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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bringing out best of vaulter Melinda Owen


Wearing throwback socks from another era, Idaho senior Melinda Owen vaulted a 2008 collegiate-best 14 feet, 5 1/4 inches Saturday in Moscow.  University of Idaho photo
 (University of Idaho photo / The Spokesman-Review)

Walking on air is part of the pole vaulter’s job description, but Melinda Owen has taken it to extremes the past couple of weeks.

Eleven days ago in Boise, the University of Idaho senior filled a page in the scrapbook when she beat history’s most famous female vaulter – Olympic gold medalist and former world record holder Stacy Dragila.

“Usually it’s just my teammate and I competing at the end,” Owen said. “This was a little better.”

Then at UI’s own Vandal Jamboree last Saturday, Owen soared to the top of the NCAA’s 2008 performance list by adding nearly a foot to her all-time best by clearing 14 feet, 5 1/4 inches.

And yet for all that, this weekend is even bigger.

Owen returns to Boise for the Western Athletic Conference track and field championships beginning Wednesday – and she owns the WAC.

She’s never finished any place but first in a conference meet – winning three times indoors from 2005 to 2007 and outdoors in both 2006 and 2007. In fact, she’s never lost to another WAC vaulter in any competition – teammate K.C. Dahlgren once tied with Owen for second in an indoor meet in 2007.

Not that she’s always regarded the streak so cheerfully.

“It was almost a source of anxiety,” she admitted. “Last year, I put so much pressure on myself – ‘I have to win it again’ – that it made it worse. What I need to do this year is go in with a carefree attitude, like ‘What do I have to lose?’ “

No wonder, then, that she and Dahlgren showed up at practice last Thursday with outfits, hair and background music straight out of the 1980s – a “theme day” to remind each other to not take things so seriously. They even carried it over by wearing tube socks – Vandal tube socks – to vault on Saturday. So popular was the idea that the entire Idaho women’s team will try it in practice today.

And yet dressing up can relieve only so much tension. A good portion of Owen’s large and extended family and scads of friends were on hand for her final home meet, eventually lining the vault runway and bursting with good wishes – and expectations.

“It’s weird the places I get nervous at,” she said. “I was in Boston for the U.S. nationals and I wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, but here at our little home meet I was a bundle of nerves.”

Must have been good nerves.

She added a half inch to her week-old school record with a 13-7 3/4 leap – and just kept going. Over 13-11 3/4. Over 14-3 1/4. And finally over 14-5 1/4, the top collegiate jump in the nation by more than three inches. And it was a marathon – she needed all three attempts at each of the last three bars.

Not a bad way to ramp up for the next month of championship meets – especially when the early season was so discouraging.

After winning the WAC outdoor last year, Owen broke a bone in her foot at the NCAA West Regional meet – still managing to finish eighth. A similar problem occurred in November and again in January, putting her in a cast for six weeks. She didn’t resume competition until mid-April, though she called that “a blessing in disguise” because the down time allowed for some stationary drill work and film study for needed technical corrections and “mental training that really helped.”

But nothing helps Owen’s approach quite like competition, something that comes from growing up in an athletic family from Montana – she’s part of the famed Owen wrestling clan. And that competitive streak was tapped in Boise when she walked into the stadium and saw Dragila, the 2000 Olympic gold medalist.

“I recognized her right away,” Owen said. “It got me excited because I had no idea someone of that caliber would be there. Just watching someone like that is pretty amazing, but being in the same competition was something else.”

Both Owen and Dragila – trying to make a comeback from Achilles tendon surgery – wound up clearing 13-7 1/4, with Owen winning on the basis of fewer misses.

“I like to think I’m at my best when the athletes are of good caliber – it’s more fun and you learn a lot more,” Owen said. “And I got to talk to her a little bit, which was great – just asking her questions about jumping after college and finding sponsorships. She’s a neat person.”

But for the time being, just another victim. Owen’s competition in the WAC can certainly relate.