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Paul Heglar jumping 17'2" for 2nd place at Nationals Paul jumping at 12' in practice
Paul started vaulting in 1958 at the age of 10 (6th grade). As a senior in 1966 at John Muir high school in Pasadena, California he was the #1 vaulter in the nation at 16’3" (3rd high school vaulter to clear 16’). After graduation from high school Paul attended Pasadena City College where he went undefeated and was named National Junior College Field Athlete of the Year. Later that year he placed fifth in the National AAU championships (All American). Paul then transferred to the University of Texas at El Paso where he was 3 time NCAA All American. In 1970 he placed 2nd at the National AAU championships jumping 17’2" (Bob Seagren – the 1968 Olympic Champion won on misses). That summer Paul represented the United States in our duel meets with France, Germany and the Soviet Union. Paul got involved with the National Pole Vault Summit in the early 1990's and started coaching at Incline High School. In 2002 he moved to Reno and started coaching at Galena High School. When Paul started coaching he also started a USATF sanctioned club called the Lake Tahoe Pole Vault Club, which was a summer program used to continue working with interested vaulters of all ages. In 2004 Paul joined forces with the Nevada Throwers Club which was renamed Reno Tahoe Athletics (RTA). Paul is the current president of the RTA, being elected in the fall of 2005.
Those are my statistics, but how did it all get started? I don’t know if any of you reading this had an older brother or sister that was doing something that you really wanted to do and they told you “no, you’re too young”. Well that’s what happened to me when I was in the sixth grade and my brother and his friends were in the eighth grade just learning how to pole vault in our back yard. That made me so mad that I would wait until they were finished, then I would go out and practice and practice. My whole goal in life was to “beat my brother”. It took me until I was in the tenth grade. My brother and I were both jumping 12’6” – neither one of us could get over 13’, until one meet I couldn’t jump on the varsity pit because I was too young. The junior varsity pit was outside the track (which was set down in a bowl). The runway started about six feet above the takeoff area, so I would run downhill until my last three steps which was level. I went from 12’6” to 13’10” in that one meet and even though I knew it was because of the runway, I finally figured out I could do this thing. Later that year I set a California “B” record at 14'2” and coaches from around the country started calling me. They wanted me to go to their college and they said they were going to pay for the whole thing. And all I wanted to do was to “beat my brother”. You have to be careful on what you ask for and focus on.
In the Los Angeles area back in the 60’s during the summer there was an all-comers meet at a different college or high school every Monday thru Friday. I would jump in every one of those meets all summer long. Southern California in the 60’s was the training area for almost every top vaulter in the nation. I would compete (and watch closely) vaulters such as Bob Seagren, John Pennel, Paul Wilson, Dick Railsback, Fred Hanson, Bob Steinoff. I would watch what they were doing – try their techniques in practice – keep what worked – and got rid of what didn’t. My jumping style was the combination of all the best vaulters in the world. We didn’t have video tapes or YouTube back then so we had to rely on paying attention at meets and bringing it back to the practice sessions. I’ve never had a coach my entire career, I’ve always been self coached. My personal best of 17’2” was done at the nationals into a head wind, so I moved my grip down to 14’2” – which was a 3’8” push off. So not having a coach, or one that has a vast knowledge of the vault isn’t an excuse for not being great. It’s the work ethic that will take you to the next level. We didn’t know anything about training or cross training, so my workouts were jumping for 4 to 5 hours every day except meet days (my run was a run-up starting from 150 to 160 feet to a check mark at 128 feet).
Those are my statistics, but how did it all get started? I don’t know if any of you reading this had an older brother or sister that was doing something that you really wanted to do and they told you “no, you’re too young”. Well that’s what happened to me when I was in the sixth grade and my brother and his friends were in the eighth grade just learning how to pole vault in our back yard. That made me so mad that I would wait until they were finished, then I would go out and practice and practice. My whole goal in life was to “beat my brother”. It took me until I was in the tenth grade. My brother and I were both jumping 12’6” – neither one of us could get over 13’, until one meet I couldn’t jump on the varsity pit because I was too young. The junior varsity pit was outside the track (which was set down in a bowl). The runway started about six feet above the takeoff area, so I would run downhill until my last three steps which was level. I went from 12’6” to 13’10” in that one meet and even though I knew it was because of the runway, I finally figured out I could do this thing. Later that year I set a California “B” record at 14'2” and coaches from around the country started calling me. They wanted me to go to their college and they said they were going to pay for the whole thing. And all I wanted to do was to “beat my brother”. You have to be careful on what you ask for and focus on.
In the Los Angeles area back in the 60’s during the summer there was an all-comers meet at a different college or high school every Monday thru Friday. I would jump in every one of those meets all summer long. Southern California in the 60’s was the training area for almost every top vaulter in the nation. I would compete (and watch closely) vaulters such as Bob Seagren, John Pennel, Paul Wilson, Dick Railsback, Fred Hanson, Bob Steinoff. I would watch what they were doing – try their techniques in practice – keep what worked – and got rid of what didn’t. My jumping style was the combination of all the best vaulters in the world. We didn’t have video tapes or YouTube back then so we had to rely on paying attention at meets and bringing it back to the practice sessions. I’ve never had a coach my entire career, I’ve always been self coached. My personal best of 17’2” was done at the nationals into a head wind, so I moved my grip down to 14’2” – which was a 3’8” push off. So not having a coach, or one that has a vast knowledge of the vault isn’t an excuse for not being great. It’s the work ethic that will take you to the next level. We didn’t know anything about training or cross training, so my workouts were jumping for 4 to 5 hours every day except meet days (my run was a run-up starting from 150 to 160 feet to a check mark at 128 feet).