UC Irvine Notebook / Barbie Ludovise : Pole Vaulter Is Reaching New Heights

Erik Kenyon, a senior pole vaulter, came upon two basic truths after he transferred to UC Irvine from the University of Oregon two years ago:

--Unlike Eugene, track and field meets at Irvine rarely are rained out.

--Unlike Eugene, track and field meets at Irvine rarely--if ever--are sold out.

Eugene, known to many as Track City, U.S.A., is fabled for its die-hard track and field fans. The Register-Guard, a Eugene daily newspaper with a circulation of about 80,000, features track stories on the first page of its sports section almost every day, according to Register-Guard sports editor John Conrad.

“The first college meet I vaulted in was at Oregon with probably 10,000 people in the stands,” Kenyon said. “Track is everything up there.”

So why did Kenyon leave Eugene for Irvine, an area with a small but steadily growing track community?

For one thing, Kenyon, who walked on at Oregon after a so-so high school career, wasn’t much more than another face in the crowd at the time. His best vault coming into college was just 12-feet-6. Not a mark college coaches get excited about.

By his sophomore year, Kenyon, training under former Polish national Coach Andrzej Krzesinski, was vaulting 16-5. He was leaping as high as most of his teammates who were on scholarships, but Kenyon said he was told by his coaches that his chances of getting a scholarship were slim.

It was then that Kenyon decided he wanted to pursue a career in medicine. He heard California schools had more to offer in that discipline, so he looked around to transfer.

Kenyon called UC Irvine. Irvine Coach Vince O’Boyle cleared Kenyon’s transfer with Oregon, and Kenyon was on his way to Orange County.

Now in his second year at Irvine, Kenyon, a 6-3, 180-pound biology major, has become Irvine’s best vaulter. He leads the Big West Conference in the event.

After winning three of the four meets he’s vaulted in this season, Kenyon leaped a personal best 17-0 3/4 to win the event in a multi-team meet at Tucson two weeks ago. That mark is just three-quarters of an inch short of Irvine’s 12-year-old school record of 17-1 1/2 set in 1977 by Mike Sabatino.

Kenyon, who posted a victory last Saturday with a mark of 16-9 at the West Coast Relays at Fresno College, said he has set three goals for the rest of the season:

--He wants to meet the 17-6 1/4 qualifying mark to enable him to compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. outdoor championships, May 30 through June 3 at Provo, Utah.

--He wants to become an NCAA All-American in the pole vault, which he would by placing sixth or better at the NCAA championships.

--And he would like to jump 18 feet.

But Kenyon is more than just a talented pole vaulter. In high school, along with playing football and basketball, Kenyon triple jumped, hurdled, threw the javelin and ran on relay teams. His many talents have helped Irvine in times of need.

This Saturday, when Irvine plays host to Utah State and Cal State Hayward in a triangular meet starting at 11:30 a.m, Kenyon will throw the javelin as well as vault.

“He’s a team person,” O’Boyle said. “With some pole vaulters, all they want to do is vault. Erik’s willing to throw the javelin when you ask him.

“The thing is, if he wanted to work on it, he could be a great decathlete. . . . But he’s gotten so good in the vault that it would be foolish for us to take him away from that.”

Kenyon agrees, especially because he feels there’s room for improvement.

“I know I can jump higher,” he said. “I just need to work on staying upside down longer.”

A loss as a win? The Irvine men’s volleyball team (6-23 overall and 0-17 in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn.) came oh-so-close to upsetting No. 1-ranked Stanford last Saturday night at the Bren Center.

Although the Cardinal finally prevailed, 14-16, 15-12, 14-16, 15-6, 15-10, Irvine Coach Bill Ashen praised his team for its effort and improvement.

“They (Stanford) kept their starters in the whole time--that’s a win for us,” Ashen said. “I think our guys sensed they were playing well, and they went after them. They know they can play with any team in the league. They’ve come that far.”

Irvine’s team, started by Ashen as a club program three years ago, became a varsity sport last year, but still does not have the funding for more than half a scholarship, according to Ashen. He said the men’s volleyball booster club is starting an aggressive campaign for scholarship funds.

Meanwhile . . .

“I know that win is out there,” Ashen said. “I just don’t know when it’s coming.”

The Anteaters have two matches remaining.

Ms. Rabbitt Goes to Washington: Irvine All-American distance runner Elisabeth (Buffy) Rabbitt, who is studying in Montpellier, France, for the year, was recently invited by the U.S. Congressional Youth Leadership Council to participate in a congressional scholar program, July 4 through 9, in Washington.

The program, which will send 350 college students to Washington for six days of meetings with members of the Washington diplomatic corps, is open to the top 1% of college students in the United States.

Senior Mark Kaplan extended his singles winning streak to 18 with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 victory over David Steward of the University of San Diego Tuesday.

Kaplan (24-5) also climbed 58 spots in the Volvo tennis collegiate rankings. After being ranked No. 72 in the last poll, Kaplan is ranked No. 14.

The Anteaters (16-5) are ranked fifth. UCLA is ranked first, California second, Louisiana State third and Georgia fourth.

The Irvine women’s tennis team has had its share of troubles this season. Sophomore Kelly Goldsborough, who played fourth last year, is out for the season with a thyroid problem. Sophomore Christi Bailey, deemed a potential starter, has been unavailable because of illnesses through most of the season. Junior Courtney Weichsel has been on and off most of the season because of a pulled hip muscle. And last week, Karin Bering had food poisoning.

“Every week someone gets hit with something different,” Irvine Coach Doreen Irish said. “That’s been the tone of the season. I have tried nine different combinations of doubles at the No. 3 spot. It’s incredible the amount of things we’ve had to try.”

Irvine Notes

In baseball, senior Stacy Parker stole two more bases last week, extending his single-season count to 19. He is seven shy of the single-season school record of 26 set by Rocky Craig in 1971. Al Rodriguez leads the Anteaters with a .380 batting average. Rodriguez, a sophomore, hit .579 (11 of 19) last week. . . . In crew, Irvine will meet area rival Orange Coast Saturday at 8 a.m. at the North Lido Channel in Newport Harbor. . . . Junior Brian Pajer earned All-American honors at the NCAA swimming championships at Indianapolis Friday. Pajer placed 10th in the 100-yard breaststroke in 55.21 seconds. Pajer is the first All-American swimmer at Irvine since the school became a Division I team in 1977.