As the coronavirus outbreak limits their options, pole vaulters modify workouts to stay fit

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus has shut down outdoor facilities and parks, some athletes around the area have tried to recreate workout routines and drills to maintain consistency and improvement.

From pitchers to swimmers, from golfers to tennis players, it’s been challenging to find the right approach to working out, but the adjustments being made by pole vaulters has been just as tough, if not more difficult.

As some athletes saw their high school career come to an abrupt end and others are forced to have to wait out another year to compete, how do athletes launch themselves to dizzying heights without the proper equipment and in the proper setting setting?

Since the March “Stay At Home” order issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom, activities at schools and public areas have shut down. Nearly a month after the order, the CIF announced a suspension of the spring season on April 3.

La Cañada High senior David Miketta did not have a chance to compete for another CIF Southern Section boys’ title in the pole vault, but he is trying to stay conditioned even though many public parks, fields and facilities closed down.

The senior said there is one particular thing pole vaulters need to focus on when exercising.

“I just recommend, for the majority of the pole vaulters and runners as well, that speed is key,” Miketta said. “If you’re fast on the runway, you can compress poles. The form, for the majority of people, is just muscle memory. If you’re going to do work, you might as well become faster and try to work on explosion.”

Miketta, who cleared 15 feet at the CIF Southern Section Track and Field Championship to capture the Division III title last season, is making due with the limited opportunities he has.

The UC Davis-bound senior was able to work out the first week of the lockdown, but has since transitioned to makeshift workouts.

Hill sprints and box jumps off a staircase are his go-to exercises in order to stay prepared.

“It’s been difficult because you can’t see your coach and you can’t get out there,” Miketta said.

Indeed, some athletes are using unconventional locations as pole vault runways to build speed. For Burroughs High’s Eli Gault-Crabb, he and his club, Lucky Pole Vault, has created a 120-foot long runway in the backyard of a teammate’s home.

The Indians junior keeps up his conditioning through very strict and precautionary measures that abide with social distancing standards when working out.

Gault-Crabb made strides last season, reaching the CIF Track and Field Championships, but a hamstring injury hindered his ability to compete in Division I.

Gault-Crabb was looking to break the prestigious Burroughs all-time record. He put himself in the No. 2 spot after clearing 16-0 in early competition this season. Gault-Crabb is only behind record-holder Essa Sallinen, who set an all-time mark with a 16-4 3/4 effort in 1994.

He is only one of four high school vaulters in the nation to clear 16-0 during the 2020 season.

With no more than four athletes per practice, the activities Gault-Crabb takes part in are overseen by longtime pole vaulting coach and a former Burroughs pole vault standout, Brooks Morris.

The athletes each take turns vaulting and working on drills, and once they are finished, they wipe down their poles with hospital-grade disinfectant products. Poles, bars and mats are wiped down before and after every athlete’s session.

“I know people would say we can’t be working out and being with each other, but we’re taking precaution,” Gault-Crabb said. “We’re staying away from each other and my coach is only letting a limited number of people to come who are most dedicated.

“He’s texted a few people. During practices, we disinfected poles before and after practice and retape them. We’re really serious about this. We’re doing it right.”

The current practices are almost the same as Gault-Crabb’s normal sessions at Simi Valley High, where Morris helps coach the Pioneers’ pole vaulters.

Surprisingly enough for Gault-Crabb, he’s felt and done better under the current circumstances.

“I’m doing better, which is crazy to say,” Gault-Crabb said. “I’ve been vaulting on this runway and I’ve already improved a ton. Before, I can’t explain it, but I would practice well, but not that well. I would hit 15 a few times in practice, but a couple of weeks ago, I cleared 15-8 in practice and that’s my practice PR. It’s going super well.”

Morris, son of Olympic silver medalist Ron Morris, has coached on various levels, from high school to collegiate and Olympic athletes. A USC graduate, Morris has provided assistance at his alma mater as well as L.A. Valley College and Fresno State, among other universities.

Each session is divided up into time slots to avoid overcrowding in a cul-de-sac tucked away in Canyon Country.

Said Morris of the location: “The parents were like, ‘hey, we just want a place for our son to keep being active. If you guys want to use our property, you’re more than welcome.’ It kind of worked really nice.”

Above all, Morris emphasizes precaution and social distancing during, before and after every session.

“There’s more to this,” Morris said. “I’m certainly not trying to take advantage of the situation because there’s no season. There’s no season to take advantage of. Nor would I. I would never try to take advantage.

“We’re all about sportsmanship and training hard doing the best we can in helping others. It’s a community and it’s a great, holistic community and I think we’ve always done a good job of that with our club. I think for the kids mental and emotional health, they need to be doing something. Humans in this day and age are not built for shutdown.”

At the collegiate level, Elizabeth Switzer was fresh into her first year as a member of the Glendale Community College track and field team.

A decorated athlete at Burroughs, Switzer was expected to make a tremendous leap in her first season at the collegiate level, according to Vaqueros coach Eddie Lopez.

But the spread of the coronavirus has restricted her to exercises at home. Luckily, her father, Jon Switzer, was also a standout pole vaulter at Burroughs and also serves as her coach.

“It was really disappointing because I was getting to the point where I started building up and I was getting consistent with my heights,” said Switzer, a former All Area Athlete of the Year in 2018 who competed in state competition with the Indians. “I finally felt like I was going to break through and then they started shutting us down.”

Switzer, who was also coached by Morris, has limited equipment at home, but makes use of what she has. Her father took an old broken crossbar and converted it to a pull-up bar to work on vaults and drills.

Though Switzer has a background in gymnastics, she still has yet to integrate it into her exercises. However, it does play a positive part in her daily routine.

“I try to keep up on the gymnastics so I can put it into my pole vaulting,” Switzer said. “I haven’t gotten to the technique where I can fully use my gymnastics, so once I do that, hopefully I’ll improve a lot. I still try to keep up with my gymnastics skills so I could hopefully use it in the future.”

Glendale’s pole vault and jump coach, Tomas Aguirre, knows it is a difficult situation trying to keep his athletes active, not only because of the current situation, but in the wake of lack of resources and equipment to stay in tip-top shape.

However, his program stresses on mental strength and conditioning, and his athletes are doing whatever they can to improve on both.

“We have to switch our goals right now,” Aguirre said. “Instead of working out something specific, which would be the actual jumping and drills for the specific events, you have to worry about staying in shape, staying conditioned and working on the things we actually have control over. It’s just something to do so when we’re allowed to come back, at least we come back in shape.”

Aguirre stays in close contact with his athletes, rotating through 30-minute phone calls throughout the day with a handful of them. He also sends them videos of certain exercises and drills to work on.

Simple drills help his athletes practice the motion and emphasize on muscle memory, so if and when they experience future competitions, they will be physically and mentally ready.

Basically, repetition is key.

“Without practicing those drills, physically, it might not be that effective,” Aguirre said. “But if we approach them with cognitive training, then they would have seen these drills many times so by the time we get to actually doing them, they would have been exposed to what it looks like and probably feel better after doing it the first time.

“That’s the psychological approach. This has been something that is exciting for us to work with because it’s something we don’t have time in season.”