Heineike Family Ties (OH)

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Heineike Family Ties (OH)

Unread postby rainbowgirl28 » Fri May 08, 2009 1:22 pm

http://www.delgazette.com/sports.asp?ID=1639&Story=2

Family ties - BV sophomore Kayla Heineike and her dad Tom share a lot, including record-breaking talent

Wednesday, May 6, 2009


By BEN STROUP
Sports Editor

The pole-vaulting community has come a long way over the last 50 years, evolving, shifting and shaping itself into what you see today. But the more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.

Just ask Kayla and Tom Heineike — a father-daughter duo with a lot in common, starting with their passion for the pole vault.

Thanks to Kayla’s nine-foot performance in Tuesday’s tri-meet with visiting Worthington Christian and Village Academy, the Buckeye Valley sophomore holds the school record … and she keeps raising the bar.

The previous mark, 8-9, was also hers — a height she cleared earlier this season. She holds the middle school record, too, clearing 7-8 as an eighth grader.

Kayla said the success stems from a focused approach.

“I was really nervous before my attempt,” she said. “But once I did it, I forgot about everything around me and just thought about the vault.”

Tom, also a school-record holder, spent his high school days in Kansas, where he was a standout vaulter at Wichita West. He cleared 12-10 3/4 as a senior.

But that’s where the similarities start to separate. Both love the sport, both are extremely good at it, but both took different paths to the pole-vaulting party.

Today, the athletes use fiberglass poles, and after flipping themselves over the bar, fall harmlessly into a cushiony pillow pad.

Not the case in the ’60s.

“In those days, we used metal poles and landed in sand pits,” Tom said. “So you landed on your feet or you didn’t do it anymore.

“When I was in middle school, I learned on my own, jumping over fences and across creeks. I just played around with it.”

That, his laid-back approach, is why Tom got a bigger kick out of watching his daughter break a school record than actually breaking one himself. He didn’t care enough back then. Now, he couldn’t care more.

“The most special moment, by far, was watching Kayla break the record,” he said. “Just knowing she has the opportunity to do special things makes it great. I never got too serious or had a coach.”

Which brings us to back to Kayla and the new-school style of pole vaulting.

She not only has a coach, she has several, including BV’s Chris Diller and Ohio State’s David Gracia, who heads a pole-vaulting academy based at Oak Creek Gymnastics — a gym owned by none other than Tom himself.

“All she has to do is walk out the back door and it’s there for her,” he said.

And Kayla’s not the only one benefiting from it.

Liberty’s Chris and Joey Uhle, Jade Riebold and Olentangy’s Austin Hicks, among others, also train at the facility.

Garcia has 30 years of coaching experience and had a hand in bringing women’s pole vault to Ohio Wesleyan University.

And Tom, not officially a coach, but an invested father to say the least, gives Kayla pointers, too.

Needless to say, she’s in good hands and expects to get better as the season goes on.

“My goal is to clear 9-6 by the end of the year,” Kayla said.

Just think of the heights she could clear by the time she’s a senior. Forget about school records, the family record might be in jeopardy.

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