Smith Looking To Reach Rare Air
March 08, 2018 | Track & Field
Gilbert, Neale, Smith Head For NCAA Indoors
By Rich Myhre
SEATTLE - On the first day of track and field practice in the spring of 2012, the Helena (Mont.) High School coaches scheduled what might be called a "weed-out workout." That is, a grueling series of sprints to find out which kids were really serious about being runners.
Turns out, Chase Smith wasn't all that serious.
As a high school freshman, Smith was less than enthused about running. So when some friends suggested they go over and join the pole vaulters -- who didn't seem to be working very hard, at least compared to the runners who were huffing and puffing around the track -- he agreed.
Six years later, Smith is still a pole vaulter. Not only that, he is soaring with the best. After ending up as the top high school pole vaulter to date in Montana, he is now vying to become No. 1 in University of Washington history as well.
That latter goal would be no small accomplishment, given that Washington's top all-time pole vaulter is Brad Walker, the only UW athlete in history to clear 19 feet (19-0¼, indoors, 2003); a two-time Olympian and the 2006 indoor and 2007 outdoor world champion, Walker remains the U.S. record holder (19-9¾, post-UW in 2008). Still Smith, a junior, has already reached 18 feet indoors (18-1, Feb. 12), so a school record is possible, as is his quest to claim both an NCAA championship and a place on a future U.S. Olympic team.
But back to that day in Montana. Had his friends not spoken up, Smith might have continued running the 400, as he did in middle school. And today, he said, "I wouldn't have ended up here (at Washington). I'd probably be studying biology at Montana State and doing a lot more snowmobiling than I am now."
That Smith would become a pole vaulter might seem a logical, even fitting outcome. After all, his father, Pete Smith, won a state championship in pole vaulting at Washougal High School in 1983 and later competed for two seasons at Eastern Washington University.
But as a boy, Chase Smith said, "he never put pole vault on me. He was never like, 'Let's go pole vault.' I knew it's what he did, but I hadn't really thought about it for myself."
On the evening of that first high school track practice, "I came home and said, 'Dad, I think I'm going to pole vault.' And his exact words were, 'I'm just tickled.'"
As a high school freshman, Smith managed 9-6. A year later he was clearing 13 feet. In his junior season he finished second at the state meet by vaulting 14-0, while also topping 14-6 in the regular season. Then in his senior season he set the state record (in Montana, state marks must be done at the state meet) by reaching 16-4, easily bettering the previous record of 15-9. Ironically, he went 16-5 in another meet the same season, so his school record is actually 1 inch better than his state record.
"After his sophomore season in high school, he really got serious about pole vaulting," Pete Smith said. "He just said, 'This is what I want to do,' and he's never stopped."
Pete Smith and his wife Barbara "are just thrilled that he picked something up and has done really well with it," he said. "It's hard to describe the feeling you have, seeing how successful he's been. But it just makes you so proud."
Chase Smith chose to attend Washington in part because of the school's strong academic programs -- a biology major, he hopes to attend medical school someday -- and also because his high school pole vault coach, Bill Hurford, is good friends with UW assistant coach and jump specialist Pat Licari.
As a UW freshman in 2016, Smith finished fifth in the Pacific-12 Conference meet with a vault of 16-8¾. He later cleared 16-10 at the NCAA West Preliminaries, finishing 16th and just missing a top 12 finish that would have qualified him for the NCAA Championships. A year later he advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he placed 11th with a mark of 17-6½, which earned him second-team All-America recognition.
An appendectomy interrupted his sophomore outdoor season -- he was sidelined for one month -- but he still managed a fourth-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships and then finished tied for 15th at the NCAA West Preliminaries, again just missing a trip to the NCAA Championships.
Buoyed by his 18-1 vault last month in Seattle, Smith will be in College Station, Texas, this weekend for the NCAA Indoor Championships at Texas A&M University. He will be part of an elite field of 16 vaulters, with all but one having reached 18 feet this indoor season, and one having cleared 19 feet.
Getting to 18 feet this season was "definitely a milestone," Smith said. Competing at Dempsey Indoor on the UW campus, he had already gained a personal best with a vault of 17-11¾ a few minutes before, and then he went back right back and cleared 18-1 on his next attempt. The elation of that moment, he said, "was huge."
Licari, who coached Walker at Washington from 2000-04, has no trouble finding valid comparisons between the two vaulters.
"Chase has all the same qualities (as Walker)," Licari said. "He has all the same physical abilities, mental qualities, work ethic and everything that Brad had. So it's pretty much spot-on similar. He's capable of doing everything that Brad did, for sure, and that's a pretty high level."
Smith's best quality, Licari went on, "is that he's a really hard worker. He'll do anything you want him to do without any question. He's just committed to being the best he can be at pole vaulting, and he's relentless about it. He has that extra drive, most definitely."
Generally speaking, the recipe for pole vaulting success is equal parts athletic ability, dedication and an indifference to fear. And that last one is no small thing. After all, elite vaulters soar upside-down to the vicinity of 20 feet, twist their bodies over the bar and then, if all goes well, plummet back to the landing pad unscathed.
But the fact is, things do not always go well. Occasional awkward, frightening and even perilous moments are a given, and it takes a brave soul to pick up the bar and go do it again. All top vaulters, including Smith, have their horror stories. Like having a pole snap in midair, which has happened to Smith twice; he has seen it happen to other vaulters many times.
There is also the nightmarish moment of a vaulter rising to the apex of his attempt, but without enough forward momentum to reach the landing pit, and thus dropping straight back down. Like cats, who have a way of flipping themselves in midair so they can land on their feet, good vaulters develop the same knack of wriggling their bodies to the edge of the padded pit. Short of that, they at least need the poise to continue holding onto the pole and riding it back down.
The fear factor in pole vaulting is real, Smith said, "and it comes in waves. Some days you just have to be reckless. You have to run down the runway with not a care in the world and just put the pole in the box. If there's even a shard of fear in your head, you're not going to (be your best)."
Ultimately, Smith said, becoming a top pole vaulter comes down "to repetition. With an individualized team sport like track, a lot of the success comes from how well you work hard by yourself. Because you have to put in the extra hours in order to get good at it. And the more and more you pole vault, the less fear you have and the more confidence there is.
"You need an athletic base," he went on. "You can't come in as a klutz and think you're going to be a (great) pole vaulter. But if you have a big enough base and then you work hard, you can (excel). And I feel that's where I am. I'm not super athletic. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on our (pole vault) team that can't do a back flip. But I have enough athletic ability that I can build on that with my hard work to reach those higher heights."
Before every season, Smith meets with Licari to talk about goals. The discussion covers various heights and accomplishments, with the latter including such feats as winning an NCAA championship or becoming a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier. The goals are important, Smith said, because he considers himself "a target guy."
But during a competition, he said, "my target is always to have fun. Because if I'm having fun, I know I'm going to be jumping well."
It helps, too, that major meets tend to bring out the best in Smith. Indeed, he said, "the funky thing about meets is that more comes out of you than you thought you had. … I think I have the potential to do way better during a meet (compared to practice). I feel like the national stage is what it's going to take to drive me to higher heights."
Over the next two seasons, Smith will be bidding to reach those higher heights at the annual NCAA Championships.
"I want a national championship," he said. "I've got four left (indoor and outdoor) to try to get, and I'm going to try my best to try to capture a national title."
What would that mean for him?
"The world," he said. "It would mean all this hard work (was worthwhile). It's like another one of those other milestones. The 18-foot milestone, I was super happy when I got that, but I knew there was another one. So now can I go out and win a national title (this weekend at the indoor championships)? Can I do it for outdoors (later in the spring)? And after I do that, can I repeat it?
"By the time 2020 rolls around, am I going to be able to make the Olympic team? And if I do, am I going to be able to go out and qualify for the final, and then maybe medal? Because if I could medal at the Olympics, then my life is complete."
By Rich Myhre
SEATTLE - On the first day of track and field practice in the spring of 2012, the Helena (Mont.) High School coaches scheduled what might be called a "weed-out workout." That is, a grueling series of sprints to find out which kids were really serious about being runners.
Turns out, Chase Smith wasn't all that serious.
As a high school freshman, Smith was less than enthused about running. So when some friends suggested they go over and join the pole vaulters -- who didn't seem to be working very hard, at least compared to the runners who were huffing and puffing around the track -- he agreed.
Six years later, Smith is still a pole vaulter. Not only that, he is soaring with the best. After ending up as the top high school pole vaulter to date in Montana, he is now vying to become No. 1 in University of Washington history as well.
That latter goal would be no small accomplishment, given that Washington's top all-time pole vaulter is Brad Walker, the only UW athlete in history to clear 19 feet (19-0¼, indoors, 2003); a two-time Olympian and the 2006 indoor and 2007 outdoor world champion, Walker remains the U.S. record holder (19-9¾, post-UW in 2008). Still Smith, a junior, has already reached 18 feet indoors (18-1, Feb. 12), so a school record is possible, as is his quest to claim both an NCAA championship and a place on a future U.S. Olympic team.
But back to that day in Montana. Had his friends not spoken up, Smith might have continued running the 400, as he did in middle school. And today, he said, "I wouldn't have ended up here (at Washington). I'd probably be studying biology at Montana State and doing a lot more snowmobiling than I am now."
That Smith would become a pole vaulter might seem a logical, even fitting outcome. After all, his father, Pete Smith, won a state championship in pole vaulting at Washougal High School in 1983 and later competed for two seasons at Eastern Washington University.
But as a boy, Chase Smith said, "he never put pole vault on me. He was never like, 'Let's go pole vault.' I knew it's what he did, but I hadn't really thought about it for myself."
On the evening of that first high school track practice, "I came home and said, 'Dad, I think I'm going to pole vault.' And his exact words were, 'I'm just tickled.'"
As a high school freshman, Smith managed 9-6. A year later he was clearing 13 feet. In his junior season he finished second at the state meet by vaulting 14-0, while also topping 14-6 in the regular season. Then in his senior season he set the state record (in Montana, state marks must be done at the state meet) by reaching 16-4, easily bettering the previous record of 15-9. Ironically, he went 16-5 in another meet the same season, so his school record is actually 1 inch better than his state record.
"After his sophomore season in high school, he really got serious about pole vaulting," Pete Smith said. "He just said, 'This is what I want to do,' and he's never stopped."
Pete Smith and his wife Barbara "are just thrilled that he picked something up and has done really well with it," he said. "It's hard to describe the feeling you have, seeing how successful he's been. But it just makes you so proud."
Chase Smith chose to attend Washington in part because of the school's strong academic programs -- a biology major, he hopes to attend medical school someday -- and also because his high school pole vault coach, Bill Hurford, is good friends with UW assistant coach and jump specialist Pat Licari.
As a UW freshman in 2016, Smith finished fifth in the Pacific-12 Conference meet with a vault of 16-8¾. He later cleared 16-10 at the NCAA West Preliminaries, finishing 16th and just missing a top 12 finish that would have qualified him for the NCAA Championships. A year later he advanced to the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he placed 11th with a mark of 17-6½, which earned him second-team All-America recognition.
An appendectomy interrupted his sophomore outdoor season -- he was sidelined for one month -- but he still managed a fourth-place finish at the Pac-12 Championships and then finished tied for 15th at the NCAA West Preliminaries, again just missing a trip to the NCAA Championships.
Buoyed by his 18-1 vault last month in Seattle, Smith will be in College Station, Texas, this weekend for the NCAA Indoor Championships at Texas A&M University. He will be part of an elite field of 16 vaulters, with all but one having reached 18 feet this indoor season, and one having cleared 19 feet.
Getting to 18 feet this season was "definitely a milestone," Smith said. Competing at Dempsey Indoor on the UW campus, he had already gained a personal best with a vault of 17-11¾ a few minutes before, and then he went back right back and cleared 18-1 on his next attempt. The elation of that moment, he said, "was huge."
Licari, who coached Walker at Washington from 2000-04, has no trouble finding valid comparisons between the two vaulters.
"Chase has all the same qualities (as Walker)," Licari said. "He has all the same physical abilities, mental qualities, work ethic and everything that Brad had. So it's pretty much spot-on similar. He's capable of doing everything that Brad did, for sure, and that's a pretty high level."
Smith's best quality, Licari went on, "is that he's a really hard worker. He'll do anything you want him to do without any question. He's just committed to being the best he can be at pole vaulting, and he's relentless about it. He has that extra drive, most definitely."
Generally speaking, the recipe for pole vaulting success is equal parts athletic ability, dedication and an indifference to fear. And that last one is no small thing. After all, elite vaulters soar upside-down to the vicinity of 20 feet, twist their bodies over the bar and then, if all goes well, plummet back to the landing pad unscathed.
But the fact is, things do not always go well. Occasional awkward, frightening and even perilous moments are a given, and it takes a brave soul to pick up the bar and go do it again. All top vaulters, including Smith, have their horror stories. Like having a pole snap in midair, which has happened to Smith twice; he has seen it happen to other vaulters many times.
There is also the nightmarish moment of a vaulter rising to the apex of his attempt, but without enough forward momentum to reach the landing pit, and thus dropping straight back down. Like cats, who have a way of flipping themselves in midair so they can land on their feet, good vaulters develop the same knack of wriggling their bodies to the edge of the padded pit. Short of that, they at least need the poise to continue holding onto the pole and riding it back down.
The fear factor in pole vaulting is real, Smith said, "and it comes in waves. Some days you just have to be reckless. You have to run down the runway with not a care in the world and just put the pole in the box. If there's even a shard of fear in your head, you're not going to (be your best)."
Ultimately, Smith said, becoming a top pole vaulter comes down "to repetition. With an individualized team sport like track, a lot of the success comes from how well you work hard by yourself. Because you have to put in the extra hours in order to get good at it. And the more and more you pole vault, the less fear you have and the more confidence there is.
"You need an athletic base," he went on. "You can't come in as a klutz and think you're going to be a (great) pole vaulter. But if you have a big enough base and then you work hard, you can (excel). And I feel that's where I am. I'm not super athletic. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one on our (pole vault) team that can't do a back flip. But I have enough athletic ability that I can build on that with my hard work to reach those higher heights."
Before every season, Smith meets with Licari to talk about goals. The discussion covers various heights and accomplishments, with the latter including such feats as winning an NCAA championship or becoming a U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier. The goals are important, Smith said, because he considers himself "a target guy."
But during a competition, he said, "my target is always to have fun. Because if I'm having fun, I know I'm going to be jumping well."
It helps, too, that major meets tend to bring out the best in Smith. Indeed, he said, "the funky thing about meets is that more comes out of you than you thought you had. … I think I have the potential to do way better during a meet (compared to practice). I feel like the national stage is what it's going to take to drive me to higher heights."
Over the next two seasons, Smith will be bidding to reach those higher heights at the annual NCAA Championships.
"I want a national championship," he said. "I've got four left (indoor and outdoor) to try to get, and I'm going to try my best to try to capture a national title."
What would that mean for him?
"The world," he said. "It would mean all this hard work (was worthwhile). It's like another one of those other milestones. The 18-foot milestone, I was super happy when I got that, but I knew there was another one. So now can I go out and win a national title (this weekend at the indoor championships)? Can I do it for outdoors (later in the spring)? And after I do that, can I repeat it?
"By the time 2020 rolls around, am I going to be able to make the Olympic team? And if I do, am I going to be able to go out and qualify for the final, and then maybe medal? Because if I could medal at the Olympics, then my life is complete."
Players Mentioned
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