Scott Roth gears up for China

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/st ... 9961c.html

Pole vaulter Scott Roth and distance runner Natasha LaBeaud have qualified for junior worlds.
By John Schumacher -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 12:01 am PDT Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Story appeared in Sports section, Page C2

For Scott Roth and Natasha LaBeaud, this should be a summer worth savoring.
Roth, the pole vault champion out of Granite Bay High School, and LaBeaud, the distance star a year removed from Folsom High, have earned spots on the U.S. team for the IAAF World Junior Championships on Aug. 15-20 in Beijing.

After winning three consecutive CIF pole vault titles, Roth won his event at the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Championships last month with a 17-foot, 3/4-inch clearance. LaBeaud won the women's 5,000 meters in 17 minutes, 12.63 seconds at the same meet in Indianapolis to claim her ticket to Beijing.

Consider both ecstatic to be competing in such a big meet, and in the city hosting the 2008 Olympics.
"It means a lot," said Roth, who finished second at the IAAF World Youth Championships last year in Marrakesh, Morocco.

"I've heard junior worlds is even better. So I'm really excited. These are the opportunities of a lifetime. … When I knew I was going to get the opportunity to travel, I was very, very excited."

LaBeaud, who is preparing for her sophomore year at Georgetown in Washington, D.C., sounded enthused about her first international competition.

"It's quite an opportunity; it really hasn't sunk in yet," she said. "I'm thrilled with the opportunity to go experience something different."

Both also will have a chance to compete in The Road to Eugene '08, a high-performance meet Aug. 8 at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field, the site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

"I've already competed once in Eugene; it's definitely a really great place to have a track meet," Roth said. "Competing in Beijing is going to be awesome. I'll get to see it in 2008 (during the Olympics) and be able to say I was there."

Roth, who will attend Washington, said he would like to improve upon his personal best of 17-5 in Beijing.

"I've had so many meets jumping at the end where I'm way over (the bar), but I hit it because I'm kind of sloppy on top," he said. "I know I have the potential to PR by six inches if everything is clean."

As for 2008, Roth doesn't want to get too far ahead of himself.

"One of the goals I have, which should be pretty attainable, is to make the 2008 Trials," he said. "Making the Olympic team in 2008 might be a stretch for me. I don't like setting goals that are too hard to reach."

LaBeaud struggled through her freshman year at Georgetown, suffering a stress fracture in her right leg early in the cross country season. She failed to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships here last month after finishing 13th in the East Regional in 16:41.16, but then won in Indianapolis.

"I definitely wanted to make it to nationals (NCAAs)," she said. "It was definitely in the back of my mind, and I wasn't that far off.

"My coach (Ron Helmer) has always been saying he really wanted me to qualify for China because he knows better things are coming."

LaBeaud said she's excited about the Hoyas' cross country prospects. As for 2008, she's also hoping to compete in the Olympic Trials.

"It would definitely be a goal for me," she said.