The Saucon News
08/03/2005
By: Mary Caruso
Saucon Valley High School junior Jackie Misner only recently attended a Vertical Assault Pole Vault camp, and is already breaking records. Her track coach, Ed Kolosky, encouraged her to try pole vault. "He thought I would be good at it," Jackie said. "So I tried it.
"I thought it would be good training to work on my running speed and develop upper body strength." Misner said the eight-week vault training started with no bar. Campers practiced running, and two-step approaches. "At 9-feet, 6-inches, many of them dropped out," she said. "We were using a 10-foot-pole." Coach Mike Lawryk, founder and director of "Vertical Assault" then gave the girls an 11-foot, 6-inch pole to try.
It was then that Misner cleanly cleared the 10-foot mark. She is now looking to compete in pole vaulting, and break the record of former Saucon Valley Janna Raudenbush, who cleared 9-feet, 6-inches at the States Championship.
"It's all about opportunity," her mother Cheryl said. "It's not always the best athlete who excels, but the one who has the opportunity available to try."
"We want to give the girls every opportunity we can," Cheryl said. "After that, it's up to them.
© 2005 Vertical Assault