Track and field is a sport that has various events and competitions like throwing, running, and jumping. In this article, we will focus on one of the events in track. But we will also talk about how the track came to be, its origin, and why it is popular. This article will feature two athletes on the Pahrump Valley High School (PVHS) track team who do jumping events.
Track and field is a captivating sport that displays human athleticism. This sport goes way back most likely to as early as 1829 BC!! The New York Athletic Club held the first track meet on September 6, 1868. This historic event is what organized all the track competitions in the U.S.
The area where high jumps take place is designated and consists of a curved runway. Two posts are vertically placed that hold a bar that is designed to fall if touched by one of the athletes during their attempt to clear it. On the runway, you are allowed an approach of at least 15 meters ( 49.21 feet). While the athlete is jumping their hips are supposed to be near that bar, while they are jumping their head should be tilted back so they can see their hips and that will help them rise over the bar. To make it easier for the athlete to clear the bar they will have to bring their head to their chest then they will finally land on the pit facing upward. The pit is filled with a cushioning material so the athletes land safely and it measures at least 5 by 3 meters (16.4 feet by 9.8 feet).
In pole vaulting each athlete gets three attempts before getting disqualified to clear a specific height. Just like high jumps, pole vaulting has a bar that falls easily if touched. The pole they use for pole vaulting can be made from many different materials such as glass fiber or bamboo, glass fiber has been popular and the most effective since the 1960s. The height of the bar starts increases until someone wins. If there is a tie they use a method called “count back” which is based on the few failures the athletes had during the final height.
Many people confuse pole vaults with high jumps; while they both involve jumping over a bar there are still different events in track. In pole vaulting, the athletes use a long flexible pole to jump over the pole, while in high jumps the athletes jump without a pole.
As we mentioned at the beginning of this article two athletes from PVHS were interviewed. We got opinions and tips from athletes Kennedy Vanderbeek and Aspen McCormack. McCormack finds doing track this year hard because of the new coaching, new conditioning, and because it takes a large amount of her mental capacity, Vanderbeek doesn’t find many things hard in track but the main thing she struggles with is keeping up with the others on the track. When asked what she likes about track, McCormack says, “I like that it is an individual competition and I go there to compete against myself.” What Vanderbeek enjoys about track is running with her friends and getting to know her teammates. While in middle school, McCormack’s mom put her in track and she has been doing it since. Vanderbeek joined track to get faster; she even says it in her own words, “ I joined track so that I could get faster for soccer.”
These two athletes have tips for people who just started track, McCormack’s tip would be to watch YouTube so you can learn from professionals. Vanderbeek’s tip would be to work out your quads and calves because they play a huge role when you run “ I started working out my quads and calves and I saw a huge difference over time when I did my events and practiced.” The two athletes have specific exercises that have helped them improve, McCormack’s specific exercise that helped her improve was doing one-step jumps on each leg on the mini hurdles. Vanderbeek’s specific exercises were squats, calf raises, and deadlifts.
Make sure to visit the home meets if you can the team would like to hear you guys cheer them on! These two athletes would enjoy hearing you guys cheer for them, so make sure you do if you see them next track meet!!
