Article on Pratt

[rainbowgirl28]

So uhh how old is this freshman?



http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Jun/06112003 ... /65088.asp


From Olympics to NCAAs for BYU Pole Vaulter


By Michael C. Lewis
The Salt Lake Tribune

    Robison Pratt already had competed in the Olympic Games by the time he started pole vaulting for Brigham Young University a few months ago. So how much more athletic glory could he possibly achieve?
    Try becoming a four-time collegiate national champion.
    His coach boldly thinks it's a possibility, although Pratt has yet to win his first title. But as the Cougars' record-holder in the event begins his first championship chase as a freshman at the NCAA Track and Field Championships today, he is flush with all of the potential for greatness that anybody could ask.
    "You could coach for 40 years and not have a kid like Robison come through your program," coach Mark Robison said.
    The 23-year-old Pratt is one of the Cougars' most promising entrants in the national meet at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.
    He is the top-ranked vaulter in the field with a season-best jump of 18 feet, 3 inches, and he carries the confidence that comes from having competed against the best in the world during the 2000 Sydney Games.
    "I didn't win a medal," he says, "but I won experience."


    Meanwhile, Pratt is trying not to dwell too much on the high expectations.
    "The thing I've been using all year is a more relaxed approach to the competitions," he says. "Whereas I used to come in more focused on a specific result or a specific place, now I'm more kind of relaxed. I want to enjoy the meet more, and I find I perform my best when I do that."
    That Pratt wound up at BYU is hardly surprising.
    Attending the school and serving an LDS Church mission were two of his top three goals in life -- the other is winning an Olympic gold medal -- and he is named for legendary coach and former Olympian Clarence Robison, the father of the current coach, who coached Pratt's father years ago in the decathlon.
    Pratt spent much of his childhood living in Mexico, where his father owned a ranch and worked as a coach and recruiter for the Mexican national team, and Pratt competed for that nation in Sydney after becoming a three-time Mexican national champion.
    He dreams of competing for Mexico again at the 2004 Athens Games, in part because if he does win a medal, he would be far more recognized in that nation than he would be in the United States.
    "There's more potential to be a good influence on people there," he says.
    Pratt holds dual citizenship not because he was born in Mexico -- he was born in Saudi Arabia -- but because his great, great grandfather earned it while farming in the so-called "Mormon Colonies" established there by Brigham Young in the 1880's.
    "My grandfather's grandpa was one of the first settlers there," Pratt says. "The story goes that he grew corn, and he had such great corn that he entered these corn competitions, like county fairs, and he would win them. And it was, like, nationally recognized, this corn. Everybody just flocked to him. So he won this national award, and the president of Mexico gave him this award. And he said, 'You know what? You can have the award. I just want Mexican citizenship.' So the president granted Mexican citizenship to him and all his posterity."
    Pratt grew up playing all kinds of sports, but fell in love with the pole vault after finding that he could set a personal record every time he jumped. He eventually cleared 18-4 1/2, and says he is capable of clearing 19 feet "on a given day. I know the potential is there, it's just a matter of tapping into it."
    Pratt was the youngest competitor in the field at the Sydney Games, and learned while he was there that he would be serving his two-year church mission in Mexico. He left two months later, and returned only about six months ago -- making his freshman season all the more astounding.
    "It shocks me," he says. "This season has gone way over my expectations. My main goal was build my body up and not get an injury and it has gone way above my expectations. I've just been really blessed."
    In more ways that one, too.
    Pratt has grown to a lean 6-foot-6, which allows him to use longer poles and generate more power in his jumps. And that, in turn, might just allow him to become the Cougars' first outdoor national champion since Leonard Myles-Mills won his second straight 100-meter title in 1999.
    The Cougars have not had a field event champion outdoors since Goran Svensson won the discus in 1980, and they have never had an outdoor pole vault champion -- though Jeff Hansen won the indoor title last year.
    "When he gets faster and stronger, and develops his technique, he will be incredible," coach Robison says. "He's already using such long, big poles; we had to buy all new equipment just for him. Not only will he have a good shot at becoming a world-class vaulter over the next few years, Robison has a legitimate shot at becoming a four-year NCAA champion. To be just a freshman and have a shot now, that's incredible."

[njvaulter]

The 23-year-old Pratt is one of the Cougars' most promising entrants in the national meet at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.

[rainbowgirl28]

The 23-year-old Pratt is one of the Cougars' most promising entrants in the national meet at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif.

Guess I should pay more attention

[aaroncorbett]

I'm pretty impressed with what he has done. First of all, when he was 20, or the equivalent of a soph in college, he jumped 18'4 1/2''. Also he just took 2 years completely away from athletics of any kind and within 6 months he got back into shape and is vaulting 18' again. Thats impressive. I saw him vault at stanford and he is veeery skinny. Once he adds some strength he should be able to go 19'. Either way, the fact that he is now 23 isnt that big of a deal to me. If he did it when he was younger too, then why does 3 years give him such an advantage?