Derek Mackel Article (New Mexico)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.abqtrib.com/albq/sp_lobos/ar ... 45,00.html

Track and Field: A stab at pole vault title
By Vanessa Strobbe
June 6, 2006

UNM senior Derek Mackel, 23, qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in pole vaulting this year, his final year of eligibility. "This year, I did my best to have fun," he said. "When I don't have fun, this is all just work." Mackel competes in the preliminaries on Wednesday. The top 12 finishers advance to the finals on Friday. (Erin Fredrichs/Tribune)Eighteen steps. A 16-foot fiberglass pole. An 18-foot leap.

A plastic bar propelled high in the air over mats has been no obstacle for University of New Mexico senior pole vaulter Derek Mackel. A minimized career and chronic knee pain have.

The fifth-year senior didn't pick up a fiberglass pole until he was 17 years old. Since then, injuries have limited his already short career, including:

As a high school senior, Mackel partially tore his meniscus in his right knee, keeping him out of competition nearly all season.

His junior year at UNM, tendinitis in both knees restricted Mackel from participating in many indoor and outdoor meets.

This year, he is nursing a strained muscle in his left knee but is continuing to train and compete.

"I was always involved but couldn't compete," Mackel said. "It was so heartbreaking to have to constantly pull myself out of meets because of my injuries. I never had the chance to get better. The only thing that kept me going was knowing there was going to be another day."

That day is coming.

Six years after first placing hands on a pole, Mackel prepares for the most monumental meet of his vaulting career.

Competition opens 5:45 p.m. Wednesday at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships in Sacramento, Calif. Finals begin Friday at 5:30 p.m.

Mackel reached the pinnacle of his sport when he cleared a career-best 18 feet, 1 inch, at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships last month to win the event and qualify for the NCAA championships.

The jump makes Mackel the first Lobo to compete at the NCAA outdoor meet since 1991 and the third to qualify for nationals in the event.

Mackel, a former walk-on, said he never expected to be where he is today.

"I didn't even try the sport until the end of my junior year in high school," said Mackel, a graduate of Sandia High School. "One day I saw a friend doing it, asked the coach if I could try, and he let me. I've loved it ever since, but at that point, I wasn't even thinking about coming this far."

The UNM Web site GoLobos.com describes Mackel as "a real rags-to-riches story who has gone from marginal walk-on to one of the top pole vault threats in the country over the past three years."

Since 2002, Mackel has improved his personal record by more than 6 feet. Injuries aside, Mackel attributes the difference to hard work and persistence.

"I think about pole vault at least six to eight hours a day," he said. "I normally practice for four hours, and then I'll do video sessions where I just study the sport."

At times, Mackel admits pole vault overwhelms him. That is when the heavy-metal music lover turns to his drums.

"If I'm worn out, getting mentally tired, or I've had a bad day of practice, I'll go beat on the skins," Mackel said. "Drums usually take my mind off of things."

To keep his mind focused, Mackel, a black belt, resorts to his tae kwon do training.

"Through tae kwon do, I maintained the ability to mentally put myself in a good place, block out the crowd, the wind, anything," he said. "It taught me to focus."

Teammates describe Mackel as possessed by his sport.

"He's my friend outside of track, but (Mackel's) just something else when he has a pole in his hands," javelin thrower Jessica McIntyre said. "He's in his own world."

"There isn't any specific mind-set that I put myself in," Mackel said. "I just force myself to be confident with what I have worked for in practice and what I know I can do."

Mackel found his confidence during one particular practice when his coach put the bar at 19 feet without telling him.

He cleared it.

"I knew it was high but didn't pay attention to how high," Mackel said. "I grabbed a big pole, gripped it and ripped it."

Mackel says his jump that day solidified in his mind that he could do almost anything, including the Olympics.

He has qualified for the U.S. National meet in Indianapolis and awaits a confirmation invitation later this month. If invited, Mackel calls it his next step to the 2008 Olympics.

"Every meet is just another step to take, another goal to reach, another bar to clear," he said.

The NCAA championship meet is no different.

Head track and field coach Matt Henry says Mackel is capable of winning the national title.

"He is definitely going to be a medal winner," Henry said. "But if everything goes right, he will be the NCAA champion."

Mackel says he approaches this week's meet like any other - another chance to compete at a high level.

"I'm trying not to get nervous about it," he said." I just have to remind myself what all of this is for. I know my potential, and I know I can compete against elite guys."

That he has made it this far is a testament to his determination.

"It's nice to see myself having progressed to this level," Mackel said. "And now, for my last collegiate meet, I'm going to go out at a national level. I'm going to go out big."

Second Lobo qualifies: Joining Mackel at the NCAAs is junior pole vaulter Robert Caldwell. Caldwell is an All-American after placing eighth at the Indoor Track and Field Championships this year. With a jump of 17 feet, 5 inches, at the NCAA Outdoor Midwest Regional Meet, Caldwell placed seventh, barely missing the automatic qualifying mark. He received an at-large bid to the national championship as the No. 22 seed.