Dragila on the runway at the 2004 Pole Vault Summit (© Kirby Lee)
Reno, USAStacy Dragila and Derek Miles successfully defended their titles at the USA Track & Field National Pole Vault Summit at the Reno Hilton, Friday 9 January.
Dragila’s coaching change last April may at last have become a change for the better in 2004. The two-time former World champion struggled last season after switching from longtime coach Dave Nielsen to train with Greg Hull, finishing a disappointing fourth in the Paris World Championships last August.
The transition appears to be coming full circle for Dragila after she cleared 4.70m last night in her season-opening competition to defend her title.
“I didn’t try to stress about (2003) because I had made a lot of changes in my technique and we were working through it hoping that it would come together for the world championships,” Dragila said. “But in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn’t there and that I just needed to stand proud out there and know that I still have a lot to do and am not done.”
Dragila, 32, attempted to jump 4.81m which would have been a new World Indoor record of 4.81m, hitting the bar on her way up on her first attempt and knocking it off with her torso on her second.
Before 2004 is through, Dragila is also confident of reclaiming the World outdoor record that she lost to Russia’s Svetlana Feofanova and Yelena Isinbayeva, and becoming the first to scale the magical 16-foot barrier (4.87m).
“This should be a starting point for me,” said Dragila, who has competed or attended the Pole Vault Summit for the last 10 years. “I want to be jumping 16 feet and jumping consistently. Not just once and to put it beyond that. It will come with time.”
Dragila had been regularly clearing 4.70 in workouts but was taken back by hitting the mark in her season debut on a makeshift runway on a theatre stage with criss-crossing runways with a simultaneous men’s competition won by Derek Miles at 5.80m.
“I had a couple of good practices before Christmas so I knew it was kind of a hit and miss thing,” Dragila said. “I thought if the things flow really well and I feel good. Yeah, it is possible to jump (4.70).’’
Hull, who also coaches reigning Olympic men’s champion Nick Hysong, said that the main changes he has made in Dragila’s technique has been to move her takeoff back and moving her grip higher on the pole.
“We kind of took the concepts that (Nielsen) had been working with and put in some of my own input,” Hull said. “She was very close tonight so I am excited that we are weeks away from (4.87).’’
Dragila will have plenty of chances during the indoor season with plans of competing on the USATF Golden Spike Tour stops at the Millrose Games, Arkansas, Boston and national championships.
Miles - "I am still learning"
Miles, who cleared his first four heights without a miss before a second-attempt clearance at 5.80, also has a full indoor slate on the budget, and like his victory in the 2003 Pole Vault Summit, Miles hopes to use it as a springboard toward defending his indoor national title.
His biggest competition could come from training partners Jeff Hartwig, the American record holder who placed fourth in Reno, and Tye Harvey, who train in Jonesboro, Arkansas with former world record holder Earl Bell.
“You jump (5.79), that’s fine and that’s great but when you have Jeff Hartwig going down the runway and jumping (6.02), you have to think `Well, I have a way to go,” Miles said. “From that perspective, I am still learning and I am still trying and I need to jump higher to be competitive with the rest of the world.’’
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
USATF National Pole Vault Summit
Reno (USA)
Men
1. Derek Miles (USA) 5.80m
2 = Brad Walker (USA) and Russ Buller (USA) 5.60m
4 = Tim Mack (USA) and Jeff Hartwig (USA) 5.60m
6. Toby Stevenson (USA) 5.60m
Women
1. Stacy Dragila (USA) 4.70m
2. Kellie Suttle (USA) 4.37m
3. Tracy O’Hara (USA) 4.37m
4. Chelsea Johnson (USA) 4.27m
5. Jillian Schwartz (USA) 4.17m
