Eric Brittingham

Welcome to TRACKside – Stories and notes on athletes, teams, coaches and races to be published mid-week during the 2008 indoor and outdoor seasons.   Vaulting to the top of PA | Angling for the Perfect Jump | One Fast Frosh D.J. Horton - Travis Hammaker: There are a few events where the athletes share a bond that is the event itself. No bond is stronger than that which is created by the shared danger and thrill of the pole vault. Kristin Brandt has it all figured out. All she has to do now is get the right day, good competition, great speed, a steady but evenly building run, and just the right amount of height. Then, and only then, will it be the perfect jump. She can see it clearly. In fact, she's done it, only they've all been fouls. State College freshman Chloe Schmidt probably would not think of telling people she is the top freshman runner in the state. But there she is in the rankings. #1 in the mile at 5:00.79 (4:59.05c 1600); #1 in the 800 at 2:16.41, and probably most surprisingly, #2 in the 400 at 57.34. No, the deceptively diminutive and slightly shy 9th grader at State College High School doesn't look at the world that way. You see... comparisons to fellow freshmen just don't seem to be in her nature.  

Faulkner off quickly in 400 By Christopher Hunt NEW YORK – Mount St. Michael senior Brian McGovern walked over to Farrell’s Cory Duggan at the conclusion of the pole vault competition. “My whole lower body is falling apart,” he said. At least he was competing. McGovern won the pole vault at the New York Relays in 15 feet, 6 inches in his first competition in two months. A week before the indoor state championships, McGovern underwent an appendicitis surgery and just started vault practice this past week and his right hamstring and left knee wrapped during the meet Saturday at Ichan Stadium on Randalls Island. FULL STORY HERE