TWO Mount Isa Athletics Club members recently had the rare opportunity to try their hand at one of athletics’ most exciting events, the pole vault.

In recent years pole vault has been on the rise in North Queensland since Level 2 coach Paul Hallett, originally from England, put together the North’s first vault squad at the Sarina Athletic Club near Mackay in 2005. In the past two years athletes from Bowen, Cairns and Townsville have also started trying their hand at the event.

Having two of the club’s coaches originating from the Sarina Club it was not difficult to organise a training session for 15-year-old pair James Sweeney and Mars Larsen at the close of Saturday’s competition at the North Queensland Championships in Townsville.

Hallett took the two boys through the basics in a two hour crash course. Both athletes, while exhausted and excited, had managed to grasp the concepts and techniques required to enter the pole vaulting competition on Sunday morning.

James Sweeney was the first of the Mount Isa boys to attempt the opening height.

He put aside any nerves he may have had from the previous day and in front of nearly 100 spectators cleared the bar with room to spare.

He then went on to clear a height of two metres before fouling out.

Teammate, Mars Larsen, took to the event like a duck to water, clearing his opening height with ease and was heard to utter the words “how fun is this?” during the competition.

Larsen finished the event with a final height of 2.40m, 10cm higher than the 2.30m state qualifying standard which was a very commendable performance for his first vaulting competition.

Coach Hallett said both athletes showed great potential and were quick learners and was very pleased with their efforts, especially with the added pressure of competing in a new event for the first time in front of so many people.