Pat's History
Pole Vault story (or should we say Pohl Vault)
(Click here for Justin Miller Polevault Saga)

I tired to polevault my freshman year at Mater Dei high school. I remember clearing like 7'6" and landing in sawdust. I went over the bar with my back to it and when I landed it would knock the wind out of me. We had a senior vaulter that cleared 12' and it seemed like he was superman. Anyway I only did it one meet and then concentrated on the 1320. My next exposure to vaulting was as a first year coach at Edison High School. Since I was the youngest coach and no one else knew anythig about vaulting, I got stuck with it. I did have a junior vaulter that clear 12' once but you wouldn't know it by watching him. I learned right away that there are head cases in this event. Anyway I read some books and then practice with vaulter that first year. I always felt that I should be able to do what I was teaching. Anyway it wasn't until my second year at Edison that I really developed my expertise. In January of the second semester I was taking a couple of Master Degree courses and one was Coaching Track and Field. The head track coach taught the course was Dr. Jack Rose. I had had him as a teacher in some undergrad classes and he remembered me and knew that I was the freshman football coach a year before at Long Beach State. I told him about my assignment of being the polevault coach and asked if he could help me or direct me to get more info on coaching this unique event. He said do you see that student at the back of the class sitting by himself. He was like a CIF champion a couple of years back. Ask him. I went back and introduced my self and found out his name was Steve Smith. I learned later that he was the two time California State Champion in polevault. He had gone away on a track scholarship and had returned to Long Beach where to get eligible again. I told hiim of my predicament and if he would help me. He told me that he worked out Tuesdays and Thursday here at the college and that I could come up then. I asked if I could bring some students with me. He replied, "Sure." I would bring four to six students up in my volkswagan bus with me on those day. I worked it out with our head coach John Meyers at Edison to leave practice early on those days and meet up with Steve at the College. It was about a twenty minute drive if we didn't hit traffic. Steve was great. He showed us all sorts of drills and more things to do to correct beginning mistakes that vaulters would make. Like cross the right foot over the left to get a vaulter to turn his body so when he went over the crossbar he would have his stomach facing the bar. This might have helped me back in high school to not get the wind knocked out of me. Of course now we had foam landing pits. Anyway I did the drills right along with my students and we all got much better quickly. If fact we would often sweep the competition in a dual meet taking first, second, and third. By the end of the season we had four freshman vaulters clearing 12'. Something that was considered good at the senior level for a school. It helped us to win the league "C" championships in our second year of existence for the school. Steve was a 16' vaulter in high school. He was a nobody in the world class level at that time. I remember we use to do a three step competition. We would only take three steeps and see how high we could vault. I got pretty good and could even clear 12'. Steve joined us in the competition but did it left handed and cleared higher. I heard once that he's the only vaulter in the world that cleared over 15' off of a skateboard. If you haven't figured it out yet. PV's are half crazy. I heard once at a track coaching clinic to get good vaulters ony our team you needed to go out to where they race and jump with motorcycles. Anyway I took that expertise with me to Chabot College the next year. It was one of the reason I got the job. My first year I had no qaulity vaulters but did OK with one kid that did come out for the team. That year I introduced my self to every track coach in our district area. The one quality vaulter was a kid named Bill Andrews from Castro Valley. I started working with him when I visited selected track meets for recruiting. His coach, Norm Guest, was more than please to have the estra help. I helped him get over 14' and we struck up a good friendship. Remember I was only 25 at the time and he was 18. When I first started at Chabot College I was closer to my students ages than my colleagues. Anyway he came to Chabot the next year and I helped improve him to 14'6". I know not impressive. But in the polevault world he became a much better vaulter. More consistent and less of a head case which he was. His freshman year was a little dissapointing but he quit partying and drinking so much and became a much better student. His sophmore year was 14'6" all year long and in every type of weather. He won the league championship which was our goal and both of us were very proud of our success. He was ready to pop much higher and had done some better heights in practice but the stress of the actual competition is another thing to deal with. Anyway he went on down to San Jose and jumped over 16' and later became a teacher. He was my first really good vaulter. During the same two years I stayed in touch with Steve Smith. He had made 17' and won an indoor big track meet and was doing well. I use to see him on TV everytime they showed the intro action shots for ABC Wide World of Sports. He cleared a height and after landing in the pit he did a back flip. When I took my vaulters up to watch the Olympic trials in 1972 in Eugene, Oregon he took second to Bob Seagren who broke the world record that day. He made the olympic team but because he was using a skypole they didn't approve the pole and the day before competition started to had to find some poles to use. Not good for a vaulter. He went on to become a pro track athlete an set a world indoor record. He is was on the cover of sports illustrated

Steve Smith & Justin Miller (my Grandson) two great vaulters I knew. They met at the Ca. State Track & Field Championships in 2008

I met up with Steve in 1974 or 75. He was at an indoor pro meet in San Francisco. We went out to dinner after the meet and caught up. He seemed not as happy with the sport after he turned pro. The pro circuit didn't last too much longer and I had lost contact with him until the 2008 California State High School Track and Field Championship. I was sitting in the bleachers watching my grandson vault (but thats another story-The Justin Polevaulting story). He was the second ranked polevaulter in the nation having cleared 17'. The number one kid was a German kid here as a transfer student. He had won the year before and somehow got to stay for another year. Anyway Justin took second to him that day. As I watched my daughter and son in law, Dan Miller had jsut bought a book about polevaulting from a man named Jan Johnson. He actually was on the same olympic team that Steve was on and had won the bronze medal in 72. Dan pointed him out to me and I was impressed. Nobody else knew who he was because it was over thirty years ago. He yelled out to someone below him, "Hey Smith, what do you think about that kid?" I looked at who he was talking to and wasn't sure if it was Steve. I asked him if that was Steve Smith and Jan said yes. I went down and sat next to him. I told him that he probably wouldn't remember me but my name as Pat Pohl. He said, "Yes I do. You were the PE teacher back at Long Beach State." Wow he remembered me. Anyway we visited the rest of the day as the competition went on. I told him about Justin and told him that I have for years told him about you and why I know so much about the pole vault. I remember Justin took second that day and Steve waited around to meet him. When I introduced them, Steve said, "Congratulations on being the State Champ." Justin replied that he only had taken second. Steve reaffirmed his case by saying, "that other dude is from Germany and has been on roids for so long he doesn't count. You're the true California State Champion". Justin thanked him. (Click here for Justin Pole Vault Saga). Before I left Chabot College and went out to open the new campus Las Positas College, I had some pretty good vaulters. One year I had four vaulters all over 15'. I was always accused of being overly partial to my Pohlvaulters. How could anyone say that????