Adam Rife Article

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http://www.spokesmanreview.com/sports-n ... ion.sports

Pole vaulter sets sights on 15 feet
East Valley High senior Adam Rife keeps busy with school, piano and breaking long-standing school record


Steve Christilaw
Correspondent

These days Adam Rife is getting squeezed.

The East Valley pole vaulter doesn't have a lot of spare time. He's a classical pianist who also plays the organ for his church and is a member of the honor society while taking a host of advanced-placement classes.

And 10 days ago he became the best pole vaulter in school history, breaking a 26-year-old record during a Greater Spokane League meet at Mead. The senior cleared 14-feet, 2-inches, one half inch higher than Johnny Johnson clear


ed in 1978.

"With everything I have going on?" Rife asked rhetorically. "Yeah, my time is getting pretty squeezed."

In fact, about the only time that Rife doesn't feel a time crunch is when he's waiting for the start of his main event during a track meet.

"That's a hard time for me," he said. "I started long jumping this year. I haven't done it that much and I don't practice it that much because I don't want to take away from my pole vaulting, but it does give me something to do to occupy myself before the pole vault starts."

That Thursday night at Mead was special.

"I really enjoyed that evening," Rife said. "It was a little cold and I like that. I think I vault better when it's cold."

He vaults pretty well when it's dark, too.

"What was pretty amazing about that was the fact that Mead doesn't have lights out there," East Valley coach Dave McCarty said. "By the time they finished up out there it was dark. I don't know how he was able to see the bar, let alone get over it."

Rife wanted to try clearing 14-6, but the conditions were too dark and McCarty pulled the plug on the effort.

"It was pretty dark," Rife said. "One of our coaches said he could see me moving the pole around trying to find the plant box."

Two days later, Rife failed to post a qualifying height at the Pasco Invitational.

"The conditions were cold and rainy and Adam was moving up from a 14-foot pole to a 15-foot pole," McCarty said. "He passed on every height up to 12 feet and then failed to clear it. I kidded him about that when he got back -- he has a great sense of humor."

As he gets used to the longer pole, Rife figures to take his school record to new heights.

"I want to clear 15 feet," he said.

That's not out of line in a sport like the pole vault, where there are so many elements of a successful jump that must go right.

"It's not uncommon for everything to suddenly click and for someone to boost their personal record a foot or more in one meet," McCarty said.

"Every once in a while you have a meet where everything just comes together."

Rife has spent almost as much time helping the Knights' younger vaulters as he does with his own technique.

"Adam has really been sort of an extra coach on the field," McCarty said. "We have a pole vault coach, but Adam spends a lot of time working with the younger guys."

To be a successful pole vaulter, it helps to have some athletic experience, Rife and McCarty say.

"It helps to have some experience as a wrestler or as a gymnast," McCarty said. "A sport where you have to learn body control always helps. And it helps if you don't have a problem turning yourself upside down while holding on to a pole."

Rife, who started out as a wrestler, added one more quality."You have to be fearless," he said. "It helps to be fearless."