This year's track-and-field sectionals might be the last ones in
which weigh-ins for the pole vault are not mandatory. Poles are
certified to bear a certain weight, measured in five-pound
increments, and if a vaulter weighs 140 pounds, he or she cannot use
a 135-pound pole.
Currently, as at any other meet, the games committee of a
sectional can decide to require weigh-ins, but most are based on an
honor system. Jim Flynn, the IHSA assistant executive director in
charge of track, predicts the board will make weigh-ins mandatory
beginning next year.
If a vaulter uses a lighter pole that can bear his or her weight,
it is easier to get the pole to bend and shoot him or her higher.
However, it also is easier for the pole to break and injure the
athlete. Flynn recalled a meet this year where a girl's pole broke,
and afterward officials discovered it was too light for her weight.
Doug Juraska, Lake Park's pole-vault coach, said that with proper
technique, a heavier pole actually can propel the vaulter farther.
Lancers junior Ryan Lynn, who Juraska estimates weighs less than 150
pounds, uses a 170-pound pole.
"Really, the bigger the pole you get on, the higher you jump,"
Juraska said.
PERFECT: Chris Schuch, a 16-year-old sophomore at Brother Rice,
bowled a 300 game at Brunswick Arena Lanes in Oak Lawn on March 30.
It was the middle game of a 780 series.
TOP 100: Chicago-based football recruiting analyst Tom Lemming
lists five Illinois players on his preliminary chart of the top 100
in the nation for 2002. They are quarterback Tom Zbikowski of Buffalo
Grove, offensive linemen Mike Jones of Richards and Akim Millington
of Wheaton North and defensive linemen Moe Dampeer of Decatur
MacArthur and James Ryan of Batavia.
FAMILIAR FACES: According to Chicago-based basketball recruiting
analyst Harv Schmidt, Peoria Richwoods sophomore Shaun Livingston and
junior all-staters Brian Randle of Peoria Notre Dame and Richard
McBride of Springfield Lanphier were standouts at the recent Spiece
Run N' Slam Classic in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Another standout was junior Nick Brooks of Downstate Robinson.
Chicago-area notables were sophomore Gordon Watt of Evanston, 6-
10 junior Ousmane Barro of Julian, sophomore Frank Clair of Leo,
eighth-grader Willie Walker of Romeoville and 6-8 junior Phil French
of Illinois Lutheran.
FRESH FACES: Several area basketball players boosted their stock
in the recent Sabres Foundation Invitational in Minneapolis.
According to Jeremy Tiers of Bob Gibbons All-Star Report, they
were 6-10, 325-pound Kenneth Harris of Hammond (Ind.) Bishop Noll, 6-
5 Jamal Nash of Gary (Ind.) Roosevelt, Shannon Brown and Charles
Richardson of Proviso East, 6-5 Lafayette Bell of Glenbard West and 6-
8 Kevin Chester of Steinmetz.
Contributing: Taylor Bell, Steve Tucker
Copyright 2002 Chicago Sun-Times. This material
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