RENO, NV:At the Pole Vault Summit, held annually in Reno, Nev., pole vaulters take center stage and have the spotlight all to themselves. This year, so did Michael Lawryk in being named National High School Coach of the Year.

The Pole Vault Summit is a convention like no other, featuring pole vaulting education and competition. This year's event included USA Track and Field development officials, 2,200 competitors of all ages and renowned coaches from all over the world. There were also various classes and clinics. For Lawryk, opening ceremonies began as usual, with one exception: he was called on stage to accept his award for outstanding development of athletes at the high school level.

With over 50 athletes and parents from Vertical Assault in the crowd, it was difficult to hear over the hoots and hollers of Lawryk's athletes happy to see their coach recognized.

While his record of spectacular athletes speaks for itself, Lawryk maintained "I'm just a really lucky guy - We have a great group of people involved with Vertical Assault and together we do great things - it takes more than just a good coach to get an athlete to that next level".

The Vault Summit features boisterous crowds -- many of them other vaulters -- spurring on athletes with rhythmic clapping while music blares inside a theater at the Grand Sierra Resort hotel. Friday night, the top 10 vaulters competing in the elite sections were treated like rock stars on stage, performing for a sell-out crowd. On Saturday, 15 runways were kept busy all day long as competitions ran from 8:15am to 10:15pm.

Vertical Assault's vaulters fared well in competition, with over half of the athletes setting new personal-best marks in Reno.