Skipper wins Pac-10s with 5.50

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Skipper jumps on vindication
After getting a no-height in last year's competition, he was on a mission

GARY HOROWITZ
Statesman Journal
May 14, 2006

EUGENE -- A year ago at the Pacific-10 Conference Track and Field Championships, Oregon junior Tommy Skipper no-heighted in the pole vault.

He made sure there would be no repeat of that disappointment.

Skipper opened at 17-0 3/4 on a sun-baked Saturday at Hayward Field, about 4 inches lower than his opening height at Pac-10s last season.

He cleared the height easily and went on to win his second conference title with a best effort of 18-0 1/2 before a crowd of 5,791. UCLA's Mike Landers (17-8 1/2) was second.

"My only reason for coming in a little earlier was to take some pressure of the coaches," said Skipper, who joined freshman Rachel Yerkovich (wo-men's javelin) as individual champions for the Ducks.

"I didn't want 'em to think I was going to no-height. And I didn't want to no-height again myself."

Skipper had knee surgery at the beginning of the 2005 outdoor season and never regained his form, failing to reach the NCAA championships.

It's been a different story in 2006. Skipper won the indoor championship in March and set a Pac-10 outdoor record with a jump of 19-0 in the first outdoor meet of the season, March 18 at the Oregon Preview.

Skipper said clearing an opening height "was huge."

A hamstring injury had prevented Skipper from competing since the Pepsi Invitational on April 8, but there appeared to be little rust. After making his opening height, Skipper passed at 17-4 1/2, cleared 17-8 1/2 and 18-0 1/2 on his first attempt, and missed on three tries at 19-0 1/4.

"I felt technically my jumps were better than I have ever jumped before," said Skipper, the 2004 outdoor champion.

Skipper began his day in the javelin -- he placed 11th (197-3) -- and waited more than an hour to take take his attempt in the pole vault.

Nerves never entered into the equation.

"Normally I'm very focused and concentrating on my event," Skipper said. "But it was really hard to focus. I wanted to look around and see how everybody was doing."

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Ducks hope to ride first-day momentum
Tommy Skipper and Galen Rupp deliver, but UO will need things to go its way today for a repeat
Sunday, May 14, 2006
KEN GOE
EUGENE -- Oregon's big guns came through and Arizona's incomparable Robert Cheseret survived a fall in the 1,500 meters and won the 10,000, but the USC men might be too tough for anybody to catch today when the Pacific-10 Conference track and field meet concludes at Hayward Field.

Oregon's Tommy Skipper delighted a crowd of 5,791 on a warm, sunny Saturday by comfortably winning the pole vault Saturday, and reinvigorated teammate Galen Rupp ran a strong second in the 10,000.

The Ducks couldn't have asked for more from them, especially with Skipper returning to action after missing more than a month with a strained hamstring and Rupp less than two weeks removed from a diagnosis of hypothyroidism.

Skipper, who no-heighted at last year's conference meet, came into the competition earlier than normal for him, at 17-03/4. He won at 18-01/2.

"The only reason I came in early was to take some pressure off the coaches," he said. "I wanted to secure some points for them early, try to win the meet and then get a PR."

Skipper failed on three attempts at 19-01/4, which would have been his personal record. But nobody was complaining.

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Skipper gives a bar-raising performance
The Oregon junior wins the pole vault before failing in three tries at a personal best
Sunday, May 14, 2006
DOUG BINDER
EUGENE -- There was never any question about Tommy Skipper being the best pole vaulter in the Pacific-10 Conference.

But after the embarrassment of not clearing a height at the Pac-10 track and field championships last year and contributing only a seventh-place finish in the javelin to Oregon's team championship, Skipper felt some obligation to not only satisfy, but entertain, the Hayward Field crowd on Saturday.

Working on a tender hamstring that has limited his number of competitions this spring and using a shorter, seven-stride approach, Skipper made three soaring clearances, the highest at 18 feet, a half inch, to win the pole vault.

Then, he looked over to his event coach, Dan Steele, and asked to go higher. Steele granted his request to go for a personal best, but just by a quarter inch. Skipper had a near miss on his first attempt at that height, 19-1/4, and didn't clear it in three tries.

But Skipper actually wanted to raise the bar higher, to take a stab at the NCAA record of 19-71/2, Steele said.

"He was feeling pretty good," Steele said. "But he wasn't even using a full approach."

Skipper's victory was a welcome sight to his teammates.

"When he's that high in the air, that gets me excited," Oregon hurdler Eric Mitchum said. "He was hurt after (the 2005 Pac-10 meet). Now he's back stronger than ever."

Skipper entered the javelin as well, but with only one throwing practice this week, he wasn't able to score, finishing 11th.

That really didn't matter. Winning the pole vault was Skipper's mission, for the team and for himself.

It may give the Ducks the emotional shot in the arm they need to successfully defend the men's team title today.

"He's a firestarter," Steele said of Skipper. "He can spark an entire team to catch fire."

On Saturday, Skipper felt up to the task.

"My only reason to come in early was to take some pressure off the coaches," Skipper said. "The hamstring felt great."

Skipper started the competition at 17-3/4, a height that six vaulters in the field of 23 cleared.

"Get some points, win the meet, set a PR," Skipper said. "It was kind of a three-step process."

Skipper said he felt some obligation to the Hayward Field crowd to move the bar up and take advantage of the moment. The last time he competed, tantalizing the crowd by clearing 19 feet in a one-and-done performance on March 18, he left some wanting more.

"After I quit at 19, I heard that it wasn't nice of me to stop jumping," Skipper joked.

Skipper, a junior, can now start to focus on regaining the NCAA title that he won as a freshman.

"We were going with a seven-step (approach) to protect him a little bit," Steele said. "That he almost made (19-1/4) on seven steps is pretty incredible."

If 20 feet is in Skipper's near future this summer, Steele wouldn't speculate. But if his hamstring continues to feel good, the sky is the limit.

"He should be jumping at high bars," Steele said. "He's feeling pretty good."