Kellen Campbell Article (AR)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://nwanews.com/story.php?paper=nwat ... ryid=29755

Local pole vaulter targets regional title in Joplin, Mo.
BY TERRY J. WOOD Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Saturday, July 2, 2005
Email this story | Printer-friendly version

This time last year, pole vaulting wasn’t even on Kellen Campbell’s radar screen, but after nearly a year of training, the 14-year-old Fayetteville native is ready to compete for a American Athletic Union regional title in his age division in Joplin, Mo.

Campbell, who will enter the ninth grade at Woodland Junior High in August, cleared 9-3 two weeks ago to win the AAU state championship in Little Rock and earn the right to represent the state in the regional event today.

Campbell, the son of Kevin and Ginger Campbell, only began training for the event last August when his dad suggested the idea. "Kellen was excited about the idea so we signed him up to attend one of Earl Bell’s clinics in Jonesboro," Kevin Campbell said.

Bell, a three-time Olympian who won the bronze medal in the 1984 games, is renowned as one of the top pole vault coaches in the nation. "The clinic only made Kellen more excited about the event," Campbell said. "He really fell in love with it."

Kevin Campbell said he pole vaulted in junior high, but said that Kellen’s athletic ability comes from his mom’s side of the family. "Ginger almost made the Olympics as a basketball player in 1976," the elder Campbell said. "She was the last player cut from the Olympic trials when she couldn’t practice because of severe blisters on her feet."

Kellen advanced enough in the fall and winter to become a factor for Woodland’s track squad as an eighth grader. Campbell was the Northwest Arkansas Conference champion, but came in second at the junior high regional championships.

Campbell has won all three AAU championships he has competed for this summer.

The young man, who has already gone through three poles in less than a year, regularly clears 10 feet in practice, but has yet to do so in a competition.

His father credited much of Campbell’s recent advancement to working with former Arkansas Razorback pole vaulter Gordon Sasser, who still competes on the professional circuit. "Kellen’s got a good bit of natural ability," Sasser said recently. "He’s got quite a bit of growing left at his age. You really don’t know how a young man is going to develop, but he’s very bright and coachable. He just has to keep working and improving."

The top four competitors in today’s competition advance to the national championship in New Orleans.