Bravery Knows No Limits Unbounded Enthusiasm Enables Three Area Girls To Take Pole Vaulting To New Heights

Marci Hulbert has a nasty bruise on the inside of her right forearm.

She isn’t exactly sure how it got there, but she understands why.

“It means I’m doing something right,” she said.

What she’s doing right is pole vaulting. Hulbert, a sophomore at University High School, is one of three Valley girls who have cleared 10 feet, 6 inches this year.

The list includes West Valley senior Jenny Gregorak, the first high school girl in Washington to clear 10 feet, and Central Valley senior Emily Roberts, whose 11-6 is the best in state history.

Hulbert’s coach, who happens to be her father, Reg, or any of the other quality vault coaches in the area, can give her the technical reason why the bruise is good. But daughter will just take dad’s word for it. Like her friends and rivals, she’s more interested in the results.

“It’s fun. It scares me. It gives me a rush,” Hulbert said.

The Valley trio is ahead of the curve in a growing trend: female pole vaulters.

When Reg Hulbert spearheaded a winter vaulting camp, about 50 of the near 80 in attendance were girls. When Hulbert went to a major national camp in Reno, registration surpassed 1,000 for the first time and half were female.

“The new thing (girls pole vaulting) is real attractive,” CV vault coach Dennis McGuire said. “What we’ve found is when they get here and see what it’s like, it weeds them out a little bit.”

The real reason isn’t the speed and strength needed to vault.

“You can’t teach guts,” McGuire said. “That’s so rare.”

West Valley vault coach Herm Caviness said, “What you’re seeing now is more and more … reckless girls, more hell-bent-for-election, get down the runway, stab it in the box. It’s not for the timid or shy.”

No one would ever accuse Gregorak, Roberts or Hulbert of being timid. What they are, as Sue Pring said of her daughter Gregorak, are thrill-seekers.

“I tell them,” Reg Hulbert said, “when they do it right, they get a shot of adrenaline that lasts a week.”

Ten-foot pioneer

Jenny Gregorak wasn’t the lone pioneer but she was the wagon master. That’s a great place for the gregarious Gregorak to be.

She cleared 10 feet at the 3A Eastern Regional meet in Prosser as a sophomore. She followed that up by going 10-6 in the summer at a national juniors meet in Spokane and finishing second in the Junior Olympics in Seattle.

That earned her a berth on a national team that went to Poland last summer. She joined 50 American teammates competing against 113 other countries, although customs didn’t release her poles and she vaulted poorly.

Unfortunately, she waited until last week to improve her PR to 10-9.

“Yeah, it’s a big ol’ bummer I haven’t gotten better,” she said before the 10-9. “I’d like to be the best again, but I’m happy for them. I told myself if I get 11 feet, I’d pole vault in college… . I was over 11 feet twice during spring break. That feeling hasn’t come back. I don’t know why.”

Part of the reason is nagging injuries. She’s never felt completely healthy.

But she still loves what she does.

“It’s a good challenge and it gives me a chance to do something that not many girls can do,” she said. “I did it because I didn’t want to run. I was good for a girl.”

She also notices a change in the competition.

“Now that everyone knows about (vaulting), they’re getting gymnasts and making them do it,” said Gregorak, who isn’t a gymnast like Roberts and Hulbert, both state qualifiers. “They have an advantage. They get upside down easier, they’re naturals at it… . Flips, back flips, that’s pole vaulting.”

The competitor in her won’t let her give up, just like her personality won’t let her stay down - or stay serious.

“People say sometimes you reach your peak early,” she said, flashing a bright, mischievous smile. “My butt got bigger.”

Bright future

As the youngest of the big three, Hulbert has more time to accomplish more than the other two. The seniors have two competitions left, as long as they make it out of regionals this weekend in the Tri-Cities to state next weekend in Tacoma, where the vault is a point-scoring event for the first time.

Hulbert also has the personalized coaching.

“It’s OK,” she said of the father/coach relationship. “It’s not as bad as it seems because he’s gone part of the time (as an airline pilot). He doesn’t treat me any different, I don’t think, than any of the other guys. (He talks about vaulting) all the time. But it’s interesting.”

She first grabbed a pole as an eighth-grader.

“My dad has always been involved with it,” she said. “He always says gymnasts make the best pole vaulters so I decided to give it a try. I felt dumb. I didn’t know what I was doing. I still don’t think I’m that good.”

She cleared 10 feet at state last spring to tie for fourth, but it has taken her a long time to inch up to 10-6.

“I feel bad if I do bad, not just because of my dad, but for the team,” she said. “It was really frustrating at the beginning when I didn’t get any better. By the end of the year, I’m hoping for at least 11-6, but my dad says higher … he sets high standards for me.”

Queen of the hill

Roberts was the first in the state to make 11 feet last year, but no-heighted at the state meet and didn’t place. She has regained her state best (official state records can only be set in the state meet) and recently was well over 12 feet before hitting the bar on the way down.

“It’s the only event in track that’s related to the intensity and thrill of gymnastics, being upside down,” Robert said. “Gymnasts are prime pole vaulters. It’s a risky event. It’s exciting.”

McGuire said he knew he had a pole vaulter when she grabbed the pole and charged toward the pit. Most beginners tippy-toe.

“I knew I had potential,” Roberts said. “I was aggressive and had strength from gymnastics.”

A vaulter is a vaulter

Not only do the girls have guts, they have a bright future.

“I see no reason all these girls shouldn’t be going a foot, foot-and-a-half, higher,” Reg Hulbert said. “It’s just a matter of getting vertical.”

Upside-down vertical, that is.

Just maybe, these young women have rejuvenated their coaches.

“In my experience coaching girls, they can be very competitive but they have different expectations,” Caviness said. “They enjoy the successes as well or better than the boys.”

Overall, he said, “I just like an athlete who works hard. If they’re into it, I’m into it with them.”

Unlike boys, who are at least exposed to the pole vault in junior high, the girls are starting from scratch in high school.

“(These girls) validate what you’re doing,” McGuire said. “It’s not that a coach creates a record-holder, they were (talented) when they came to you, but it’s nice to know you’re doing things correctly. It’s exciting.”

Payoffs are worth it

Bumps, bruises and thrills, Spokane Valley vaulters are enjoying every minute of it.

Gregorak vaults this afternoon in Richland, Roberts and Hulbert are up Saturday in Pasco.

Next stop, Tacoma, where they expect to score team points for the first time in history.

Will one or more go 12 feet? Who will become an official state champion?

No matter which one, they’ll all feel like winners.

“When Jenny went 10, I said, `Now I’ve got to do it,”’ Roberts said. “It’s always important to have people pushing you. You can have motivation, but it always takes one more person. Competition is like that, only in this case, we’re good friends.”

Hulbert said, “(Roberts and Gregorak) are the ones who make me want to work hard. I’ve known Emily a long time with gymnastics. That’s what makes it fun. At least I still have two years.”

And, as world-traveler Gregorak knows, anything can happen.

“It’s been a great experience,” Gregorak said. “I’ve met a ton of people through pole vaulting. I know people all over the world.”