Kristen DeStefano reaches new heights (Ithaca)

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http://theithacan.org/am/publish/windoo ... rise.shtml

On the rise
Junior Kristen DeStefano reaches new heights as team’s leading vaulter
By Chris Lotsbom Staff Writer | February 4th, 2010
Staring down the 45-meter runway, she picks up her 13-foot UCS Spirit fiberglass pole. She takes a deep breath. In her mind, she thinks about what she’s been working on all week: the swing.
In a split second, she’s in the air, extending her hips over the bar, as the rest of her body begins to free fall back toward the earth. At the moment of impact, junior Kristen DeStefano’s focus shifts — time for hurdles.
“A lot of the time I will be running back and forth, vaulting once, then running a flight of the hurdles, going back and forth between the two,” DeStefano said. “It can get hectic at times.”
The two-event star of the women’s indoor track team has done this hundreds of times. Though she competes in both events well, she considers pole vaulting her specialty on the team, which is currently ranked No. 7 in the country.
“The best feeling is the excitement once you know you’ve cleared the bar, but haven’t hit the mat yet,” DeStefano said.
DeStefano, who began pole vaulting at Onteora High School in Boiceville, N.Y., knows a lot about clearing the bar, but the opportunities to do so were slim in high school.
At Onteora, DeStefano practiced in hallways and gyms. There were no mats to jump on, no pit to practice with; they could only practice their approaches. The one chance to vault was during meets.
During her high school career, DeStefano’s coaches saw something in her they didn’t see in many other people — a great work ethic and desire to never give up. But what really caught their attention was the daredevil in her.
“She had no fear,” said Patrick Burkhardt, Onteora High School track coach. “She attacked the vault box with a sort of reckless assault. Sometimes the result was scary, like when she did not follow through with a jump and had to bail when still 8 or 9 feet in the air. But she never backed down to a challenge and never stopped doing something because it may have been dangerous.”
Though a daredevil in the pole vault, DeStefano, a clinical science and physical therapy major, said away from the runway she doesn’t think she’s done much else that’s considered “crazy.” But the daredevil within her is what led DeStefano to become the South Hill squad’s record holder in the vault.
“Some people are afraid of heights or being inverted upside down in the air,” DeStefano said. “That never fazed me. I thought it would be fun.”
Upon graduating from Onteora, DeStefano said she came to Ithaca College eager to improve her all-around vault.
During her freshman year, DeStefano worked alongside Assistant Coach Matt Scheffler to improve in all aspects. With a workout regimen including lifting and running, as well as form drills, DeStefano began to see steady improvements within the first few weeks. By the time the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships came around in February, she had improved so much she successfully vaulted 3.37 meters to earn the school’s record. Amassing accolades like all-ECAC and all-New York State Collegiate Track Conference, DeStefano had improved her vault by a foot and a half by the end of the season.
She wasn’t going to let up during her sophomore campaign, though. Working on her swing — the point where she propels herself over the bar, shifting her hips and weight — she was able to capture the Empire 8 Championship both indoors and outdoors
and finish first at the state championship.
“Pole vault is funny,” she said. “There is always a better height, or always someone to beat. There’s always something to fix. It’s something where you always need to improve. That’s what keeps me focusing on vaulting higher.”
This year, DeStefano has continued to improve, breaking her school record twice in the past two weeks. At Rochester Institute of Technology on Jan. 16, she bested her previous mark by 0.01 meters while winning the meet by a whopping third of a meter. A week later, she vaulted 3.45 meters against a field of Division I athletes at Cornell University, finishing third overall.
“[She’s] competitive,” Head Coach Jennifer Potter said. “She doesn’t like to lose at all. And in the pole vault, an extremely technical event where you can have a bad day at any point, that’s tough. But Kristen has done great; she is very talented and has been able to improve with time.”
Training can be tough at times, both mentally and physically, but DeStefano has found a way to keep improving. She said the hard work she puts in at practice is what helps her succeed.
By practicing the vault twice a week and hurdling twice a week, DeStefano has been able to improve on both her speed and vaulting abilities. DeStefano said her events complement each other because she needs to build up speed and have the ability to think fast, whether that means adjusting her hurdle rhythm or swinging her hips a little higher to make it over the bar.
“The goal from here on out is to just keep improving the little things, bit by bit, and hopefully, it will all come together at nationals,” she said.