Neuenswander improving again in junior year

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Neuenswander improving again in junior year
By ARI SHIFRON | IDS
POSTED AT 12:23 AM ON FEB. 18, 2009

Junior pole vaulter Vera Neuenswander attempts an attempt during the Indiana Invitational Jan. 17 at Gladstein Fieldhouse. Neuenswander won the event with a height of 13 feet, 5.25 inches.



The life of a college athlete has turns for better and for worse.

This is the case for junior pole vaulter Vera Neuenswander, who is having a strong season after struggling somewhat last year, whose troubles came after a career season her freshman year.

Born in Jefferson City, Mo., Neuenswander started in gymnastics, following in the footsteps of her father, who was a Big Ten gymnast at Michigan. She then switched to pole vault after her brother was a track athlete in high school.

But Neuenswander had another reason for switching.

“I wanted to try track and field in middle school when we were offered it as a sport,” she said. “Also, pole vault is a lot like gymnastics, so I tried it out and had a lot of success with it.”

Fast-forward to her senior year of high school. Neuenswander was lured to IU by assistant coach and pole vault coach Jake Wiseman.

Wiseman said he had specific reasons for recruiting her to IU.

“She was a three-time state champion and a good vaulter out of high school,” he said. “She had been successful at a high level before, and that was one of the things we were really interested in.”

Neuenswander said she picked IU over other Big Ten schools for several reasons.

“I liked the idea of IU being in a smaller town,” she said. “When I came here it was just beautiful, and I have two of the best coaches in the country here.”

After coming to Bloomington, she had instant success winning the Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year Award as well as setting an IU record for the best vault in the program’s history.

Things then became difficult her sophomore year as Neuenswander struggled with inconsistency and a neck injury and had to watch as her all-time Hoosier record was broken by sophomore Stephanie Chin.

IU coach Ron Helmer said rough patches are a normal part of sports, and how one responds to them defines how good he or she is.

“Everyone has them and will revert back to a lesser performance at some point,” he said. “Whether someone will truly be a great athlete pretty much depends on dealing with it.”

Now in her junior year, Neuenswander has proved she is that “great athlete” by getting back on top of her game. She reset the all-time IU record on Jan. 23 at the Gladstein Invitational and has already cleared the automatic qualifying mark for the Indoor Track and Field Championships. She has also won the pole vault in two of the first six meets this season and finished in the top three in the others.

Neuenswander said she came out with a new attitude this year and it has paid off.

“I was not particularly happy with my sophomore performance, so I refocused,” she said. “I worked really hard this summer and came out with a new mindset and decided this year was going to be about competing hard, and it paid off.”