Dating back to the 1850’s, pole vault was first recorded as an event in Germany where it received its modern day origins. Being one of the two vertical jumps in track and field, pole vault is considered the sport’s most high-adrenaline and disciplined event between the two.
Participants use the pole to vault over a 4.5 meter-long bar that rests horizontally in the air on uprights to get over. In order to achieve that motion of getting over the bar, the competitor must sprint along the runway and jam the pole against a stop board at the back of a metal box which is placed in the middle at the base of the uprights. In order for the competitor to win, they must clear the greeted height without knocking the bar over.
Each participant has three attempts to get over the bar per height. Although, if they think they can advance to a higher one, they can elect to “pass” and move onto a greater one. Three consecutive failures will result in elimination of the vaulter.
If the vaulters are tied at the same height, the winner will be declared based on who had the least amount of failures. If they are still tied, a winner will be chosen based on who had the least amount of failures during the entire competition.
Pole vault has existed at Westfield since the beginning of track and field. Head coach of pole vault, Don MacDonald explained, “I started coaching pole vaulting in the mid-1980s. I had never been a pole vaulter, so I needed to learn a lot about the mechanics and the strategy involved. I learned from other coaches and from coaching manuals and conferences. This was before the internet.”
There have been many successful athletes that have gone through the pole vaulting program for Westfield. Mike Woods placed 2nd in the state in his year. Peter Fagan holds the Westfield boys’ record with a 16-foot vault and Sarah Burke holds the Westfield girls’ record.
Some years, the event has a few athletes who dedicate their seasons to pole vaulting. Most years, Westfield has a good number who split time between vaulting and running or vaulting and throwing. Current pole vaulter and junior Juliet Pitta explained, “I started pole vault my freshman year. I started it because I always saw videos and it looked really cool. I wanted to try something new. The coaches my freshman year were a college kid and a senior in high school, so they made it fun and exciting every day. They went to the high school and taught me how to vault, and I fell in love with it. My freshman year I made it to states and cleared 9 feet. This has provided me with an incredible team that has become a community.”
Westfield’s pole vaulters look to have a successful end to their season and many more to come throughout the upcoming years.
