In high school, I vaulted for Lancaster. We did not have a pole vault coach, so I trained with Rick Suhr in Rochester for 2 years. This is where I learned the majority of my current technical model. Suhr Sports has produced many elite vaulters, including Olympic Silver Medalist Jenn Suhr(Stuczynski) and National High School Record Holder Mary Saxer. I have recently began training under the vault coach at SUNY Fredonia and founder of Stratosphere Vaulting, Tom Wilson. He has helped me immensely with his technical knowledge and his focus on the second half of the vault. My current system is a hybrid of his and the Suhr model, supported by my background in gymnastics.
In Lancaster, I won 4 League Championships and 3 Sectional titles. I finished with a career best 14'7" before I dislocated my shoulder during my senior year. I graduated in 2006 and have since vaulted for the University at Buffalo. During my Freshman year at Buffalo, I returned to my high school to help out my former teammates. I found I enjoyed the challenges of coaching as much as I enjoy vaulting. I have continued to come back and develop the program at Lancaster ever since. This year I have taken on a volunteer coach position with Buffalo in addition to my work with this club.
We primarily have trained out of Lancaster High School. Through the Winter, we had use of the indoor field house with a raised wooden runway. We are the only high school in Western New York with the capability of training full vaults indoors. For this reason, many other schools have visited our facility to train. As time has progressed, I have began to train a few of the local schools as well as Lancaster. The club has evolved from the vaulters from all over Section VI that I have been working with. There are currently members from Depew, Holland, Alden, JFK, East Aurora, Newfane, and Lancaster.
We now have some exciting news. We will be opening the only private indoor pole vaulting facility in Western New York in the beginning of June. It will be located within Gymnastic Sports Academy off Cemetery Road in Lancaster. It will have a 100' Urethane Runway. We will have access to all of the gymnastics equipment inside GSA. Practices will be held throughout the summer and fall without any worry of the weather Buffalo likes to throw at us.
