dave roberts - mike tully - pole vault hall of fame

[dj]

congrats to david and mike

this is what dave roberts had to say... and was read at the ceremony.. thought i would share it with you....

[quote] Dave Roberts……….2006 pole vault summit

I want to thank the committee for selecting me to the National Pole Vault Hall of Fame. It is a great honor to be so recognized at this year’s Summit for something I did so long ago. It’s been thirty years for me. It may seem a heresy to youâ€â€

[rainbowgirl28]

Thanks for posting that!


Bob Fraley was also inducted into the hall of fame.

[dj]

your welcome becca..

i thought it was worth sharing...

congrats to bob fraley.. sorry i missed all of that..

dave and i were fishing buddies. we had a rule to never talk pole vault while fishing but i got to here some occasionally "gems" on life..

awesome human being..

dj

[ladyvolspvcoach]

Congrats to all those inducted in to the Hall of Fame!! Dj, thanks for the post! That is absolutely one of the best descriptions of the experience of the vault that I have ever read and lived!!

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_3459668

Tully honored by Pole Vault Hall
By Kirby Lee, Special to the Press-Telegram

Mike Tully, a Millikan High graduate who won the 1984 Olympic silver medal in the pole vault, has been selected to the USA Track & Field Pole Vault Hall of Fame. Tully, 49, was honored at a ceremony to kick off the Pole Vault Summit in Reno last Thursday night. The former world and American record holder was among three inductees with 1976 bronze medallist Bob Edwards and Summit meet director and founder Bob Fraley.
During his acceptance speech, Tully reflected on his 1984 season in which he raised the American record three times in 1984 by a total of two inches from 18-11 to 19-1.

The breakthrough year came after Tully took 18 months off from vaulting after the 1980 U.S. boycott of the Moscow Olympics.

"It was basically like taking three years off during an athlete's best years," Tully said. "It took 18 months to get back to the level I was. Who knows what I could have done if I hadn't taken the time off?"

Tully quickly vaulted into the world rankings after taking up the highly technical event in his junior year at Millikan.

Earl Bell, the 1984 Olympics bronze medallist who introduced Tully during the Hall of Fame ceremony called his former Pacific Coast Track Club teammate the most naturally gifted vaulter he has seen.

In his second year of vaulting, Tully set the area's still-standing all-time high school record of 16-8 during his senior year in 1974.

Tully, the 1978 NCAA champion at UCLA, was ranked among the top five in the U.S. by Track & Field News magazine all but one season from 1975 through 1988.

The only exception was the season that he took off from vaulting in 1981.

"There are so many people who never discover their talents, I was just lucky to find something that I was good at," Tully said.

Tully has lent his expertise at Los Alamitos High where his brother and former vaulter Steve Tully coaches. Tully worked with Dustin DeLeo during the 2004 season to help him break a 27-year old school record and post the area's best mark since 1996 in his first season of vaulting.