Jillian Schwartz ‘doing the athlete thing’ for Israel
Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:04 pm
http://lakeforest.suntimes.com/sports/1 ... cs-in.html
Lake Forest’s Schwartz ‘doing the athlete thing’ for Israel at Summer Olympics in London
By Bill mclean Contributor April 3, 2012 11:16PM
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Lake Forest's Jillian Schwartz, who will represent Israel in the 2012 Summer Olympics, competes at last year's World Championships.
Updated: April 7, 2012 1:19PM
Jillian Schwartz made it sound so simple.
The 1997 Lake Forest High School graduate resides in Jonesboro, Ark., these days.
“My life pretty much is watching movies, reading books and doing the athlete thing,” the 32-year-old Schwartz said.
Millions watch movies and read books.
But not too many do what Schwartz does when she’s not sitting in a theater or turning a page.
The world’s best pole vaulters will convene in London this summer to vie for gold, silver and bronze prizes. They’ll be called Olympians.
Schwartz will be one of them.
Eight years ago she represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in Greece.
She will soar for Team Israel this summer.
“The Israel coaches approached me about competing for their country in 2009,” said Schwartz, a dual citizen who cleared a career-best 15-feet-8 at a meet in Arkansas in ’08.
“I was interested and excited. Israel is an amazing country, a beautiful country. The people there are great, super nice. I’m really looking forward to competing in London. The important thing now is to stay healthy. I’ll also be working on a few technical things.”
The Jillian Schwartz Story starts with a zero. That’s exactly how many times she pole vaulted at LFHS. Girls didn’t begin vaulting at Illinois high schools until 2001, four years after Schwartz finished sixth on vault at the state gymnastics meet her senior year. She took fifth in the event as a junior at State.
Schwartz executed her very first track and field vault as a freshman at Duke.
“All I remember about that was that it was outdoors, definitely outdoors,” Schwartz said. “I had done some pole-vault drills to prepare, so I was ready. I wasn’t scared.”
Schwartz also remembers when she and Sarah Spain, another former LFHS standout athlete, wanted to try pole vaulting in high school.
“Nobody would let us try it because of a liability issue,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz was sponsored by Nike after her Duke years and competed all over the world. She met her current vault coach, former men’s world-record holder Earl Bell, at an Earl Bell camp in Arkansas when she was a senior at Duke.
Three years after her final college track meet Schwartz wore the red, white and blue at the 2004 Games in Athens. A stress fracture in her right foot – her launching foot – kept her out of medal contention.
She was the United States’ No. 4 women’s pole vaulter at the U.S. Olympic Trials in ’08. Only the top three got to compete in Beijing.
Schwartz placed 11th with a 14-7 height in February at the World Indoor Championships in Turkey.
“I’ve seen her compete and she’s so fluid, makes pole-vaulting look so easy,” said North Central College freshman trackster Ofelia Carmichael (LFHS, ’11). “I think it’s great she comes back to Lake Forest at times and trains at the school’s track.
“I’m so proud of someone from little Lake Forest doing what Jillian is doing.”
Carmichael’s younger sister, Scouts senior Carolina Carmichael, finished runner-up in the pole vault (12-3) at last spring’s Class 3A state track and field state meet in Charleston.
Schwartz occasionally asks Carolina Carmichael for updates about the team’s vaulters. LF junior Carly Schmidt took fifth in the pole vault (11-9) at State last spring.
“Jillian is so supportive,” said Carolina Carmichael. “And what she has done as an athlete is amazing for somebody who didn’t vault until she got to college.
“Crazy,” she added. “It’s crazy how well she is doing.”
What will Robin Straus do in early August, when the women’s pole vault segment will be staged at the Summer Olympics in London?
LF’s gymnastics coach will be glued to a TV, as Schwartz sprints, plants and soars.
“She was all power and a super hard worker as a gymnast,” recalled Straus. “The Jillian Schwartz years were some great years for our program. I will always remember how driven she was, how motivated she was.
“She was,” Straus added, “a combination of hard work, intelligence, sweetness and being all about the team. What I love is that she continues to be a fabulous role model for so many of our athletes at Lake Forest.”
Lake Forest’s Schwartz ‘doing the athlete thing’ for Israel at Summer Olympics in London
By Bill mclean Contributor April 3, 2012 11:16PM
Reprints
2
Lake Forest's Jillian Schwartz, who will represent Israel in the 2012 Summer Olympics, competes at last year's World Championships.
Updated: April 7, 2012 1:19PM
Jillian Schwartz made it sound so simple.
The 1997 Lake Forest High School graduate resides in Jonesboro, Ark., these days.
“My life pretty much is watching movies, reading books and doing the athlete thing,” the 32-year-old Schwartz said.
Millions watch movies and read books.
But not too many do what Schwartz does when she’s not sitting in a theater or turning a page.
The world’s best pole vaulters will convene in London this summer to vie for gold, silver and bronze prizes. They’ll be called Olympians.
Schwartz will be one of them.
Eight years ago she represented the United States at the Summer Olympics in Greece.
She will soar for Team Israel this summer.
“The Israel coaches approached me about competing for their country in 2009,” said Schwartz, a dual citizen who cleared a career-best 15-feet-8 at a meet in Arkansas in ’08.
“I was interested and excited. Israel is an amazing country, a beautiful country. The people there are great, super nice. I’m really looking forward to competing in London. The important thing now is to stay healthy. I’ll also be working on a few technical things.”
The Jillian Schwartz Story starts with a zero. That’s exactly how many times she pole vaulted at LFHS. Girls didn’t begin vaulting at Illinois high schools until 2001, four years after Schwartz finished sixth on vault at the state gymnastics meet her senior year. She took fifth in the event as a junior at State.
Schwartz executed her very first track and field vault as a freshman at Duke.
“All I remember about that was that it was outdoors, definitely outdoors,” Schwartz said. “I had done some pole-vault drills to prepare, so I was ready. I wasn’t scared.”
Schwartz also remembers when she and Sarah Spain, another former LFHS standout athlete, wanted to try pole vaulting in high school.
“Nobody would let us try it because of a liability issue,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz was sponsored by Nike after her Duke years and competed all over the world. She met her current vault coach, former men’s world-record holder Earl Bell, at an Earl Bell camp in Arkansas when she was a senior at Duke.
Three years after her final college track meet Schwartz wore the red, white and blue at the 2004 Games in Athens. A stress fracture in her right foot – her launching foot – kept her out of medal contention.
She was the United States’ No. 4 women’s pole vaulter at the U.S. Olympic Trials in ’08. Only the top three got to compete in Beijing.
Schwartz placed 11th with a 14-7 height in February at the World Indoor Championships in Turkey.
“I’ve seen her compete and she’s so fluid, makes pole-vaulting look so easy,” said North Central College freshman trackster Ofelia Carmichael (LFHS, ’11). “I think it’s great she comes back to Lake Forest at times and trains at the school’s track.
“I’m so proud of someone from little Lake Forest doing what Jillian is doing.”
Carmichael’s younger sister, Scouts senior Carolina Carmichael, finished runner-up in the pole vault (12-3) at last spring’s Class 3A state track and field state meet in Charleston.
Schwartz occasionally asks Carolina Carmichael for updates about the team’s vaulters. LF junior Carly Schmidt took fifth in the pole vault (11-9) at State last spring.
“Jillian is so supportive,” said Carolina Carmichael. “And what she has done as an athlete is amazing for somebody who didn’t vault until she got to college.
“Crazy,” she added. “It’s crazy how well she is doing.”
What will Robin Straus do in early August, when the women’s pole vault segment will be staged at the Summer Olympics in London?
LF’s gymnastics coach will be glued to a TV, as Schwartz sprints, plants and soars.
“She was all power and a super hard worker as a gymnast,” recalled Straus. “The Jillian Schwartz years were some great years for our program. I will always remember how driven she was, how motivated she was.
“She was,” Straus added, “a combination of hard work, intelligence, sweetness and being all about the team. What I love is that she continues to be a fabulous role model for so many of our athletes at Lake Forest.”