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Catching Up With Team Pacer: Chelsea Johnson Chelsea Johnson – Chelsea had a breakout year in 2009 earning her first spot on a US National team and then topping that with a Silver Medal finish at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany. Chelsea has enjoyed success at every level which she has competed and still holds the NCAA Collegiate Record. We catch up with Chelsea coming off her most successful year and see what the future holds. First off, a huge Congratulations once again for your Silver medal finish at the World Championships in Berlin. How has that affected your life as a pole vaulter? CJ- Since Berlin, my life as a pole vaulter hasn't changed all that much. I wake up and still do relatively the same activities throughout the day, as I've done in years past. I really wouldn't want my life to change too drastically from this summers success. I am very happy with the simple life I live and the people that I surround myself with. As we move to 2010, do you feel more pressure after having won the medal in Berlin? CJ- As the 2010 season approaches, I do not feel any added pressure from Berlin. Throughout my career I have believed in myself, and have known that I was capable of achieving great things. If anything, Berlin and reaffirmed that fact for me and has raised my confidence for the up coming year. Most people consider 2010 as an off year in the cycle of Worlds/Olympics because Americans do not have a major outdoor championships. How does that change how you prepare for the upcoming season. CJ- My fall/winter preparations for the 2010 season have been quite different than years in the past, due to the fact that there is no major championship outdoors, just Indoor Worlds. In the past after outdoor season was over, I would usually take 6-8 weeks off. This season was unique in that I didn't stop competing until mid September, therefore not wanting to start my preparations for the indoor season too late, I only took 3 weeks off. Beyond the timing, I have also altered my training this fall to lighter weights, short quicker running and have spent small amounts of time on 3 and 4 left approaches and more time on 5 and 6 left vault practices. What are your main goals for 2010? CJ- My main goals for the 2010 season are to make the Indoor World team, compete to the best of my abilities in Doha and get back on the medal stand. You are now training in San Diego at the Olympic Training Center. How is that compared to living in San Luis Obispo and training with your dad. Since leaving UCLA in 2007, I have strictly been training with my dad in San Luis Obispo. This summer I had the pleasure of training and traveling through Europe with Stacy Dragila and her coach, Ty Sevin. Ty and my Dad got to know each-other and thought it was in my best interest (and I agreed) to split my training this year between San Diego and San Luis Obispo- they are essentially co-coaching me. This fall has gone exceptionally well and I feel more prepared to jump high, than I ever have. There is a great group of vaulters in San Diego that I train on a daily basis with, which include: Yoo Kim, Tim Mack, Brad Walker, Becky Holliday and Melinda Owen. |
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Catching Up With Team Pacer: Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott – Jeremy had a great year in 2009. Topped by a PR at 19’1, 2nd place at the US Outdoor Championships which earned him a place on the World Championship Team, and winning the US Indoor Championships to earn his first National Open title. Jeremy also gained a lot of experience and so now we catch up with him to see what comes next. 2009 was your best year ever. You PRed, won the US indoor title and finished 2nd in the US Outdoor Champs to earn a spot on the US team for Berlin. How has last year helped you prepare for this upcoming season. JS-At the start of every year, we (Earl and I) typically evaluate what we did and didn’t do so well. As you go along, as Earl says, you want to add another layer. Over the past few years it seemed as though we were always just on the verge of a breakthrough, but we couldn’t quite get over the hump. I think last year we were able to find one of those missing pieces. In spite of jumping higher than I ever have in the last year, I think I blew a few chances to jump a lot higher. I think that is the most exciting thing for this upcoming year. On top of that, just the experience of being able to compete at the world championships and those upper level meets is only going to help. After getting to know some of the other elite athletes and having the chance to compete against them, I know going into a meet that I am not out of my league, and confidence is a huge part of the equation. How are things going as you prepare for 2010? JS-So far things have been going really well. At this time of the year the most important thing is to just get those base layers down; get stronger, get faster, and try to identify the big things you want to work on for the year. I am happy with how all of that is going at this time. The most important thing is to not waste time because of injuries. 2010 is considered an off year in the quadrennial cycle since we don’t have a major outdoor championships but there is an Indoor World Champs. How does that change how you prepare for the upcoming season. JS-Well, obviously, you want to put a little more focus on the indoor season and being ready to go a little earlier than normal since that is your only major championship for the year. But, overall, I don’t think it changes much in how we prepare. I think at this point in my career, we are still worried more about the bigger picture and how to get from where we are now to being the best I can possibly be . . . not necessarily the best I can possibly be for a certain weekend or a certain meet. There are a few new faces on the International vault scene. Renaud Levallenie from France, Malte Mohr from Germany and Damiel Dossevi from France. Can you comment on these new young guys? JS- There is some serious talent among those three guys in addition to some of the more established guys. As most other vaulters would say, guys in this sport tend to be pretty cool and enjoyable to be around. It is the natural course for every sport that things tend to evolve and new faces come in and start taking over the sport. I think we are really starting to see that happen right now and I look forward to competing against them over the next few years. What are your major goals for 2010? JS- Since the only major championship this year is the Indoor World Champs, that has to be one of your goals. I am setting out to make the team, and get on the medal stand. I think we can take a lot of what we learned last year and make this a great year. In addition, you just want to keep getting better. I think I have the opportunity to really jump high this year. I don’t know about a certain height, but hopefully we can PR one inch at a time several times this season.
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Catching Up With Team Pacer: Mark Hollis Mark Hollis – Mark finished the 2009 season with a great deal of experience gained both domestically and internationally. He had his highest finish at the US Outdoor Championships, placing 5th and missing a spot on the US World Championship Team by a single place. We catch up with Mark to learn more about his plans for 2010. Last year you improved your finish place in most of the bigger meets you jumped in. How does that experience help you as you prepare for the upcoming season and future years. MH- Being from a small college I didn't have the chance to jump in many big meets until the national meet at the end of the year. I think the experience I have gained in the last two years has really helped me to know what to expect when competing at bigger meets. Hopefully in the upcoming years I can use that experience to continue to finish higher and higher at the big meets. Last year was also your first time to travel to Europe and compete in the international scene. What was that experience like. MH- I really had a great time in Europe and was a great learning experience. It ended up being a great chance for me to grow. It was strange to be at a meet doing something so familiar yet feel so foreign, not really knowing what was happening next. It took me a couple of meets to get used to that sensation, but at the end of my trip it was really something I was able to embrace and use to give myself a huge boost of confidence. On top of the competing the chance to visit so many new places and experience different cultures is something that will stay with me forever. This year is going to be a bit different than years past with the new Diamond League circuit and the World Indoors. What are your main goals for the year? MH- My main focus for this year is to jump high. Last year I feel that I learned how to compete, and what I learned from that is its easy to win you just have to jump higher than everyone else on that given day. So going into this year I'm building on the confidence I gained last year to jump as high as possible and let everything else fall into place. You are still training with your college coach Danny Wilkerson but you guys work out a lot at Notre Dame. Coach Jim Garnham has done a great job building a solid vault program at Notre Dame. Do you get input from both coaches? MH- I actually started training with Danny my first year out of college, I had a great college coach named Wally Cramer who helped me immensely. I have been extremely blessed to be able to use the facilities at Notre Dame this year and it has really made a difference in my training. Jim Garnham has been a huge help in allowing us to use the facilities, and is an extremely caring and insightful coach. I get about 99% of my input from my coach Danny Wilkerson and anywhere that we can use Jim's knowledge and experience we do. Your 5th place finish at the US Nationals was your best finish at the US Outdoors but left you one spot away from making the US Team for Berlin. How has that affected your attitude as you prepare for this season. MH-It has really fired me up and given me a lot of motivation going into this year. Its hard not to think "what if" and wonder what would have happened if I had made the team but I'm pushing forward to the future. One thing I do know is I never want to be fighting for that last spot again, I want to be first. |
Team Pacer features 6 Amazing vaulters: Toby Stevenson, Derek Miles, Jeremy Scott, Chelsea Johnson, Becky Holiday, and Erica Bartolina. Check out their career cards below ! |
| Toby Stevenson |   |
| Derek Miles |   |
| Jeremy Scott |   |
| Chelsea Johnson |   |
| Becky Holiday |   |
| Erica Bartolina |   |
Men's Top Jumps on Pacer Carbon poles (Carbon FX+ Carbon Mystic) for 2008 |
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Yevgeniy Lukyanenko working towards his Silver medal on his Pacer pole during the 2008 Olympics.
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6.01m Yevgeniy Lukyanenko (5.85m for Silver)
Women's Top Jumps on Pacer Poles
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