, a project he’s working on at home, or staying fit himself. He’s always on top of it. I always call him crazy for getting up at 4:30 in the morning to go work out before work, but he always responds with ‘Success starts early!’ Needless to say I admire Jake and am influenced by him every day,” Kylie says. In the weeks leading up to the Olympic Trials, Kylie’s plan is to stay happy and healthy. “My training is light and on point. Three days on the track, two shakeouts at the park with our dog Gizmo, and two rest days,” Kylie tells us.

When preparing for the larger meets themselves, like the Olympic Trials, Kylie visualizes her jumps in the venue where the competition will be: “For the Trials, I have been visualizing

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clearing bars at Hayward Field. legend Greg Hull, we have been Seeing myself there helps the working together since 2011. nerves feel steady and focused When I came out to Phoenix for rather than scared and shaky. the first time, I was in a whole When you see yourself clearing new world as a shy 20-somea bar thousands of times before thing that had jumped 14’9.5” you even get to the venue, you and didn’t have much to say. have the confidence to know Now I have jumped 15’7”, I feel you can do it.” Along with visu- like I have a voice, and am confialization, Kylie likes to do other dent in who I am. He has helped things during the day. To help me grow as an athlete and as keep a regular schedule, she a person. In talking with Greg has a part-time job at South- on and off the track, he helped west Spine and Kylie Hutson clearing a bar at the OTC 2016 Sports where she © Doug Bouma helps with the front office. She wakes up every morning at 6am and is at work by 6:45am. Then she goes to practice straight from work around 11-12:30. After every practice or every meet, Kylie focuses on the positives even if it was a bad day. She knows that focusing on the negatives will only pull her back, so she always lists off the good things: “Once I’ve looked at film from that meet, I figure what I should’ve done differently, make my peace with it, and move on.” Kylie’s coach and her teammates have helped her grow into the athlete she is today, and they are preparing her for the Olympic Trials. “My coach, the

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guide me into the person I am today,” says Kylie. Her training partners, Melinda Withrow and Tori Pena, are there for Kylie and give her the confidence she needs to believe in herself: “You guys lift me up.” Dan Pfaff and her Altis therapists helped her through her injury and continue to keep her body healthy: “He (Dan) help[ed] me in a time of need and guid[ed] me through the past year of injury and beyond. He gave me a

plan, rather than saying I needed time off. He taught me that whenever my body is not up to par, there is always a plan B. [And the] Altis therapists, you guys are there day in and day out to help keep my body in working order. Thank you for your ‘helping hands’.” “Altis gave me a place to train with top notch coaches, therapists, and an amazing training group to boot. There are so many people I would like to thank here for all their dedication,” she says.

Right now, Kylie, like every other Olympic hopeful, is focusing on making the Olympic Team. If everything goes as planned, Kylie will make the US Olympic Team, travel to a few meets in Europe, then head to Rio for the Olympic Games. As for the non-pole-vault stuff, Kylie plans to take a college course this Fall to decide if she wants to get another college degree. She will also be planning her wedding that will be in the Fall of 2017. We know we will see great jumping from Kylie in the next few weeks. We wish her all the best!

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WHO WILL IT BE? The Olympic Trials are here and we’re all sitting at the edge of our seats to see which vaulters will travel to Rio. We all have a top-two pair in mind, but let us not forget those who have had a consistent year and are ready to take one of the toptwo spots.

World Record holder Jenn Suhr is definitely at the top of the watch list. Jenn has been consistently hitting 16-foot bars and is ready for another chance at the gold.

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Leading American, Sandi Morris has had a terrific season. There was a minor step-back when Sandi broke her pole and fractured her wrist, but after weeks of healing, she’s back on the runway ready to takeoff where she left off. Kylie Hutson is ranked the third highest US woman vaulter. Kylie is ready for the trials with con-

sistent jumps at 15’5. She’s ready for her turn on the Olympic team and is going to give it all she has.

Others to look out for are vaulters Demi Payne, Lexi Weeks, Megan Clark, and Kristen Hixson. There are so many other competitors. Demi Payne has been off the radar since her pole break at Texas Relays. She will be a big competitor for one of the top two spots. Kristen, Lexi, and Megan are all centimeters away from each other and will make the competition that much harder all being consistently over 15’. The women’s competition will definitely be one that no one will want to miss. Though it may seem like a no-brainer of who will take the top two spots, but who knows what the conditions will be that day. Someone could have an off day. Someone could have a big PR day. No one knows. But be ready—it will be a good competition. On the men’s side, it’s going to be a competition for the number two spot.

Sam Kendricks is the leading American with 5.92m (19’5). Sam has taken the last month off competing and has focused on staying health and fit. At the few international meets he

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competed in, he had a great meet. We definitely want to keep an eye out for him.

The other men coming behind Sam are Logan Cunningham, Devin King, Mark Hollis, and Joseph Uhle. Logan is ranked with a 5.71m (18’8.75) jump and the others are all ranked with 5.70m (18’8.5). There are so many others ranked with 5.65m (18’6.5), so this competition will be intense as well. We don’t know who the top two for men and women will be, but we do know that all who are competing will put up a big fight for a chance to compete in Rio.

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