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Lindenwood chose not to renew coach Lane Lohr's contract. Nobody has any idea why.

My teammates are looking for a new home!! I will post here as I talk to them and get permission.

Lindenwood has promised to give a full release to anyone who wants to transfer.

Here's the first one:

Name: Stuart McIntosh
PR: 5.06 (2005), 2006 best: 5.00
Stu has good grades, I think he is a biology major (something science).
Lindenwood is the only school he has attended.
He has been in school 3 years and competed 3 years.
He shouldn't have any eligibility problems, aside from conferences with one year transfer rules.
He's a big, strong, fast vaulter with a decent amount of potential.

If you are interested, shoot me a PM or email me and I will have him contact you so you can request a release.

More to come.

For you school officials looking for a coach in that part of the country, Lane's one of the few out there that has it all figured out about pole vaulting high for a long time.

That sucks that your school did that......good luck to all of you finding a place to go.

Name: Erin Shafer
PR: 12-6 (2002)
2006 best: 12-0

Erin is from Bremerton, WA. She went to Clackamas CC for 3 years (competed her first year and third year) and trained under Rick Baggett. She went to Lindenwood for one year and competed, so she has completed 4 years of school and competed 3.


I am not sure if she would have eligibility in the NCAA. I don't know if you can go 2 year -> 4 year -> 4 year without sitting out. But she definitely has a year in the NAIA and is currently looking at some west coast NAIA schools.

She wants to go to physical therapy school. At Lindenwood she was an athletic training major, but she would probably do an exercise science type thing given the chance (Lindenwood didn't offer it).

Graduated already are me, Graham Danziger, Mark Aschen, and Cheyenne Gentry is graduating in December.

is this an issue of not having a coach for these athletes? seems like it would be rough transferring so close to graduation.

Wow, that's a real shame. Lindenwood is a dominate NAIA player, not just in pole vault, but in all of their track program. I would caution students to not make too brash of a decision in the wake of the shock of losing their coach. Have they talked to the head coach and heard him out about what he has planned?

If they are really committed to making a change, I'd recommend that they consider Point Loma Nazarene University. It's a NAIA school, too, and has a good track program. You couldn't find a prettier campus (right on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean), high academics (particularily strong Biology programs and sports medicine degrees) and in the perfect climate zone of San Diego. They regularily compete against a full compliment of So Cal schools (UCLA, USC, Azusa Pacific, UCSD and others) and a lot of east coast schools come out for spring break competitions (US Naval Academy, Princeton, Vermont, etc). The head coach has been there a long time (Jerry Arvin) and the current PV coach is Shane Peterson (former All-American Decathlete). Check out their web-site.

apparently national championships don't count for anything anymore

I don't know what to say, Lane is a great person and a helluva coach, I wish he would think about relocating to Texas, he would sure be welcomed warmly down here.

PVDad2 wrote:Have they talked to the head coach and heard him out about what he has planned?

No one has talked to or met the new head coach. Word on the street is he is a friend of the school's president, and Lane got the boot so Spellmann could get his buddy in. Politics.

No one has really talked to Lane yet, as of this morning.

If they are really committed to making a change, I'd recommend that they consider Point Loma Nazarene University. It's a NAIA school, too, and has a good track program. You couldn't find a prettier campus (right on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean), high academics (particularily strong Biology programs and sports medicine degrees) and in the perfect climate zone of San Diego. They regularily compete against a full compliment of So Cal schools (UCLA, USC, Azusa Pacific, UCSD and others) and a lot of east coast schools come out for spring break competitions (US Naval Academy, Princeton, Vermont, etc). The head coach has been there a long time (Jerry Arvin) and the current PV coach is Shane Peterson (former All-American Decathlete). Check out their web-site.

I remember they had a good girl last year. I will definitely recommend them!

PVDad2 wrote:I would caution students to not make too brash of a decision in the wake of the shock of losing their coach.

Yeah, I am also telling them the same thing. Nobody knows yet what the situation will be next year.

But it is important to get the ball rolling ASAP. Few schools have money left, and it takes time to get transcripts evaluated, releases granted, etc, etc. Talking to other coaches doesn't mean they actually have to leave Lindenwood.

You have to remember that most of the pole vaulters were only there because of Lane. Lindenwood is a weak school in most areas, has strict rules, very average indoor facilities, and it's in the freakin midwest, a climate that all of us from the Pacific Northwest have not enjoyed too much. Take Lane out of the equation and there is little left there for most of the vaulters.

Name: Peggy Ovalle
PR: 11-6 (2005)
2006 best: 11-4

Peggy is from Guatemala. She has attended Lindenwood for 2 years and competed 2 years.

She has a boyfriend from Guatemala who is a long sprinter, and they are trying to stay together. He was at Lindenwood 1 year and competed 1 year.