University Daily Kansan / Monday, March 28, 1988
11
SportsMonday
College vault record is just the beginning of athlete's Olympic dreams
Bv Sandra I. Watts
Special to the Kansan
Kansas pole vaulter Scott Huffman never thought five years ago that his dream of breaking a college track record would turn into a shot at the Olympics.
With his performance this weekend he at the Kansas Alumni Invitational, Ruffman showed just how close he will be the goal of becoming an Olympian.
Huffman jumped 18 feet 6 inches at the Invitational on Saturday. The jump would have put Huffman over the qualifying mark of 18 feet 3 and one quarter inches needed to compete at the Olympic Trials.
"I'm not really worried about qualifying." Huffman said. "We are planning to jump higher than qualifying height. That height is just something to be taken care of."
The jump was the third highest vault in the United States this year, according to Track and Field News. But the vault couldn't be counted because the meet wasn't official, because it was too high to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
Through his hard work and the careful planning of his coach, Rick Attig, Huffman plans to compete in Olympic trials at Indianapolis in July.
To prepare for the trials, Huffman competed at the NCAA Indoor Championships at Oklahoma City, where he placed second. Huffman will compete at the Athletics Congress championships in June.
Huffman's preparation really began during his high school career at Quinter, a rural town in western Kansas. He competed on the school track team and set the state high school pole vaulting record in his junior year.
"During high school, I didn't think there was anything else other than Paper Towels."
Huffman's goal was to go to McPherson College after high school and put his family name back on the school's pool vault record. His father, Galen, set a record of 15 feet 10 inches in 1962. The record was broken in 1973.
"That was the most exciting week of my whole life," Huffman said. "I felt intimidated a bit because I thought there would be a lot of big feet, and it made me feel. But everyone there was equal, and I learned a lot.
Bowen called Huffman many times during his senior year at Quinter. Huffman began to believe that Bowen was sincere and that he could go to Kansas. When Huffman weighed the advice of his father, who wanted him to go to Kansas, and the attention he had received from Jayhawk coaches, he decided to enroll at Kansas.
"The best feeling was when Coach Bowen told me I had potential to be great. He told me he was not going to me alone. He wanted me to go to KU."
During his junior year at Quinter, Huffman still planned to go to McPherson after his prep career. At the Kansas state track meet, though, he read in the track program about the Kansas Jayhawk track camp. He said he didn't think he was good enough to compete at such a large school's camp, but he decided to try it anyway.
"I wanted the opportunity to improve and to be able to go somewhere," Huffman said. "I hate limiting myself."
As a freshman, Huffman set an NCAA frenzy in vaulting record with a jump of 18 feet five inches. During his sophomore season, Huffman placed fourth at the NCAA championships and fourth at the Athletic
Congress national meet
But trouble began when Huffman injured his ankle early in his junior year. He was running through a parking lot and slammed into a concrete curb when he tried to do a heel pop, which is an exercise that pole vaulters do to warm up before vaults.
Huffman tried to let the injury heal and did not compete for about a month and a half. He later competed in two track meets, but did not do very well. He unknowingly was trying to compete on a broken ankle.
His doctor discovered he had chipped a piece of bone off his ankle. Huffman had an operation to remove the chip last January and hasn't had the same trouble since.
During his sophomore year, the Kansas pole vault team received a new coach. Rick Attig came to Kansas and helped coach the pole vault team to an NCAA ranking of 19th in the nation this year.
Using Attig's scientific training system, Huffman said he planned to be at his peak in July, in time for the Olympic trials.
Huffman works hard for two weeks a month, and the third week he works light. Training in the first two weeks consists of three days of running 100-yard sprints, lifting weights and vaulting.
Photos by Joe Wilkins III/KANSAN
Top, upper left: Huffman works on his vaulting in Anschutz Sports Pavilion during the evening several times a week.
Bottom left: Huffman stretches out Saturday at the Kansas Alumni Track Meet.
Above: Huffman has the chance to be a United States Olympian within his grasp.
new merchandise daily
S.A. Thriftstore
628 Vermont
841-1404 9th & Massachusetts