Olhovsky vaults with the nation's best (Virginia Tech)

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http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/14183

Olhovsky vaults with the nation's best
by Ryan Trapp, sports reporter
Tuesday, September 15, 2009; 8:52 PM
"Well, he's finished second at the NCAA Championships twice, although it remains to be seen where he will ultimately wind up." said Dave Cianelli, director of track and field. "He has to be considered as one of the best athletes we've had at Tech."
Senior Yavgeniy Olhovsky has turned heads at the collegiate level his entire career as a Hokie. A native of Isreal, Olhovsky is a three-time All-American and has matched the record for the highest finish by a Hokie in the pole vault by finishing second in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

This summer, Olhovsky was given an even grander stage to showcase his talent when he earned the honor of representing Israel at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in August.

Olhovsky cleared 17 feet and 8.75 inches to finish 16th in Group A of the preliminaries, falling short of the 18-0.250 mark needed to qualify for the finals, but he rose to the occasion in competing in one of the biggest venues of his sport.

"It was my first time at the world competition," Olhovsky said. "It was the biggest competition I've participated in so I didn't do so well. Competing here, I expect myself to win, but there I was at the bottom of the list."

But it was a very impressive list Olhovsky found himself at the bottom of - competing against the likes of 2008 Olympic gold medalist Steven Hooker and the United States' Olympic representative Derek Miles.

"I plan to return to the Worlds in two years and hopefully do much better," Olhovsky said.

Tech's track staff fully expects this to happen. It's already seen Olhovsky improve from the 17-4.75 he jumped his senior year of high school to the indoor track school record of 18-0.25 he set in February.

"He already holds the school indoor record and certainly has the ability to be close to a 19-footer before he's done at Tech, a feat only accomplished by half a dozen or so men at the college level," Cianelli said.

Olhovsky was born in the Ukraine, but at a young age he and his family immigrated to Israel where he grew up. He hoped in coming to the U.S. that he would find a school with a strong vault program where he could continue to grow as an athlete.

Tech was that school.

"He e-mailed one of our coaches with interest," Cianelli said, "which is not unusual. We've had several international students in our program, although none from Israel. But that's really how it all got started."

Bob Phillips, the Hokie pole vault coach, used to vault for Tech in the late '70s and early '80s and set the school record in the indoor and outdoor vault while competing at Tech.

The 1980 All-American was a four-time NCAA national qualifier and also a member of the U.S. National Team that took on Great Britain in 1984 and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July of that year.

Phillips has been coaching the vault team at Tech for the past 23 years and has been pumping out successful athletes during his tenure, coaching vaulters to 20 conference championship titles - making Tech a very strong program nationally.

Phillips knew Tech had someone special when Olhovsky e-mailed him explaining his interest in the school.

"He isn't the biggest vaulter we've seen - he's only around 5'11" - but he is one of the fastest vaulters I've coached," Phillips said. "It's his best attribute as a vaulter."

Philips puts Olhovsky and Tech's other vaulters through four different workouts during training. They'll typically do gymnastic exercises, weight lifting and running in addition to the pole vault training he does with them.

But Olhovsky has more on his plate than just that. Back home, Olhovsky also trains under Israeli vault coach Bavel Kogan while he continues to strive towards his dream of becoming a world-class pole-vaulter.

"Back in Israel, they demand much more of us, and the training is harder," Olhovksy said. "Here we are considered student athletes; there we are considered professionals."

The discipline and maturity he has received with competing under those high expectations have translated to a great deal of success here in the U.S. and at Tech.

"He's a very dedicated young man and a very gifted student athlete," said Cianelli. "And it's shown as he's now probably one of the top two or three collegiate vaulters in the country."

As of now, Olhovsky wants to continue to develop so he can vault for his remaining three semesters at Tech and be competitive in the national arena. Coach Phillips has tremendous confidence that Olhovsky will be able to do just that.

"He has an excellent work ethic, on the track, in the weight room, in the class room," Phillips said. "If he keeps it up, I think he has a really good chance to represent Israel in London for the 2012 Olympics."