Long before any of us was born, Sir Isaac Newton compared gravity to the attraction between two objects, in which case most of us are m, the earth is M, and the force between the two keeps m (me) rooted to M (Mother Earth).
Of course, there will always be those who resent this. In basketball it was Michael Jordan, who could jump so high he would momentarily be suspended in sub-orbit. In the high jump it was Javier Sotomayor, the first (and thus far only) human to break the 8' barrier without Air Jordans (8' ¼" in 1993). And then there was Sergey Bubka--not to be confused with Sergey Babka, the Russian pastry chef--who could leap tall buildings with a single pole.
Pole vaulting is a sport, in and of itself. It requires not only the very highest level of athletic ability, but a year-round commitment comprised of strength training, mental preparation, and careful adherence to the multi-layered steps leading to its incremental success. And yet, even after the most thorough preparation, every single session, and every single competition will end in failure. With practice you get better, and yet you never quite measure up to expectations. In that respect you must be as psychologically healthy as you are physically conditioned.
In addition to the aforementioned, there is that fear factor. At some point, whether it is a nice round number like ten feet, or some random metric measurement like 6.15 meters, a vaulter will one day look up and suddenly and unconsciously decide that he/she has reached a self-imposed barrier to further success. You see it in high school meets all the time, and at all heights.
The greatest pole vaulter in history, Sergey Bubka, reigned supreme for ten years, an epoch in this event. Between 1984 and 1994 he gradually stretched the limits--not only of his own ability, but that of mankind itself--from 5.94 meters (19' 5 ¾") to 6.14 meters (20' 2/3"). And then he went no further.
It took 20 years for the rest of the best to go higher and eclipse the pinnacle of Bubka's illustrious career. On February 15, 2014, Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie was able to stretch 25/32" beyond Bubka's best and he cleared 6.16 meters (20' 2 33/64").
But to the readers of these numbers they are dreams, and hardly worth the effort to think about them. To all but one gifted athlete, perhaps many more years in the future, the chase will be measured, not in meters, or even in feet or inches, but centimeters.
In high school pole vaulting these are the challenges: conference champion, district champion, regional champion, state champion, and state record holder. In 2014, Sean Clarke claimed three of the first four as a sophomore. The SAC title was claimed by Hagerty's Christopher Tiedge at 14'. Sean got 13'6". At the district level they traded places, as Tiedge leveled off at 14, but Clarke added a foot (14' 6"). The Regional meet (where the accompanying photos were taken) was one of those days that vaulters don't like to think about. Sean Clarke (who won) cleared "only" 13' 6", but Chris Tiedge was a little off and 13 was his best. Finally, at the 4A State Meet, both were a little lower than their season's best--Sean won at 14' 3" and Chris was third with 13' 9".
Sean has two full seasons to reach that fifth, aforementioned goal. (He doesn't talk about it, but the possibility excites me all the way down to where my fingertips touch this keyboard.) According to the Pole Vault City website--and they should know--Mike Holloway's "unofficial" 17' 1 ½" record has stood since 1987. (Holloway, incidentally, has been generous in his support of Clarke.)
Sean, it should be noted, has undergone a rebirth of sorts. This has involved a lot of plane tickets, a couple of long distance coaches, an exclusive pole vaulting venue, running 5Ks instead of runways, and abstinence...from vaulting.
"The summer before my sophomore year I broke my leg at pole vault camp," Sean explained in a recent interview. "I was playing 'capture the flag'. It was a wet day and I caught my leg capturing someone.
"I didn't have enough time to strengthen it before my sophomore track season, and after winning States I was tired and a little weak. So I took a trip to L.A. We have a family friend, Anthony Curran, who is the pole vault coach at UCLA."
This is what their media guide has to say about Curran: "Former UCLA pole vault standout Anthony Curran enters his 32nd year at his alma mater, returning this season as the men's and women's volunteer jumps coach. Curran has become one of the premier vault coaches in the nation as he continues to produce All-American after All-American at UCLA. He has coached multiple Olympians, National Record Holders, and NCAA and Pac-10 Champions during his tenure at UCLA, a feat that has made UCLA a pole vaulting powerhouse. Curran also earned top honors in 2006 after being named the NCAA West Region Women's Jumps Coach of the Year."
"That was my fourth year at UCLA" Sean continued. "I worked out, but mostly I did a lot of base training. These are pole vault specific drills, like running with the pole, and high bar drills. When the pole bends, it turns sideways. You don't run with a pole; you basically do a chin-up on a pole."
(For some labor intensive high bar drills see: ; for more comprehensive drills see the Pegasus Club way to train for the event at http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=q1P2aRdARAw)
This past school year, Sean also ran cross country, a novel way to build up his endurance for the explosive sport that is pole vaulting.
"After the summer there I ran cross country. It was really great. Pole vaulting is such an individual sport, and running as part of a team was fun."
Sean finished with a best time of 17:47, seventh runner, and part of Lyman's winning effort at the 2014 Seminole Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.
"The first week of December is when I got back to the running, jumping, and strengthening regimen of the pole vault. Then, during winter break, I went back out to L.A. for pole vault training. I got to meet Mile Woepse. His personal best is 18' 5 ¼" and he was invited to the National Trials. He got 7th there."
In high school, in 2010, Woepse cleared 17 feet five times and had the number one prep outdoor mark in the nation (17-6).
"I also met a 14' woman vaulter." (Sean meaning that she vaults 14', or so I surmise.)
Once back home, Sean made frequent trips to "The Joe Dome." (Lest we wander too far off this runway, we'll leave that story for another time.)
Besides Joe Johnston "hisself" (see: https://www.growingbolder.com/jumpin-joe-and-the-j...), Sean was being mentored by two other local coaches, Bill Cashman and Jerry Hock...but in the latter case, "local" is more of a relative turn. (Jerry, who also coached Mike Holloway, lives in North Carolina.)
As soon as the track season started in earnest, Sean lost no time improving his previous best. At the first meet of the season, the Lake Brantley Open, he made quick work of 13' 6", 14', and 15'--all of which he cleared on his first attempt. It took three attempts to clear the next height.
"This season, my first jump was 15' 6" at the Lake Brantley Open on February 21st. In that first meet, there's always a lot of adrenalin, but coming into this meet was not as easy. The second meet is such a strange thing, because you never know what to expect. This (the Lake Brantley Invitational) was our first team-focused meet, where all of our guys are working together and compete for points.
"There was originally a plan for the height I wanted to jump, to stay in the 15' range, and show that that first meet was not a fluke. But when we saw the weather forecast, that expectation went out the window and it became a situation of training through the meet."
Sean cleared 14' on his first attempt. However, what began as a mist became a drizzle, then a steady rain, and his hands were slipping on the pole. Coach Cashman helped him re-tape it. It took three attempts to make 15--without inverting, according to his dad--and he and Cashman were a little nervous about his going on. Sean made one try at 15'7", which, if he had cleared it, would have been a new PR. But the attempt was unsuccessful, and they decided to call it a day.
The rain worsened, and the girls' pole vault was cancelled.
"Right now, the most important thing is getting some competition. I am one of the few vaulters who didn't do the summer and indoor season, so I have to work back into it. There are certain meets where it is warm out and you might push the bar, but at others--like today--it's basically practice."
There's no doubt that Clarke is ready for both kinds of meets. Starting off as he did, and with this only his junior year, there's only one minor thing he has to avoid: gravity.