Sean Gil upset by pole vault results at national meet (PA)

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07224/808250-139.stm

SUNDAY NORTH: NA grad Gil upset by pole vault results at national meet

Sunday, August 12, 2007

By Rich Emert, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Here is the problem Sean Gil has faced this summer ... heck, the past three summers.

Gil is a North Allegheny High School graduate and an outstanding pole vaulter. But there just are not a lot of competitions for vaulters when daylight extends past 8 p.m.

That means when Gil does find a competition with some, well, competition, he isn't as prepared as he might be.

Case in point: Gil took part in the USA Track and Field Junior Olympics for the fourth consecutive year this summer. At the Three Rivers Association championships at Slippery Rock University on June 23-24, Gil won the young men's division pole vault with a height of 15 feet, 53/4 inches. The second-place finisher's best vault was 14-6.

Then in the Region 2 meet in Pomona, N.J., he cleared 14-11. That was 6 inches higher than the second-place vault. Competition? There wasn't much.

Remember, Gil holds the North Allegheny record with a vault of 16-1 and cleared 16 feet at the PIAA Class AAA championships at the end of May to place second.

The USATF National Championship meet at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., was a different situation. There were plenty of good pole vaulters there.

Gil cleared 15-3 on his first attempt and that was it. He finished eighth with Casey Roche taking the title with a height of 17-23/4.

"It was disappointing because I expected to do better," Gil said. "There was a pretty good tailwind and I should have gone to a shorter pole, but I didn't. I should have made the adjustment, but I didn't."

There are a lot of guys who would be overjoyed with placing eighth in the country. Gil understands that; he just expected more from himself.

"You're always looking to challenge yourself," he said. "This is the fourth year I've done the Junior Olympics ... I just expected to do better."

The trip west wasn't a total loss. Gil's family rolled the competition into a California vacation and he got to spend some time relaxing on the beach and surfing in the Pacific Ocean.

Now he's back at home, working out and working before his first day of classes at Harvard University on Sept. 8. He plans to compete for the Harvard track squad, so finding competition from here on out shouldn't be difficult.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Gil, who was the WPIAL Class AAA pole vault champion this year with a height of 15-3.

He said he plans to major in either engineering or economics at Harvard.

[VTechVaulter]

"It was disappointing because I expected to do better," Gil said. "There was a pretty good tailwind and I should have gone to a shorter pole, but I didn't. I should have made the adjustment, but I didn't."

am i missing something?!?!?!

[master]

"It was disappointing because I expected to do better," Gil said. "There was a pretty good tailwind and I should have gone to a shorter pole, but I didn't. I should have made the adjustment, but I didn't."

am i missing something?!?!?!

I had the same question? With a good tailwind, why would you move to a shorter pole? (I trust that is what you meant VTechVaulter.)

- master

[rainbowgirl28]

Good chance the reporter flubbed the details.

[zmev]

I love how they talk about no competition for Sean, but they fail to mention that at the AAA WPIAL championships there were 2 other vaulters besides Gil that also cleared 15'3''. I do agree that he didn't get enough competition in those summer meets though.