Champaign-Urbana, Illinois –Jacob Terhune has coached pole vaulting at Rantoul Township High School for awhile, and he knows how hard it is to teach the sport to newcomers. During his first-ever pole vaulting camp this summer, four new athletes impressed him with their rapid improvement in the event. The camp was two-three days a week for three weeks, ending Thursday. Each session was 90-120 minutes depending on how the athletes felt. “They came a long way because sometimes it takes a kid a year or two to get over 6 or 7 feet,” Terhune said. “Almost all of them have made it over 6-6.” Preston Richardson, 13, of Rantoul is a track athlete at Eater who wanted to give the pole vault a try. With Eater maybe adding the event for the 2013-14 school year, he wanted to get a head start. “I’m in gymnastics, and I thought it would help me in pole vaulting,” Richardson said. “It kind of looked fun going in the air.” Richardson said gymnastics provides the flexibility and airborne body control to assist him in quickly acquiring the correct form. The pole vault is daunting to any new athlete, and Richardson needed to overcome that fear to advance. more at Rantoul Press
