Roche overcomes handicap to become top pole vaulter

[rainbowgirl28]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/w ... =si_latest

Vault to stardom
Roche overcomes handicap to become top pole vaulter
Posted: Wednesday August 16, 2006 3:55PM; Updated: Wednesday August 16, 2006 3:55PM


St. Francis High (Mountain View, Calif.) senior Casey Roche, the nation's No. 1 high school pole vaulter, didn't learn how to walk until he was almost 3 years old. "For a big chunk of his baby years, he actually rolled because he didn't have the balance to crawl," his father, Casey Sr., said. "It's the most remarkable thing. Basically, his right ear is not attached to his brain. He was 2 years and 10 months when he finally was able to stand on both feet and walk."

It took an MRI to reveal that young Casey was totally deaf in his right ear, tremendously affecting his balance. However, Roche proves every day he races down the runway that he has mastered this life-long handicap. He recently showcased his determination when he soared 17 feet, 5 inches to shatter the USATF Junior Olympics record at Morgan State University in Baltimore.

Making his feat even more remarkable is that Roche stands just 5-foot-9 ½ and weighs only 150 pounds. "Everyone is bigger than me," he laughs.

Roche is now eyeing the overall national high school record of 18-3 held by Tommy Skipper, now a senior at the University of Oregon. Casey Sr. notes that Skipper stands 6-3 and "is built like a comic book superhero."

On his record-smashing day, Roche also had to battle stifling 100-degree heat and dehydration -- he consumed two bottles of Gatorade and three bottles of water during the competition. "I was sweating buckets," he said.

The dynamic vaulter sealed his Junior Olympics victory when he cleared 16-8 3/4. Then he leaped 17-2 on his third and final attempt to eclipse the meet record by a half inch. "The crowd was really into it and I was so happy," Roche related.

At 17-5, he again missed his first two attempts, but cleared it on his third try. "The crowd roared and I was shocked -- in disbelief," said Roche. "It was the highlight of the year for me."

The personable Roche admits he surprised himself with an amazing 21-inch improvement during the past year. "I didn't think I was going to be that good," he said. "I've had to reevaluate my goals so many times."

At the end of his junior year, Roche's best vault was 16-7. The school record had been 16-0 by Jason Hinkin, who later vaulted for Long Beach State and won the NCAA indoor championship. Kyle Mills-Bunje, who graduated this spring, also cleared 16-7 to share the record.

Just prior to the Junior Olympics, Roche attended a Los Gatos, Calif., camp directed by Bob and Scott Slover, and suddenly he was clearing 16-9, then 17-0. The father-son duo taught Roche how to turn his body earlier. That way he was able to keep his shoulders behind the pole and go vertical instead of horizontal on his liftoff.

"It made sense," Roche said. "I cleared higher bars and it felt easy. That gave me a lot of confidence."

There was little doubt that Roche was destined for track and field. His father vaulted for Rutgers and coached the event for 10 years at Stanford. His mother, Debbie Deutsch, ran the hurdles for Rutgers. His uncle, Mike Roche, ran the steeplechase for Rutgers and made the 1976 USA Olympic team. And his grandfather, Eugene Roche competed in the long jump, triple jump and hurdles for UCLA.

"I always hovered around 16-6," Casey Sr. said. "I always wanted to break 17-0 feet but never did, so I was ecstatic when Casey broke the family pole vault record."

Roche got his first taste of the pole vault as a fifth grader. He would follow his dad around at practice. "It was something one day a week for fun," Roche said. "Ten-foot was really high. I fell in love with track."

His parents also had him taking karate lessons, playing T-ball and running just to keep him occupied. His intensity quickly surfaced. Running a three-lap race in a fifth grade meet, he slipped at the start and fell down. But he quickly got up, caught the leader and passed him with a lap to go. As soon as he won the race, he "barfed [his] lungs out."

"I don't think I was a natural," Roche said. "Honestly, my balance is horrible."

Roche believes that he has been able to overcome this huge handicap "by sight and a lot of repetition and practice." Roche chose St. Francis because of veteran coach Tom Tuite and his reputation for turning out great pole vaulters. Tuite has been coaching track for 40 years at St. Francis -- the first 25 as head coach. For the last 15 years, Tuite has coached only the pole vault.

"I found that the type of kid who does it is interesting and it was part necessity because there was no one else to do it," said Tuite. "I was a distance runner and it has been by acquired knowledge."

Nothing seems to rattle Roche. In his first week of practice as a freshman, he broke his pole and chipped off the bottom half of a front tooth. However, the next day it was business as usual. "It showed me he's a tough kid," Tuite said. "He's certainly a kid who doesn't get down if everything doesn't go his way."

Even Tuite has been surprised by his protege's rapid rise to national prominence. "I told him he went from outstanding to just amazing," the veteran coach said. "He really understands the event. He has studied it very well, but when he gets on the runway he just competes. He just loves it. If I had to sum up Casey, he is very, very focused and very explosive."

Roche runs 100 meters in close to 11 seconds and showed his decathlete potential by long jumping 22-3 last spring "with very little technique," he laughed. Besides vaulting, he runs, lift weights and does gymnastics workouts.

Soon after Roche's record 17-5 vault, he said, "Dad's phone was ringing off the hook from college coaches." He told SI.com this week that he will attend Stanford.

Roche's next goal is to clear 18-0. "I'm sure he can do it," Tuite said confidently. "But I'm not sure if he'll do it in high school or college. And he probably can reach 19-0 [some day]."

"I accept that from now on it is going to be hard to improve," Roche said. "Dad and I have talked about it and my goal is to place high in the big events. I'll be returning as the No. 1 guy in high school. That puts a lot of pressure on me, but I don't really feel it at all."

[vault3rb0y]

and in the other thread people asked about come back stories... I'd vote for this as the come back story of the decade. LOL casey u give confidence to all vaulters of all levels and abilities... i hope for the best for you next year. Maybe ill see ya at a few national meets, take care.

[SweetPVJumps]

that is a pretty cool story. way to go casey roche.

[polevaulter08nw]

thats awsome, haha i also have a chipped front tooth, but not from one of my broken poles