Vaulting in the Big Leagues

Hey everybody I am officially on break (well, really I’ve been on break since December 18th) and it is fabulous! No classes or stressing over finals: it’s practically perfect!

We had our first meet on December 5th, and I thought it was pretty similar to leagues or districts in high school. There were about five colleges at the meet and scoring was for the top six places in each event. Most events had qualifiers and then finals, but pole vault didn’t or we would have been there all day Ha-ha. As it was women’s pole vault started at 11 and went for a while since there were 14 girls, 7 of whom were from WPI Coach Iggy came to Springfield to help us which was much appreciated especially when the officials kicked out everyone other than the competing athletes and coaches. Vaulting went on for a while but ended at 10 feet. Then the guys vaulting started and went on to about 4. Since we weren’t allowed to eat in the track area I made the mistake of not leaving to get lunch before 4 (trust me, this was a bad idea. I’m surprise my stomach didn’t implode from hunger, ha-ha). After vaulting ended everything seemed to happen super quickly and before I knew it our first meet was over.

Overall I had a good time and while I didn’t do as well as I had hoped – I vaulted 8’6″ that day but had wanted to get 9′ – but as Iggy pointed out, this was a good starting point. There was plenty of room for improvement (oh yes, lots and LOTS of room for improvement), but  I hadn’t completely tanked.

The week after our meet but prior to finals we did a lot of hill workouts since the track was covered in snow and ice but the hilly streets of Worcester were pretty well plowed. That was super fun, but everybody made it through those days in one piece and not too badly hurting, so overall it was declared a success The next week (finals week ) our coach didn’t hold official practice, telling us to take as much time as we needed to study while doing the workouts on our own. It was pretty much the same stuff as we had been doing the week before but thankfully the track had melted enough that we could use it. Well that seems to sum up track before break. The only other thing worth mentioning is the Dartmouth invitational on January 10th which I’m thinking of going to. Jacqui asked me about it and we both thought it would be a good idea to go to, so hopefully that will end up happening.

That’s it for now. Hope everyone had a happy holiday and is looking forward to the New Year

So, I’m sitting in my dorm room right now on the 14th floor of a residence hall at Umass Lowell, taking a break from finals studying. My third semester at college will be over by noon tomorrow and needless to say, I have a few regrets. Hopefully some of the High Schoolers and College Freshmen can take something from this. First things first, this is a pole vault blog, and I absolutely love pole vault, but unrelated circumstances do affect whether you can pole vault or not, so here’s some things I did that you should NOT do if you want to maximize your pole vault potential and get through college less stressed out.

First of all, settle on a major you will enjoy studying and are capable of succeeding in. It is great to have a plan for what you want to do after college, but BE REALISTIC! I did not declare a major immediately, but enrolled in classes specific to Marketing. Bad choice since I’m awful at math, numbers and graphs. To not fail, I had to withdraw from two of my classes, leaving me with a credit total under 12. Since I was under 12 credits, I was no longer a full time student at the university, and therefore no longer eligible to compete, or even practice with my track team. Total bummer. I’ve been out of team practice for over a month, and let me tell you: it’s depressing. So, pole-vault youth, don’t jump into a subject you’re not familiar with because you could end up not being able to pole vault, and we all know that that’s the end of the world for people like us.

Secondly, BE CAREFUL! If you’re a college athlete, you probably know what pain is, and chances are you’ve sat out a few meets due to a pulled muscle or stress fracture or something of the nature. Athletes get hurt during practice, and that’s that, but earlier this fall I attended a track team cookout and decided it was a good idea to enter a relay where I had to spin 180 degrees in mid-sprint. It didn’t end great, and I broke my foot. No running for at least a month. BE CAREFUL, KIDS! FOR THE LOVE OF POLE VAULT!

A few more tips: Eat healthy, don’t get sick. I was sick twice this semester and it got pretty ugly. The only advantage of this miserable entrapment in my dorm room was that I developed an obnoxious cough that turned out to be a KILLER ab workout. Also, it’s college. People drink stuff they’re not old enough for, and do things that can mess up their health. While I refrain from consuming anything more severe than coffee, which I still don’t drink, I still have a great time at school with my friends. As lame as it sounds, it’s true. I’ve enjoyed college to the fullest so far, and I haven’t even had a beer. Oh, and before I forget: SLEEP! Sleep like it’s your job. Don’t miss class, but get your rest! If you’re an athlete getting less sleep than you crave, you will be very sorry.

So, that being said, I don’t want anyone to worry about me. My semester ends tomorrow and I am enrolled in some nice easy classes. I changed my major to Graphic Design and am looking forward to it. I will be able to practice and compete with the team when they all move back to campus on January 6th.

Don’t do what I did. Think things through and do your research before enlisting yourself for the long-haul. I’ve been very unlucky this semester and I have alot of make-up work to do when I come back for class. I hope some of the young adults who read this will think before they act, stay healthy, and drive those heels up!

P.S. Congrats to Chrissy Silvar, my best buddy here at Umass Lowell, for clearing 11′ and breaking the school record here! I’ll have my name on there soon, too!

I had my second meet at Harvard on Saturday. I guess I did decent. I cleared 11′ again and came in 3rd. I was hoping to do a little better because on Thursday in practice I was finally starting to collapse my bottom arm in and allow my shoulders to come under in time to actually catch the ride of the pole. I usually don’t collapse my arm and get upside down until the pole is already past vertical. But on Saturday, I just wasn’t feeling it for some reason. Warm-ups didn’t go great and I just wasn’t jumping like I was in practice on Thursday. I was definitely I little frustrated after the meet, but it’s still very early in the season so I have plenty of time to improve. And as Brenner told me the first two meets of the season are basically just practice meets, the real season starts in January. Brenner also keeps telling me that my biggest problem is that I don’t realize how good I’m going to be, so that made me feel a lot better too.

As far as classes go, we’re in the homestretch now. I had a final last Friday and I have one on Wednesday and one on Thursday this week. And then I’m done with my first semester! I can’t wait to go home and sleep in my own bed and shower without flip flops on…oh and see my family of course I’ll probably go to some of my high school’s practices to get some workouts in and see some friends while I’m home too, so I’m looking forward to that. I’ll be home for two weeks and then it’s back to campus for a week of practice before the Dartmouth Relays. Then the spring semester starts the following week; I’ve already picked my classes and it looks like its going to be a somewhat tough but interesting semester.

Hopefully I’ll get to see a lot of you over break at some Hit Quarter practices!

I don’t even know where to begin!  Yesterday I competed in the Harvard Invitational, and…I FINALLY broke the school record.  I jumped 11 ft

Yesterday was interesting for a couple reasons.  I chose not to ride on the bus with my teammates–nothing against them, I guess.  I usually just leave with my family after my event anyway, but I decided to ride with them too.  I was a little more relaxed.  I could stay focused enough, but still could laugh with my family when the only way we knew where we were was by the IHOP.

I came in with a positive attitude, and came in at opening height at 9 ft.  Once that first height was out of the way–PHEW!  It was the first time I actually had fun jumping in a competition in a while–I have fun at practice all the time!  I just need to keep it in competitions too.  It’s crazy how much your attitude can change everything.  It’s one thing to hear it and think you understand that, but when you actually notice it in yourself–it’s way more effective.

Of course, every year we’re at Harvard we have to make the walk over to IHOP and eat as a family.  I think it’s the only reason my family likes to go Just kidding.  You know, those Silvars, they put up with A LOT crap from me–being upset & frustrated, I tend to take it out on them   I haven’t been the most pleasant person lately– and they still stick by me and support me.  They make swaps from work, take long trips to meets, videotape, make sure I’m doing okay and have everything I need.  They keep me positive no matter how much I resist…oh, and I love them.<3

…and of course I have to give a shout out to Sambo–for reasons that could be told with one picture.

More practice today at Tufts and to spend time with more crazy people that I know and love!!

Next meet is Dartmouth Relays!  Now time for finals, winter break training, and a little bit of relaxing   I’m excited to see what the rest of the season holds—good and bad.  To me, this is my REAL season kick-off.  So let the heights get higher, the lessons be learned, and the fun be had. (hahaha, that sounds so dumb!)

So i had my first college competition in a long while on saturday at Reggie, and it felt great to be back in uniform. Jumping didn’t go as well as i would have like (hieght wise) i am finally figuring out how to jump. I am finally on poles that can put me places, and the great part about saturday is that i was blowing through these larger poles. While it was a decent day in terms of getting off the ground, it set a good baseline to work from for the rest of the season. Now its time to hit it hard at harvard this weekend and see if we can make some hieght happen.

As far as classes go i am ready to be done. I have my last final tomorow morning and i am ready to have no work to do apart from trainning. The best part is once i finish this final i am done with classes for about 7 months because i am going on co-op. I am going to be working as an orthopedic techinician at BMC, which means putting people in casts, removing stiches and staples, and other fun stuff! it will be interesting to see how a nine hour day affects my practices which will be directly after them.

I hope to see some PPVC people around at meets this winter, and good luck to everyone who seasons just started.

-Brian

Just a quick update as the end of the semester draws near. I have three finals next week then i am done! I will be back in MA on the 19th.

As for track, things are not going as I would like. Or more like, they are not going at all. Right before thanksgiving break i pulled my hamstring doing flying 20s at practice. I rested up for about 2 weeks, hoping I would be able to jump on our meet last sunday, the 6th. I tried warming up the thursday before the meet and aggravated my hamstring and it hurts again, after it finally had felt better. So i did not jump on sunday. And, my vault coach last night said I should give it a couple more weeks before I sprint again. So right now i am just doing the bike, pool workouts, and stuff like that. It became even more frustrating when the head coach decided to emphasis on the bus ride home that this was the first meet in a long time that no women school records had been broken. If I had jumped, I would have broke the record.

On the other hand, our vault coach seems to be helping our guy vaulters a lot. Even though they did not do as well as they wanted to on sunday, the guys’ form was much better than the first day they vaulted here. Matt, our vault coach, is breaking us down and getting back to the basics before he rebuilds us. And it certainly seems like it has helped the guys so far.

We practice at the NY armory, and there is club that actually holds it’s practices there as well. They are Apex Vaulting, the coach is Bronco. He is apparently one of the best coaches in NJ. At practice there are a couple of guys over 14′, and a couple girls at 12′. And, like Patriot PV, they have a lot of poles, so once I start practicing again, I will be able to borrow poles from him during practices. I will be starting up heavy practices after winter break.

My winter break is really short. I have to be back at school for practice on Jan. 6th, and there are a couple meets during that first weekend. Nor really sure which one i will be going too. But that will be the first meet i compete in .  The two meets are the metro coaches invitational and the army invitational. One is on a fri, and the other on sat.  I can’t wait to compete again!

So now back to studying for finals and such. I will see you all at Patriot PV practices at hit quarters hopefully a couple times during winter break!

Alright, so the first meet can only be summed up in one phrase: I choked.

How many times have I heard that the biggest problem in vaulting is “between your ears” ? Well, Saturday certainly proved it.  I guess that was the part of me that is out of shape.

As angry as I was after getting a big NH next to my name Saturday, I realize that I caved to pressure.  Thinking about it a couple days later, I had already lost that meet even before I stepped on that runway.  Sure, my body felt great, but my head was not in the right place.

Being the only female vaulter for UMass Lowell, I feel like I really have something to prove.  When I don’t feel like I’m proving myself–I freak out.  I really wanted to do well for everyone else to prove that I’ve been working hard and I deserve to be there.  That’s not the kind of thoughts I should be having.  Of course I deserve to be there!  What the hell is that?  This isn’t about everyone else. It’s about ME.

Dear Chrissy,

You’re not pole vaulting for anyone else.  It’s for you.  Now get it together and have some fun

Love,

Chrissy

Time to regroup & refocus.  Minor stutter at the start.  We move on.  Harvard Invitational on Saturday.  Let’s do it

Hey everyone! College is going great so far. I love it here at Northeastern! I thought it would be a bit harder to adjust from a tiny high school in a tiny town to a big university in Boston, but I made the adjustment pretty well. Being a part of the track team was definitely a big help with that. Being a part of a team kind of automatically supplies you with a lot of great friends. So right away I knew plenty of people I could go to if I ever needed anything. I love our team and coaches; everyone is very supportive of each other. The adjustment from high school workouts to D1 college workouts was a bit tough at first, but your teammates are always there to cheer each other on. Pre-season was tough, practices basically started right when we moved in. Mondays were a timed distance run (about 3 miles), Tuesday and Thursday were strengthening/plyos circuits. Wednesday was usually another long run (2 or so miles), and Fridays were active rest days where we went for a slow 15 minute jog. We also had weight room Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We didn’t do any vaulting for the first month and a half or so, just got in shape, which obviously was what was most important at that point. But I was going crazy without vaulting!

Everyone on the team is super close, especially the vaulters since we’re together so much. I mean, everyone knows that vaulters are the most fun people to be around anyway! Once regular season practices started we have a sprinting workout on Mondays, vaulting on Tuesdays and Thursdays, plyos and drills on Wednesdays, active rest on Friday, and now meets on most Saturdays. We get Sundays off. And weight room is Monday and Wednesday. One difference between our sprinting workouts and the workouts I did in high school track is we actually usually do less running, but its much, much faster. Most of our sprints are done all out with a long recovery in between. As for the vaulting the first couple of weeks we only did 3 step stiff pole vaults. At first I was happy to be vaulting at all. But after a while, I was dying to do some full vaults! But staying on short runs for a while definitely helped me with my form. We gradually moved our steps back and moved our hand grips up.

Our first meet was yesterday. I was a bit nervous but mostly excited! I ended up doing fairly well. I cleared 11′ and got 3rd place. I moved through 4 different poles at the meet and ended up on a 13′ 150, which was a pole that I only used towards the end of last year. I realized that I got a lot stronger and am going to be on some much bigger poles by the end of the season. Can’t wait!

Having our first meet right around the time the semester is ending and finals starting was a bit stressful. But now it’s time to focus on finals. The nursing program at Northeastern is very strict and I get quite a bit of work. The work isn’t necessarily hard, but there’s a lot of it. But between study hall (which all freshman athletes are required to go to 5 hours a week) and my work study job in the track office I am able to get a lot of work done during the day which frees up my nights at least a little for some down time. Outside of track I’ve also made a lot of friends that either live near me or are in my classes. It’s nice to have so many groups of friends. I always have some one to hang out with and am never bored, whether we’re just hanging out in someones room, having a movie night, or going shopping at the Prudential Center or Newbury Street (both of which are just a short walk from campus). There’s so much to do in Boston and you can get basically anywhere on the T.

Well I guess that’s enough of my rambling for now! It was great seeing so many familiar faces this weekend at the meet and at the Tufts clinic! I missed the patriot crew! Hopefully I’ll get to see you all again soon!

~Jillena