My Buddy, Larry Bonnet Weighs In - September 20, 2009
Here's my story. When I read your piece, I was amazed at how similar a lot of other guys got started.
My first contact with the Pole Vault came in 1959, at a small school in Northern California. Walking home, I came across a high school athlete jumping. I was in the 5th grade. He was using an old Gill aluminum pole, with a wooden box, and landing in a pile of sawdust. To me, it was an amazing sight, as graceful and powerful as an eagle. I can still remember the smell of the sawdust. Never got the guy's name, but the memory is still vivid.
Jump forward 2 years, small town in Texas (Leander), 7th grade, Coach brings out a pole, digs a hole next to the long jump pit
and says everyone has to try it. I'm one of about 3 who manage not to hurt themselves and get off the ground, so we're the vaulters. The other two dropout, but I clear about 6' at our one track meet and I'm hooked.
That summer, my dad is laying rock on our house. My first Pole Vault pit is his sand pile, the standards a couple of water barrels, the crossbar a piece of 1/2" pipe, and my pole an 11' piece of TV antenna with a wooden peg in the end of it so it wouldn't get stuck in the box, which was a hole in the ground. I jump all summer, and my 8th grade year I am the best vaulter in school (the only other H.S. jumper moved). Talk about motivation! I talk my dad into my own sand pile and build better standards, but stay with the aluminum antenna pole. My soph. year I manage 10' landing in the sand and convince the student council to split the cost of a fiberglass pole with me. Best I remember, I put in $60, they put in $60 and I got a Browning Skypole, a 14' 160 that I bailed off of the first time I managed to get a little bend. Had to coach myself, never got the technique dow2n, but managed to muscle over 12'6" my senior year and got to the State meet. First and only track meet my Dad ever went to, first meet I ever got nervous at. I had the 2nd best jump going in, no heighted for the first time in my life, and was devastated. Went to SWT a few years before you, Bubba, and jumped 13'6" for Coach Reeh. Had to quit my second year to go to work, and never got back in. Jumped with my kids off and on but never got much over 12' until I took some Lampasas kids to one of Carl's camps at Baylor in '86. Had a vault coach for the first time in my life, and he got me over 13'6" again, at the age of 38.
Have struggled with injuries since (like most masters), with 4 knee surgeries, 2 years off with Plantar Fascitis, a bad back, and last Dec. a right shoulder surgery that I had put off for about 15 years. I get slower every year, and my technique still sucks, but I still love it. I learn as much as I can, go to the Summit every year, and plan on jumping as long as I can get my ass of the ground.
When people ask me why I'm still jumping, why don't I find something else to do, don't I know I'm too old, etc., I just look at them and feel sorry for them. They've never smelled the sawdust.
My Friend, Kris Whitfield of Memphis
Tells His Story
I just read your thing “Do you love to pole vault” and it made
me laugh because it was very similar to my story. Jumping on a cardboard
tube against a wall at a screen printing supply company in Dallas
while my mom was working. Jumping for hours in my back yard on a
piece of 2x2 over the clothes line. Digging a hole to plant in,
finding a piece of metal tubing in between houses while walking
to school and asking the owners if I could have it. 10’ long steel
and putting a piece of shingle in the ground with a reflector behind
my ‘box’ so I could see it at night. Running uphill in my back yard
as my runway from deep in the bushes. The neighbor lady telling
my mother “I was washing the dishes at my sink and I kept seeing
this boy popping up over the fence and then disappearing. I had
no idea what was going on.” I couldn’t get enough, I jumped from
the time I got out of school till bedtime. (My grandmother has some
old pics of me jumping there. I’m not sure which is more painful,
my form or my haircut) I jumped in the dark, in the rain, it didn’t
matter it was my favorite thing to do. Won city that year (7th grade,
Plano, TX) at 8’ and next year (8th grade, Richardson, TX) at 11’.
I think it’s so funny how you mentioned that for a long time you
wished you could jump again but that there was no way. I felt exactly
the same way! I desired to vault for years, but how? I even had
dreams about it. Then one day about 6 months ago I got the chance
to jump and the obsession starts all over again. I only wish I could
jump as much as I wanted to instead of just on Sundays, but I’ve
lost weight, I’m a lot stronger, although I’m still slow as molasses
I’m working on that!
Yes, I love to pole vault, and I don’t understand it when one of
my kids calls me to say they can’t make practice because they’re
tired from studying all night or they need a rest. I got to watch
Rocky III last week with two of my kids. (They are both in gymnastics
and my son plays baseball) I told them “See, it’s what you do before
you get there that matters. It’s how hard you work in your preparation
that makes you good.” They got it. We have a set of rings (as you
know) in the attic that they work out on. We practice baseball all
the time because that’s how you get better. You find people who
know more about the stuff than you do so you can learn. Never stop
learning because someone always knows more than you do, you never
know it all and you always want to keep improving. What have you
done to improve yourself today, because if you haven’t done anything
you’re moving backwards.
I love it Bubba, I really do. Thank you for helping me keep the
dream alive!
Kris.
My very good buddy, Mike Soule of
Wyoming, Minnesota - My response in blue. Got to meet and hang out
with him in Boston, 16 months from this, our first email.
Hi Doug, I do hope it is alright to e-mail you about this. I want
to pole vault again. Welcome home Brutha!!
We've been waiting for you! I found you through some web
research I was doing about a cloud 9 landing pit. I'm going to have
to make one for my back yard if I want to do this. I really enjoyed
your stories about the one with the carpet pads flyin' around inside
it, and yes my back yard pit (back in the 60's) was made of 3 rows
of tires with a 8 x 8 net bag full of foam rubber. I had to be pretty
accurate with my landings to hit that bugger. Before
that Cloud 9 story we took some old metal box springs with tires
on top, then filled up an army tent with carpet scraps. You had
to jump 9' to get on the pit and had a 90% chance of bouncing off.
We built a box out of wood and our record was 11' 6" on that
pile of junk. It was a great summer until the guy who owned the
vacant lot that we adopted heard about it. As they say in Texas,
"oil well". Most enjoyable was your commenting
about your friends 1555 black Cata Pole. Yeah,
that was Dave Roberts, later WR Holder at 18' 8 1/4" and 3rd
in the 1976 Olympics. I still have my 1550, and until next
spring when I start jumping again, all I've done with it since high
school was run with it a little and jam it up against the house
and make it bend. It's also been pretty handy putting up and taking
down my Christmas lights on the house. Great idea!! To me it still
feels pretty light, (man the new ones must be like carrying nothing
at all).Anyway, the last time I vaulted (or attempted to) was 24
year ago when I was trying to demonstrate to a high schooler how
to take off on the left foot instead of the right (like he was doing).
I hyper extended my knee and tore my patellar tendon, and according
to my wife, that was going to be the last of my pole vaulting. We
recently got a Body by Jake exercise machine and I've been hitting
it pretty hard and feeling really good so I tried her (the wife)
out on the idea of vaulting again and much to my surprise I think
she's going for it. So, if it takes me 6 months, to a year to two
years...I'M GOING TO DO IT AGAIN. U 'D Man
Mike!! Frankly, I don't care if I go (I'm lying here I think)
8 feet or 18 feet. I just want to do it again. I am going to have
to do it here in my own yard because in Minnesota, land of 10,000
liable suits, there's not a school around that will let me vault
at their facility. Coach or not. But that's ok. I've got room for
about 90 feet of runway, I can build a box, and I've got some stage
lighting supports that will get the crossbar up around 12 feet or
so. I've got a very good friend and well respected
vault coach at St. Cloud that you need to contact. His name is Kevin
Hanson and his email is copied above. The home made Cloud
9 will be a little tricky but I've got access to some pro grade
sewing machines etc. It'll be just like when we were kids and did
the conduit or bamboo pole, the saw dust pit, and 2x4's with nails
in it for standards in the neighborhoods vacant lot deal. What a
great life we vaulters have/had! After all of this B.S. and history,
I have a couple of questions for you. First of all, are there any
meets where a 10 to 12 foot 50+ year old can compete? YES,
they are called Masters Meets and work in five year age groups.
Officially 30-39 is considered Sub Masters, 40-49 begins masters,
but 50 allows for more meets called Seniors. We have a USATF national
championship both indoors and outdoors each year, and every two
years we have a World Championships put on by World Masters Athletics
(WMA) http://www.world-masters-athletics.org/ .Our publication is
National Masters News - http://www.nationalmastersnews.com/. Another
great masters site is maintained by my good friend, Ken Stone, out
of San Diego - http://www.masterstrack.com/blog/. And what
is the name of the class? How do I find out? I have e-mailed the
USATF locally and they must think I'm loony because I haven't gotten
any reply from them. Next, can you make any suggestions as to "ground
up" training that I can do? Keep in mind, I'm not expecting
to be "in old form" when I start again and frankly I don't
care. I couldn't vault very good when I first put a pole in my hands
at the age of 7 and jumped over a fishing pole layed across two
peach crates. Once again, U 'D Man!!
I really don't expect it to be any different now at 53 but I am
going to try. Nice try Mike but we ain't buying
it. We've all said that. I'm putting up some masters training stuff
on my website at www.bubbapv.com to help acclimate training practices
for any level of masters guys/gals. And lastly, (this is
kinda funny) please answer this 34 year old question. When I bought
my Catapole, the instructions said to bend "into" the
catapole lettering on the front of the pole. Please give me closure
on this after all of these years. Did I have it backwards? When
I vaulted, the catapole always faced the pit and not back at me.
As it was meant to be - you were correct but some poles now are
a little different but also obvious by their markings telling you
which way the arrow or stripe goes. That was what I perceived
as "into" the lettering. Answer as much or as little of
this e-mail as you want. Just the fact that I've sat here and wrote
this is solidifying my desire to do this again. Glad
to be here for you and if the world famous Vaultn' Gus posts this
you should hear from many with similar ideas and desires.
I think I read somewhere the Bob Richards was still doing 15' when
he was 52. I don't expect that from me, shoot, I was 4 and 1/2 inches
shy of the teens mark. Ya know? that would be nice to finally say,
"I did 13 feet". It would be even more fun to say, (after
some one asks me, "when was that"), "when? Oh yesterday".
Doug, if you read all of this, thank you very much for the time
spent. You've got the right attitude and desire
Mike. You'll find many vaulters happy to welcome you back and share
their comeback stories as well. Take care and please contact me
any time. Bubba Sparks
From a TRUE long time vault world
legend, Dan West! AMAZING Story!!!
Bubba - I like what you are doing with your PV stories and even
though I have never stopped vaulting maybe my story is applicable
also. So Here is my tall tale.
In 1965 my dad moved us to Powers Oregon, a little town in southwestern
Oregon south of Coos Bay. My dad was a music teacher with a foot
loose fancy so we were at a new school/city/state almost every year.
Funny how things happen to set things in ones life in motion. We
lived in a great house outside of town and pole vaulting was the
farthest thing from my mind. Anyway a big flood came along and we
had to get out of that house around the first of January and move
into town into a really bad house but luckily for me it was right
next to an empty lot where the neighborhood kids had a PV pit set
up. It was just a pile of saw dust, a couple of 2X4 standards and
a steel or aluminum vaulting pole that just laid out there all the
time waiting for some one to come and jump. I quickly fell in love
with this new game and spent every afternoon till dusk vaulting
with the neighborhood kids. There were no fifth graders on the track
team but by the middle of the track season I had bothered the coach
so much about vaulting for the team that he agreed to let me go
to a meet and be on the team if I could clear 6'. So for the next
couple of weeks all I did was try and make 6 feet every
day after school and after a week or so I finally cleared 6' and
the coach let me go to a large middle school/junior high school
track meet at a neighboring town.
The most amazing thing happened at the meet I jumped poorly I think
I can't really remember not even sure if I even cleared a bar but
that is not what was so important. What I saw was this bigger, older
boy come in late in the meet and just sprinted down the runway and
once he planted his pole he bent it, what seemed at the time like
a lot, and then rocked back and just flew over some incredibly high
height. I think he was on a bamboo pole not sure and maybe to our
present standards the bend was small but to me it was the most amazing
cool thing I had ever seen or imagined and I knew that that was
what I was going to do some day.
The next year found us in New Mexico for a two year stay and my
dad for the only time I can ever remember actually helped me out
with the pole vault and got me a load of saw dust and helped me
set up a little PV set up for me in a vacant lot next to our house.
I found an aluminum crossbar and cut into two pieces. One 8 feet
long for my pole and the other end for my crossbar. I vaulted on
that set up for both of those years (6th and 7th grades) clearing
6'6" the first year and 7'6" the second year. I remember
seeing Bob Seagren vaulting on TV and got so excited that I ran
out and decided to vault like him. So I came in planted and and
by god I bent my pole of course it stayed bent so I decided that
until I got a better pole I would just have to continue vaulting
the way I had been and just swing up. No bending just yet. My eighth
grade year saw us move up to Montana and end up living on an old
ranch outside of town. I cut down a lodge pole pine tree for a pole
and made some standards and tried to vault. I made a few bars not
sure how high, but the pole was so heavy and rough that vaulting
was pretty hard to impossible so I gave up on that . The next year
at the same town I was now in High School as a freshman and I was
actually on a track team but they only had a 15' 180# pole so as
a 5'3" 125# little guy all I could do was stiff pole and I
think I cleared 8' or 8'6".
The next year I got a coach that new nothing about the pole but
he cared enough about me to buy a book by Ganslen and they bought
me a 12' 120# and all of a sudden I was in heaven because I could
bend that pole. I was now a fiberglass vaulter and I cleared 10'6"
and was the best guy in our district. I was so happy, but of course
that was short lived as I started to overpower that pole and could
could go no higher. Here is a funny aside, they then bought me a
14' 120# pole not such a good choice and also my coach had seen
a picture of a vaulter from Texas that was waaaayyy! under at take
off so my coach sermised that he had planted on his right foot and
then taken a step onto his left foot and then left the ground, so
that he could get on a bigger pole. My coach had me do that and
being young and foolish I did it and of course really blew up that
pole on the very first jump, lucky I didn't kill myself. The worse
part of the whole incident was that it meant that for the rest of
the season I was stuck on the other pole and I did not improve.
My junior year saw me at a new school and they only had one pole
a 15' 160# Thermoflex pole so another year of stiff poling and no
improvement, really bumbed me out. I did try once to bend that pole
held at the top and went for it and of course it just shot me back
out onto the runway. My senior year found me at a new school once
again and at this school they bought me a 12' 140# I managed to
jump 11'6" on that pole but begged for a 14 pole all season.
The day of the divisional meet the 14' 140# showed up. My coaches
had lost some patience with me pestering them so much about getting
me a new pole so the day of the meet they told me to just jump on
that new pole, no advice about steps, takeoff placement etc, just
jump on that pole. Well after three, go for it, attempts where I
gave it my all and didn't even really make it into the pit my high
school carreer was over. My coaches were so bad that they told me
my top arm was too straight at takeoff. Needless to say I knew I
should have jumped higher and did not want to quit but it seemed
like maybe vaulting was not for me.
I went to college at Montana State University and really didn't
consider doing track since how could an 11'6" vaulter even
consider vaulting in college. But you know once the PV bug has bitten
you in the vault how can you quit. So I walked on and tried out
for the team. Luckily for me even though we had no vault coach there
were 3 other vaulters on the team and two of them were 14' vaulters
which seemed incredible to me at the time. Those guys helped me
out a lot and I improved to 13' that year using a 14'140# pole and
at the end of the year I actually got up on an old green 15'6"
150# Catapole. The next year was not so good as all those other
guys quite and I was totally on my own. Some how I got up to 13'9"
but I had no idea what I was doing.
My Junior year saw a new guy show up and he was a 13+' vaulter
so he and I helped each other out but it was kind of like the blind
leading the blind, anyway I improved up to 14' but once again I
got lucky and at the last meet of the year for me a fellow vault
competitor asked me why I took off so far under. I asked him what
he meant since I had never heard anything about that. He said that
taking off 2' under was really hurting my vault and that if I got
my step on I could probably vault higher. I had never heard this
and kind of filed it away. I did not make the conference championship
team and I was so frustrated and mad about that, I decided to quit.
But that old bug came back and bit me and before school let out
in June I decided that I would take a pole home with me over the
summer and if I could learn to take off correctly I would continue
to vault for my senior year at MSU. I brought home a 14'150# that
I knew I could jump on and at that time my dad was living outside
of a new town in Montana on another ranch/farm. Anyway, I made a
runway, kind of a down hill thing in the dirt, part of the runway
went over an irrigation ditch so I built a little bridge and I built
a wood box and some 2x4 standards right up next to this 10' high
mound of silage (chopped up corn and corn stalks) that the farmer
that we rented the house from stored in a big pile to feed his cows.
So I would smooth out the dirt at my takeoff area and come down
and take off and then check out where my foot print was in the ground
and low and behold I found out that that vaulter from Idaho State
University a guy named Talley was right, the better my step was
the better the vault and the less it hurt. So I decided to keep
vaulting. My senior year was a little better we got a new head coach
and while he knew nothing about the vault he was a great coach and
helped me get in better shape and fix my run up problems and I vaulted
14'8" and was very close to 15' many times, but I did not put
it together at the Big Sky Championships and I did not place, just
another disappointment in a long line of vaulting failures. I was
really bumbed and figured that was it.
After graduating I went to work in Wyoming for the Game and Fish
Dept. working at a Hatchery. I thought I would become a fisheries
biologist, but the old bug bit me and even though I helped out at
a high school both springs that I worked at that hatchery and managed
to get over 13'6" each year track called me back and I decided
to get my masters and become an assistant coach for my old head
coach Rob Stark. This started a long journey of learning proper
training and technique for the vault at MSU of 8 years. In that
time I took myself from a 14' vaulter to my PR at age 32 of 15'5"
4.70m. I then have moved on to many jobs and a couple of locations
landing at what I think will be my final resting place here in Eugene
where even though each year it gets harder and at 51 years old I
am still vaulting 13'9" the same height I did my Sophomore
year in college 31 years ago. Last year I won the national indoor
championships for 50 year old master's vaulters jumping 13' 5"
the first time in my life I have won any kind of significant competition,
it only took me 40 years. And that's my story and I'm sticking to
it.
Vault On
Dan
I had the great privilege of meeting
and jumping with Russ in Boston.
Hi Bubba. I started pole vaulting when I was 9 years old. I saw
Bob Seagren on TV and went out in my backyard and began jumping
with a broken TV antenna as a pole. I was the 3rd of 3 children,
so I don't think that my parents were too worried. My brother and
I began cutting down saplings and jumping in the backyard. By the
time I was in high school pole vaulting was the most important part
of my life. I jumped 13-10 as a senior, and did 14-0 during the
summer after my senior year (1975). When I got to college, I only
jumped in practice...never in a meet. I got too caught up in my
academics. After graduation (UNC 1979), I coached high school for
5 years. Then I want to law school and stayed away until about 1993
or so, when I stopped by the local high school and gave a few pointers
a couple of days. Then I got very caught up in coaching my own kids...baseball,
soccer, basketball...but not pv!
Then it happened. Late May 2002, I had a dream. This is no joke.
It was like "Field of Dreams." I don't recall the precise
nature of the dream, but I know that in the dream I was pole vaulting.
I woke up in a cold sweat and had the most eerie feeling that I've
ever had from a dream. It was like Joan of Arc's "voices"
I swear. I knew that I had to vault again. I was 45 at the time.
I started training, lost weight, etc. for 6 months before actually
vaulting, but I did it.
There's a lot more to the story. But that's the executive summary.
In the mid-90's I ran 4 marathons. Every pole vault practice is
more fun than all of the distance running and the marathons put
together. I wish that I had "seen the light" and started
vaulting again sooner. I'm having the time of my life.
_________________
Russ
"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."
I met a great guy in Boston named
Doug Studabaker. Here's his story. C'mon - send me yours!!
Bubba – I really enjoyed meeting you in Boston (I was the pretty
slow 53 year-old with the mushy pole, shaky run and modest clearance
at 3.1m on a 3rd attempt!). Your jumping was inspirational though
– and even more so after I had perused your website. Very impressive,
amazingly robust and very current (you’ve already posted the Boston
jumps). By the way, I couldn't pull up the Gary Hunter jumps. What
software do I need to view them? Yours came up for me on QuickTime.
By way of intro, I’ve jumped since 8 or so on the farm in Ohio
where I was raised - conquered the clothesline the summer I was
9 with the TV aerial pole. Managed 11’ straight pole as a sophomore
and then made up my mind to convert to fiberglass. I still remember
very clearly jacking up my handgrip one spring day in 1970 and driving
in on an old 125 Browning Skypole. Landed on my ass about where
I took off, but had the spark and sense of knowing from that moment.
I managed 13’ consistently as a senior at Milton-Union HS – class
of ’71. I worked hard through 4 years of college at Austin Peay,
but was able to achieve just 15’. My career ended with the spring
of ’75 (or so I thought) and I still recall the “post-pole vault
depression” during that summer as I focused on getting into the
workforce, fell out of shape and realized I may never vault again.
At any rate, just last year I started coaching the Burlingame HS
pole vaulters. This year I jumped for the first time in 30 years
at the Pole Vault Summit in Reno and re-discovered what I was missing
and just how fun pole vaulting is. Having discovered that I can
still do this, I’m hooked again and am finally now putting some
time into training and conditioning. I’m also thinking about some
goals. Again, your website is very helpful. I’m looking forward
to working on the Curran drill and the rock back conditioning drills
on the monkey bars among others.
I’ve really been out of vaulting for quite a while and have never
seen a copy of Beginer To Bubka. I’ve heard it’s very well written.
Can I still buy a copy through you? Or maybe you can refer me elsewhere.
Let me know if you’re in the Bay Area at any point in the future.
Best regards, Doug Studebaker
Matt Kowalski just joined our group
at The Woodlands High School and made 12' in his first club meet
before he ran out of pole. In 2007 he won the M35 at USATF Masters Nationals in Orono, Maine. Way to go Matt!!
Bubba - I came across your web site while looking for track clubs
for masters in Houston. I use to pole vault in high school ('83-'87)
and tried to walk on at Texas A&M but didn't make the cut.
Long story short: I recently got the bug again from attending my
son's track meet and was looking into a masters club I could join.
I get the impression from your web site you are not a club but
an individual in training. However, would you know a place that
I am looking for? I'm 37 years old and haven't picked up a pole
in 18 years but I still have dreams at night about pole vaulting.
I use to live in the Woodlands until last year when I moved to
Benders Landing (past Fox Run on Riley Fuzzel). Now I live about
12-15 minutes from the McCullough campus. Any information or ideas
would be appreciated. Thanks,
Matt Kowalski
Matt After Day 1
Bubba - I was able to make it out to the track on Saturday and
after some prodding from Don and the others I took a few jumps.
I must say I had a great time and I’d like to start joining you
guys on Saturdays. I can help out at meets and where ever else I’m
needed.
I think what you guys have got going is amazing and I want to thank
you for the opportunity to get involved with jumping again.
By the way, since it has been 18 years since I picked up a pole
I’ve been a little sore for the last three days. I think my body
forgot there were muscles in those places.
Gotta love Bob Banhagel's story
Hello... I went over your web site and was very impressed......
I too am an old school vaulter who jumped 13-6 on a steel pole in
1964...... went on to college's but betwen partying too much and
being chased by the draft board my jumping career went by the wayside.
I was able to coach my son in the 80's where he was very successfull
and became a 5 m plus jumper. So I was able to teach how to jump
with a flexible pole but could'nt teach myself...haha. I still could
jump with a stiff pole then and did like 11-6 or something when
i was 37or 38, 30 lbs overweight, smoking and still thinking I was
a teen. Plenty of stories between 1964 and now.
The point I am making is that it has been on my mind for the past
few years to get back into jumping. I am retired and will turn 60
in February.... which I have been noted to make life altering decisions
every 20 yrs. I have been researching masters T&F and while
surfing came across you site, like I said impessive and motivating.
I was wondering if we could commuicate and maybe you could give
me some advice as I plan to ACTUALLY get in shape, drop some weight
before picking up a pole.
The equiptment today, ie: poles have evolved immensely since I was
coaching in the 80's... I think that with getting in shape, getting
some speed and bounch back in my step and with the slower responding
pole can jump pretty high.... (pretty confident huh?)
would really enjoy sharing thought and I deas with you.... later
Bob Banhagel
A Great Local Houston Hero, Bob Phillips
- 70+
We lived on the edge of Corpus Christi, with a planing mill down
the mudshell street from us, that put great numbers of thin strips
of wood and huge amounts of sawdust next to the street. I dug a
shallow pit for the sawdust in my backyard, and spaced nails in
strips of wood for uprights, and a thin strip of wood for a cross-bar.
My pole was an oak hoe handle. A crazy friend and I would dive,
jump and pole vault there off and on most of the year, when we weren't
doing more hazardous jumps off my garage or with our bicycles!
Bob Phillips
Let's Let an Anglican Priest Weigh In - His Confessional
Dear Bubba:
I have several stories. I know Doug Studebaker. Met him in the 1970's when he was ready to attend Austin-Peay. Doug is mannerly and pleasant to be around. He is a genuine person.
We were jumping at a District meet in Troy, Ohio. I went to school at Graham , near Saint Paris.I too saw Seagren and John Pennel, and learned fron a 2x2 in 1966, bamboo, and finally a glass pole
We had several oustanding friends in those days, Larry Jessee, Rod Newland, Mike Fields, Max Gehl,Wesley Grimm, Denny Cain, Bill Allebach.
All of put forth the effort and saw each other vault regularly at the bigger meets.
When I was in the service I met a Chief Petty Officer who knew Bob Seagren in the oldays at Long Beach.
I became an Anglican Priest and served in the Navy and the Army and have a lot of good remarks about those days.
Send me a message Bubba. You have a lot of good to do for all of us.
Your Comrade,
Dwight Lynn Dowson