November 21st
So at the University of Guelph the vaulters practice 6 times weekly in an un-insulated dome on the infield of a 185 metre long track, 15 metres shy of the standard indoor track. Usually the colder it is outside, the colder it is in the dome so in the winter we practice in 2 degrees Celsius, depending on the day. Because of this we wear sweatshirts and pants and tuques while jumping instead of shorts and pinnies.
My first year was also the first year of pole-vault at Guelph and without a proper trough(box) we would dig out a spot for a temporary trough in the long jump pit every practice. That small corner of the dome wasn’t particularly safe but it was all we had and our small mats did the trick. If the jumpers needed the pit, we placed the box on the ground up against the mats and attached weights to minimize movement. Later that year myself and another vaulter helped dig out a hole below the astroturf and finally installed the box when it was 20 below (inside the dome). Over the past few years we have acquired a strip of mondo for a runway, proper sized second hand mats and a few new poles. We’ve even sent 3 vaulters to the university nationals. To cap off our development as a team Guelph hosted its first ever sanctioned field meet this year (our track is too small to have any track events). So although few attended from other schools and it felt a lot like a busy practice, it was great to jump on home turf, in the freezing cold, and have it count for the rankings. Small crowds of people sporting their heaviest winter outfits came out and gathered by the long jump pit, throwing area, high jump mats and vault runway while we competed in our events. It was a wonderful first for the veterans (not the war kind) and I was thrilled to be part of it before I graduate.
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