Wes Kittley Invitational
Brandon, my Dad, and I piled into our minivan on Friday, March 15, and headed to Abilene, TX, for the Wes Kittley Invitational track meet at Abilene Christian University on Saturday afternoon. Was a nice day and warmups went well. Brandon opened at 14’5″ clearing on 1st attempt, then went out at 14’11″… poles were too small even though he used a stiffer pole for each attempt. Bam, bam, out… those 3 attempts go really fast when you are trying to make adjustments!
During the competition I met North Texas coach Derek Mackel and we all liked what we saw as he coached his team during the meet. We also know their top vaulter Brock Hottel. His dad and I vaulted together at OU back in the day.
Six Flags over Texas
After the meet, we drove to Ft. Worth for the evening, got up Sunday morning and attended the North Beach Church of Christ worship service. From there we made our way to Arlington, reserved a hotel room near Six Flags over Texas, and spent the rest of the day in the park riding roller coasters and eating hot dogs and funnel cakes.
Altius Poles Factory Visit
We were desperately needing to get some bigger poles in his bag, so Monday morning we drove the two hours to Jacksonville, Texas, the home of the Altius Pole company. Jeff Erickson, the owner, has a runway and pit inside his factory where he coaches and advises visiting athletes on proper technique as well as proper pole selection.
As we walked in, we noticed that there was already a vault session underway. Jeff is the vault coach at Stephen F. Austin University, and several of his vaulters were working out during their spring break. But the really cool discovery, was that Jenn Suhr was getting a vault workout in as well. Jenn is the reigning women’s indoor world record holder at a height of 16’6″, and is also an Olympic and World Champion! It was a pleasure to 
meet Jenn and watch her vault! Brandon can now say he has practiced with one of the best vaulters in the world.
On Jeff’s advice, we decided to extend Brandon’s series of 14’6″ Carbon Elite poles with a couple of stiffer flexes, and in the near future we’ll get a couple of 15′ poles which should get him through the school track season. He had only a single 14’6″ pole in stock and it happened to be the next pole we needed… a 200lb 4.9 flex.
We spent the night in nearby Tyler, Texas, so we could return the next day for a 2nd vault session. The goal was to jump on the new 4.9 flex so we could determine the flex of the next three poles that Jeff would make for us. 
After the vault session, Jeff took us on a tour of his new facility a short distance away. He’s in the process of moving the factory and will be greatly expanding services he will be able to offer athletes who come to visit him. He will have a huge indoor training building which will house 4 vault pits, a sprinting track, and weight lifting and gymnastic areas. Another building will be for lodging/dorm rooms so athletes can spend the night onsite. Can’t wait to see it next time we visit! We then loaded into the van and drove home, meeting our good friend Robert McDonald in Antlers, Oklahoma, to deliver some poles that he ordered from Altius. Got home about 2am Wednesday morning!
University of North Texas Visit
North Texas vault coach Derek Mackel contacted Brandon to work out a visit to UNT and we were able to schedule the visit on Friday, March 22nd while we were on the way to compete at the Jesuit-Shearer Relays in Dallas. So Thursday evening, Brandon, Rece and I loaded the van and again headed south to Denton, Texas. It was great to meet and visit with Head Coach Carl Sheffield and Derek did a great job showing Brandon the campus and introducing him to the North Texas track program. We were impressed with the brand new track and the new indoor athletic facility being built. The athletic and academic support staff and programs were top notch!
Jesuit-Sheaner Relays
After leaving Denton, we met up with the Broken Arrow High School track team at their hotel in Dallas Friday evening. The Dallas Jesuit Prep School hosted the Jesuit-Sheaner Relays on Saturday morning which got off to a rainy and cool start. Bursts of rain caused delays several times after the competition started. Brandon’s warmups went well and he entered the competition at 14’6″ clearing first attempt, but again at 15′ we were unable to make adjustments to get over the bar.
Spring Break Wrap-up
After the meet, we were able to make it to the wedding of one of Brandon’s good friends in the Dallas area, before making the trip home Saturday evening. We had a Sunday afternoon vault session setup with Coach Dial at ORU, so Brandon vaulted again, but after the gauntlet of vault sessions in Texas, he focused on working technique from a short run. I think we wore him out, but it was another spring break that we will all remember!