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Gill Athletics is the official equipment supplier of the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
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r e b CONTENTS m e v o N FROM THE EDITOR
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RIVER HAWKS LOOK TO THE FUTURE AS DIVISION I
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HERE COME THE DANES: WHAT AMERICANS CAN LEARN FROM DANISH POLE VAULTERS
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Cover photo by Patrick Sweet
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FROM THE EDITOR Bring on the Indoor Season and the cool, brisk, breeze of the month of November.
Pole Vault news, “Gilligan soared 3.60m to break the Centre and Residential Record for the 40-plus age group.” (Gilligan sets pole vault record. (2017). Retrieved from http://www. bendigoadvertiser.com.au/story/4973630/gilligan-sets-polevault-record/) “World javelin champion Johannes Vetter from Germany and world pole vault champion Ekaterini Stefanidi from Greece were named 2017 European Athletes of the Year at the Golden Tracks award ceremony in Vilnius, Lithuania on Saturday (14) evening.” (Vetter and Stefanidi crowned European Athletes of the Year. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.iaaf.org/ news/news/european-athletesyear-2017-stefanidi-vetter) On the cover, we have the University of Massachusettes Lowell with Coach Patrick Swett with seven years of experience on to put towards pole vault and long jumping. “Today, the UMass
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Lowell coaching staff is quite large, with at least one coach focused on each event, but the team was not always this fortunate. The ability to expand the staff and the program is due to UMass Lowell’s recent elevation from an NCAA Division II school to a Division I school in 2013. “When I began my career at UMass Lowell,” recounts Coach Swett, “We were a Division II athletic institution with only a few track coaches, so I coached the pole vault, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and was the multi-events coordinator.”” Samantha Kaplan helps bring the coach and his athletes into the forefront of this article.
Here comes the Danes! “For many collegiate athletes, the choice of whether or not to study abroad for a semester or even a year is intertwined with the prospect of losing time to train. Especially for pole vaulters, it is difficult to find ways to train effectively in a foreign country while still enjoying a break from competitive practices. However, pole vaulting while abroad is a great way to meet local athletes, immerse yourself
in a new culture, and engage in different ways of training. When I first decided to study abroad in Denmark for the fall semester of my junior year, I was worried that I would have to sacrifice my winter and spring seasons
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because of the lack of practice. A quick google search of “pole vaulting clubs in Copenhagen” brought me to the homepage of the Amager Athletik Club, located on the island of Amager outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. I
reached out to the coach, Allan Enjoy your fall and we will be Kolbye, over email and found back for the cold month of Demyself walking onto their track a cember. week later.” Kreager Taber looks Doug Bouma to be having some serious fun Editor, Vaulter Magazine over sea’s, and we hope that she Vaulter Club Inc. travels well and studies hard! editor@thevaultermag.com
2017 - 2018 Travel Team Kick Off, Vaulter Club October 28, 2017
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Heath King, Jordan Dufresne, Dennis Peary, Coach Patrick Swett, Silvian Popusoi, Hannah Leahy, Vladimir Pousoi
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RIVER HAWKS LOOK TO THE FUTURE AS DIVISION I By Samantha Kaplan
Instagram: @eat_sleep_pv_repeat
The 117 mile Merrimack River cuts directly through the campus of The University of Massachusetts Lowell, and is the namesake for the mascot of the athletic programs. Every athlete, coach, trainer and fan of UMass Lowell athletics is proud to be a River Hawk, and the track athletes are no exception.
The River Hawk track and field athletes are treated to an extensive nine coach staff, all of whom work with both the men’s and women’s teams. Both the cross country and track
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and filed teams are headed by Coach Gary Gardner. Associate Head Coach Allyson Thomas is UMass Lowell’s first full time assistant track coach. Coach Michael Ekstrand oversees the successful sprints and relays program, while Coach Barbara Smith covers the throws. New to the team is Coach Michael Rutt, a handpicked middle-distance coach. The River Hawks’ three volunteer coaches are Coach Kazeem “Dayo” Ibraheem with the hurdlers and jumpers, Coach John Molvar with the cross country and distance runners,
and Coach Ben Waruch helps with the vaulters.
Lowell native and seasoned collegiate jumper Coach Patrick Swett enters his seventh season as the pole vault and high jump coach this season. To help Coach Swett run the vault program, Coach Thomas and Coach Waruch provide their knowledge of the discipline. Coach Thomas was a collegiate vaulter at the University of Maine and the pole vault coach at VCU before coming to UMass, and Coach Waruch was a decathlete at
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Heath King, Jordan Dufresne, Dennis Peary, Coach Patrick Swett, Silvian Popusoi, Hannah Leahy, Vladimir Pousoi
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Jr. Vladimir Popuso
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UConn and vault coach at Columbia. “Both Allyson and Ben have been a great asset to the vault program as an extra set of eyes and as a knowledgeable resource for bouncing ideas back and forth,” says Coach Swett.
Today, the UMass Lowell coaching staff is quite large, with at least one coach focused on each individual event, but team was not always this fortunate. The ability to expand the staff and the program is due to UMass Jr. Vladimir Popuso
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Lowell’s recent elevation from an NCAA Division II school to a Division I school in 2013. “When I began my career at UMass Lowell,” recounts Coach Swett, “We were a Division II athletic institution with only a few track coaches, so I coached the pole vault, high jump, long jump, triple jump, and was the multi-events coordinator.” With the upgrade in staff size, athletes get more personalized training regiments and a more intimate relationship with their coaches.
Not only is UMass Lowell a new Division I competitor, this is the school’s first year out of the reclassification period. “Per NCAA regulations,” explains Coach Swett, “We were in a reclassification period for our first four years in Division I.” The 2017-2018 season marks the first year that UMass Lowell athletes are eligible to compete at the Regional and National NCAA Division I Championships. With the River Hawks track and field team already on the forefront of the school’s Division I programs,
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becoming a full Division I institution this year will provide more opportunities for the track athletes to excel.
Now that the River Hawks are Division I athletes, the standards of performance have increased. To walk on the team, vaulters must be consistently jumping 10’6” for women and 14’ for men. UMass Lowell is part of the Division I America East Conference. “Last year, the best male in the conference jumped 5.20m and the best female vault was 3.90m,” says Coach Swett. To score the America East Conference typically requires a jump of 4.50m on the men’s side, and a 3.40m vault for the women. “Men’s vault in the America East will see many new faces atop the podium this year as many of last years scorers were seniors,” predicts Coach Swett. “Women’s vault has many more scorers returning, so the underclassmen will have their work cut out for them.” Although their league is tough, the River Hawks remain strong competitors. With a powerhouse team of 115 athletes, the program is stronger than ever. Six of these athletes are pole vaulters, and they are no exception. “My best vaulters are fortunately also very hard working,” says
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Coach Swett. “We believe being fully committed to academic and athletic success is the only acceptable path.” Because of this mindset, the top River Hawk vaulters are also outstanding academically, and have become the captains of the vault squad. Junior Vladimir Popusoi currently leads the pack as the program’s top male vaulter, holding a 5.10m PR and a 3.00 cumulative GPA. The rest of the team follows suit, with returners Heath King, Silvian Popusoi, Jordan Dufresne, Hannah Leahy, and multi Cameron Aiello all performing to the same high standards.
In order to achieve as much as they do, the River Hawks endure an intense season of training. “Fall preseason beings mid-September, with an NCAA regulated 8-hour weekly cap on athletic activity,” explains Coach Swett. After about a month, the team is allowed to increase their weekly time cap and practices straight up until the end of outdoor season. Every year on spring break, the River Hawks are treated to a training trip down south. They’ve traveled everywhere from Disney World to Myrtle Beach. The trips are fun team bonding experiences, but the training is still intense and focused.
Back at the home facility, the vaulters have access to state of the art facilities including a custom Richey vault pit, and drill apparatuses like climbing ropes, gymnastic rings, pulley systems, and slide boards for top end work. Along with the ample equipment for pole vault drills, the River Hawks have access to plyometric and sprint assistance and resistance training gear. With their new NCAA divisional transition, training will get tougher, and such an extensive arsenal of top tier equipment will be more beneficial than ever before.
As hard as the River Hawk vaulters train and as much as they focus on their studies, they still appreciate the social aspect of being on a team. “Our program has organized, hiking trips, apple picking outings, Halloween Costume practices, Secret Santa swaps, a Track Prom, pool parties, dinner outings, everything,” says Coach Swett. The value of a close-knit team is not lost on the UMass Lowell vaulters, and it is certainly part of what makes them such a successful team.
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Heath King, Jordan Dufresne, Dennis Peary, Coach Patrick Swett, Silvian Popusoi, Hannah Leahy, Vladimir Pousoi
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Caption
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HERE COME THE DANES: What Americans Can Learn from Danish Pole Vaulters By Kreager Taber
For many collegiate athletes, the choice of whether or not to study abroad for a semester or even a year is intertwined with the prospect of losing time to train.
Allan Kolbye and His Athletes
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Especially for pole vaulters, it is difficult to find ways to train effectively in a foreign country while still enjoying a break from competitive practices. However, pole vaulting while
abroad is a great way to meet local athletes, immerse yourself in a new culture, and engage in different ways of training. When I first decided to study abroad in Denmark for the fall semester of my junior year, I was worried that I would have to sacrifice my winter and spring seasons because of the lack of practice. A quick google search of “pole vaulting clubs in Copenhagen� brought me to the homepage of the Amager Athletik Club, located on the island of Amager outside of Copenhagen, Denmark. I reached out to the coach, Allan Kolbye, over email and found myself walking onto their track a week later. The Amager Athletik Club, or the AAC, begins training young vaulters when they are
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Allan Kolbye and His Athletes
13, and continues until they are well out of university. Pole vaulters in the Master’s division can also train with the group and represent them at home and regional meets. Although I found many similarities between the AAC and the pole vault clubs I had trained with in high school, the advice I received from Allan was unlike any I had heard from an American coach.
Most significantly, pole vault training at the AAC involves much less gymnastics than most programs in the United States. Simple drills like leg lifts and swing ups are tailored to only simulate pole vaulting, instead of being designed to mimic gymnastics drills. Leg lifts are done by first bringing one’s toes to the bar, and then activating the shoulders and touching one’s toes to the
ceiling. This effectively mimics the portion of the swing in which the athlete is beginning to drop their shoulders. It also builds explosive strength in the shoulders, which trains them to engage quickly during the takeoff and swing. Swing ups are done with a pole vault style grip on a bar, with the arms slightly more than shoulder length apart. The vaulter keeps their lead knee
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up and back leg extended throughout the swing up. A takeoff position is held before the vaulter begins the swing up, which engages the hip flexor of the drive leg and the glute of the back leg. The swing up is performed with as little windup as possible, which isolates the shoulders. In both drills described, more emphasis is put on strengthening the shoulders than the athlete’s
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core. A variation of swing ups is also taught on parallel bars that are more commonly used for dips. The athlete begins upside down and brings their legs down like the Bubka drill, but stops the movement when their legs are parallel with the ground. The hardest portion of the drill is attempting to get one’s legs back to vertical and return to the upside down position. When emphasis is
put on keeping the legs and arms straight, it isolates the dorsal region of the shoulders, imitating the swing and the shoulder drop during the vault. The focus of the drills is to only simulate pole vaulting, as opposed to imitating motions similar to vaulting. Other differences were obvious in the way that the plant phase of the vault was
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taught. In the USA, it is common that the plant is taught by describing the bottom arm’s role more than the top arm’s. Vaulters are commonly taught to push the bottom arm out and upwards in order to bend the pole. Allan’s advice, however, emphasized the top arm’s role in the transfer of power into the pole. He suggested to think of pushing the top arm forward throughout the plant, and trying to avoid pulling the top shoulder down and bending the pole too much. He also highlighted the importance of not locking one’s bottom arm, but pushing it upwards to bend the pole correctly. Thinking about the plant in this way also encourages the vaulter to leave more room to push the bottom arm upwards and can help move the athlete’s step out. The Danish pole vault season begins in the spring and extends throughout the summer. In early fall, competitions become more infrequent and athletes begin turning their eyes towards the next season. As I arrived in Copenhagen, the AAC athletes were beginning to build the foundation for the next spring season. There are no indoor pole vault facilities in Copenhagen, making winter training difficult. However,
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it is possible to travel to the nearby city of Malmö, Sweden, to get in a few indoor practices before the weather begins to warm again. Copenhagen in November and December is stereotypically rainy and cold, but it still possible to sprint and train outdoors. Therefore, longer sprint practices, such as 200 and 300 meter repeats, take priority over speed training to provide a solid athletic foundation for the spring season. During the competition season, the athletes vault around twice a week and sprint on the off days, similar to training regimens in the USA. It’s highly encouraged that the athletes participate in other events, and even help coach other events when they aren’t vaulting. For example, the older pole vaulters help coach the young javelin throwers and long jumpers before practicing themselves.
Since there are not university-affiliated pole vault teams, the general atmosphere around the sport is more relaxed in Denmark. Athletes still compete and train as a group and represent their athletic clubs in competitions, but there seems to be less of a focus on rivalry and more on the fun of the sport. The vaulters train to qualify for the University
Olympics or Scandinavian Championships instead of conference championships and NCAA’s. The competitive
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drive to train is still very much present, but the separation of university and athletics keeps pole vaulting from becoming
overwhelming. Overall, pole vaulting while abroad opens athletes to diverse coaching perspectives, helps them
engage in local culture, and also allows them to improve their vaulting.
Allan Kolbye
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