July 02, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

The sky is now the limit

by Keith Peters

Toby Stevenson grew up in the West Texas town of Odessa, perhaps known best for its boom-and-bust cycles in the local oil-drilling economy.

Stevenson's career as a pole vaulter has followed a similar pattern of success and failure.

In 1995, Stevenson was the Texas high school state champion and the No. 1-ranked 18-year-old vaulter in the world. Boom.

In 1998, Stevenson became the first Stanford vaulter since 1929 to win an NCAA title in the event. Boom.

In 2000, Stevenson no-heighted at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials in Sacramento, missing three times at the opening height. Bust.

That brings us to 2004. Stevenson's talent well has sprung a gusher this season. Heading into the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials that begin July 9 in Sacramento, Stevenson owns the top three marks in the world. His best is 19-8 1/4, which makes him only the 11th man in history to clear the magical 6-meter mark, indoors or out.

Stevenson's confidence level is "absolutely skyrocketing through the roof," he said. "The timing couldn't be better."

Based on his clearances of 19-8 1/4, 19-6 and 19-2 1/4 this season, Stevenson is the likely favorite to win the Olympic Trials and make his first U.S. Olympic team. At worst, Stevenson should finish among the top three and earn a trip to the Summer Games in Athens, Greece.

The 27-year-old Stevenson has won eight meets this season with a personal level of consistency never before achieved. That's what clearing 6 meters will do for you.

"It's definitely a boundary to a lot of vaulters," he said. "Now that I've done six meters and also jumped 19-6, it actually makes it easier to do it again."

Six meters, and 19-6 for that matter, would have won every gold medal in the Olympics heading into 2004.

"It does nothing but give me confidence," Stevenson said. "I'm not going to limit myself. The next barrier is the American record (19-9 1/4 by Jeff Hartwig). After that, it's the world (outdoor) record (20-1 3/4 by Sergey Bubka). Those are the next two barriers.

"But," Stevenson reminded, "those are secondary. My next barrier is the Olympic Trials."

After graduating from Stanford in the spring of 2000, Stevenson went into the U.S. Trials that summer as the Pac-10 champion and runnerup in the NCAA championships. In Sacramento, however, Stevenson was one of five men who failed to clear 18-1 3/4 and his Olympic dreams were crushed.

Lawrence Johnson went on to win the Trials at 19-1 1/2 while Nick Hysong (18-9 1/2) and Pat Manson (18-5 1/2) grabbed the other two berths for the Sydney Games, which Hysong won - becoming the first American vaulter to win the gold medal since 1968.

This outdoor season, Stevenson has yet to vault lower than 18-4 1/2 and has cleared 19 feet or higher six times. He credits a number of things for his skyrocketing improvement.

"The biggest and best thing is I got to finish the season last year," he said. "My last two seasons (2002 and '01) ended in an injury, one with a broke ankle and the other with an accidental fall in Europe. Finally, last summer I competed all the way through it. Other than that, it has been just a growing process, basically."

Stevenson moved from the Bay Area to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista (near San Diego).

"I'm able to study the event as it pertains to me and only me," said Stevenson, who coaches himself. "I think I've been trying to jump like other people up until now, before I took the time to realize that I've got the talent to jump this high. I just needed to figure out how to do it my way. I'm not saying my way is better than anybody else's, but my way is the right way for me, and I kind of evolved that stategy throughout the year."

One thing that definitely sets Stevenson apart from others is the black skateboard helmet that he has been wearing since his senior year of high school, at his parents' insistence.

"I think I'll always be know as the guy with the helmet," Stevenson said. "It's just part of my uniform. I wear it for safety reasons. It's no big deal . . . but, hopefully now I'll be known primarily as just a good vaulter."

Stevenson actually has been a good vaulter for quite some time. His career, in fact, has been just like his event - where you measure improvements a quarter inch at a time. Raising the bar just takes time.

Stevenson cleared more than 16 feet in every meet his high school season, with a personal best of 17 feet. He improved to 18-2 1/2 his sophomore year at Stanford in 1998 and equaled that in 1999. He went a school-record 18-9 1/4 in 2000, the all-time Pac-10 mark, and 18-10 in 2002, when he competed in Europe for the first time.

In 2003, Stevenson inched his PR to 18-10 1/2 and won his first big international meet - the Pan American Games.

Stevenson cleared 19 feet for the first time just this season and his career has just skyrocketed from there.

Hartwig, who watched Stevenson take a good shot at his American record in Modesto after the Stanford grad had surpassed 6 meters, was asked about the rise of his rival.

"Somebody asked me last year at the Palo Alto meet, because it's his home track, 'What do you think of Toby?" Hartwig told Sieg Lindstrom of Track & Field News magazine. "I said, 'well, give the guy a break, give him some time. Every year he's making progress, and that's the key to this sport: to just keep getting a little bit better.' And this year he's really put a lot of things together. He's jumping so consistently that when you get a day like this with basically perfect conditions and get a little bit of break there, it's not hard to put things together and have some good jumps."

Stevenson is expected to have some good jumps in Sacramento next week. Track & Field News, in fact, picked Stevenson to win in its Olympic Trials Preview form chart. He's ranked ahead of Hartwig and defending national outdoor champ Derek Miles.

"The Olympic Trials is going to be nothing less than a war in the men's pole vault because there are so many good guys out there," Stevenson said.

The men's pole vault trials will be held Friday, July 9 in Hornet Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State. The finals will be two days later. Stevenson, of course, will be ready for a battle. After all, he will be wearing a helmet.

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