Elite vaulters rub off on area athletes
CHAMPAIGN — Four area pole vault athletes have not quite put down their poles for the summer.
Recent grads Alyssa Donner of Princeton and James Thompson of Hall, along with Bureau Valley product Lauren Gunawan and Laura Fredenhagen, a Princeton High School sophomore to be, attended the annual Gill Athletics Factory Vault in Champaign.
They not only got to vault, but got to rub shoulders with some of the elite competitors in the country, like Derek Miles, the 2008 US Olympic Trials champion who placed fourth in the 2008 Beijing Games and 2004 Silver medalist Toby Stevenson.
Miles led all elite vaulters at 18 feet, 8 1/2. Becky Holiday won the women’s competition at 14-5.
The experience with the Olympians must have rubbed off on the local vaulters. Both Fredenhagen and Thompson cleared personal bests in the open exhibition, Fredenhagen by 13 inches with a vault of 10 feet and Thompson by 5 1/2 inches with a vault of 13-11 1/2.
“I was kind of in shock when I made 10 feet, but after the shock wore off I was pretty excited,” Fredenhagen said.
The PHS vaulter admitted to being nervous at first with all the great vaulters around, but “after I made a couple of heights, I got over my nerves and I realized that the meet was just for fun. It also helped that Alyssa was there, because she was encouraging, and it helped to have a friend to vault with.”
Donner, the reigning IHSA 1A state champion, led all the women by clearing 10-11 7/8. Thompson, who will join Donner on the Eastern Illinois University track team next season, was 17th for the men.
Gunawan, a member of the St. Ambrose University track team, went 8-6 1/2.
The Olympians were available after the elite vault to meet kids, give autographs, take pictures and answer questions.
“I thought it was pretty cool to meet all the pros,” Fredenhagen said. “Some of the pros would ask me how I did or what my ‘PR’ was. They were friendly and open to questions. I really had an awesome time doing this, and I’m definitely doing this again next year.”
“All the Olympians were friendly. They’d sit and talk to you,” said Dale Donner, Alyssa’s dad and Bureau Valley High School girls’ track coach. “It’s a great atmosphere. They had two pits going. They had three guys going for 19 feet and it’s impressive to look up at that high.”
The Donners and Fredenhagen also attended a clinic the day before.
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