After Tribulations at Trials, Curran Gets Jump on Foes With 17-6 Vault

Even though the flame of the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul has not yet been lit, Anthony Curran is already contemplating competing in the 1992 Games.

Curran, a 29-year-old pole vaulter, just missed the 1988 Olympic Trials after competing in the 1980 and 1984 trials.

His first step on the road to the ’92 Games in Barcelona, Spain, is the open summer season, which included the all-comer’s meet Saturday at Santa Monica City College.

“That’s right in the ballpark,” Curran said after winning the competition with a vault of 17 feet, 6 inches. “I feel I’m in the best shape I’ve been in, and when I’m 33, I hope to stay there.”

The vault field had trouble at 17-6, but Curran eventually cleared the height.

“It was too low to go out at that height,” said Curran, a 1978 Crespi High graduate who now coaches at UCLA. “I had to prove to myself I could go 17-6.”

Curran has vaulted as high as 18-2 1/2, but couldn’t clear 18-3 before the Seoul Games trials earlier this summer. He had four chances to clear the height--the qualifying standard--during the spring, but could only jump 18-1.

Coming off a broken collarbone and a car accident last year, Curran said he could not regularly compete during the indoor season. That slowed him, but missing the ’88 Trials has not dampened his enthusiasm.

All through the lower heights, Curran coached the novice and older competitors, swapping stories, critiques and techniques.

“It keeps me in touch with the sport,” Curran said. “As you get older, you tend to lose a little bit of desire.”

And maybe a little bit of the spring in your step. But Curran, who trained with another Valley vaulter who won’t be going to Seoul, Mike Tully, knows training starts now for Barcelona, so he uses open meets and invitationals as a springboard.

The next month, in fact, will probably go a long way in determining Curran’s future.

“I’d like to have a great indoor season, that’s my first goal,” he said.

But the 1982 Pac-10 champion is not getting any younger.

“I’m gonna keep up with the sport,” he said. “I’ll know about the newest poles and techniques, so when ’92 rolls around. . . . “

Other Valley competitors in the all-comer’s meet included El Camino Real High’s Alexandria Guidi, who won the novice girls’ 1,500 meters with a time of 5:08.1. Teammate Christy Stubbs was second in 5:39.92.

Canyon’s Alison Driggs was second in the novice girls’ shotput with a toss of 25-2.