On Track Catalog Dedication 2000

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Stacy Dragila, you just won $100,000! What are you going to do now? Go to Sydney?

In Dedication...

“The voice of Northern California track and field has been silenced,” wrote The Fresno Bee’s Bruce Farris of the passing of Robert “Bob” Womack this past June. Indeed, who, we wonder, will now speak for our sport like Bob Womack?

Bob Womack Bob, who was inducted into the Fresno State Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1992, built a reputation for being the consummate track meet announcer. Known for his practice of announcing from an up-close perspective on the field, Bob has been described by many as being one of the most knowledgeable and well-prepared announcers to ever call the sport. Whenever a meet was being planned, Bob was the first announcer event organizers would try to confirm.

He served as the public address announcer for the West Coast Relays every year since 1971, announced all Fresno State track meets since 1965, called Stanford and Cal Poly meets and a number of national meets, as well as manning the mike at some 15 cross country meets each year.

At 67, Bob was much too young to leave us, but on a road trip back home from this past year’s National Championships in Eugene, Ore., Bob apparently suffered a heart attack and was involved in an ultimately fatal automobile accident. He died as a result of complications in a Medford, Ore. hospital.

According to The Fresno Bee, Bob once said, “Track is the purest sport, but it is hard to follow, because everything is happening at once. I’m not up there for my golden voice. My job is to put all of that confusion in order for the ticket-buying fans.” Those fans are going to be hard-pressed to find anyone who will make sense of it all for them like Bob Womack did.

Did You Take The $100,000 Beach Pole Vault Challenge?

With an estimated crowd of some 1,500 looking on, Stacy Dragila, the United States’ top female pole vaulter, charged down a runway on Santa Barbara’s Leadbetter Beach on her third and final attempt at 15’ 3/4” and shot over the crossbar, making her the very first woman to clear that height on U.S. soil, and only the second woman in history to go over 15 feet. Her record-breaking performance also made this Pocatello, Idaho, resident the winner of the largest purse ever offered a female vaulter — a $100,000 bounty

That same sunny afternoon, in the Men’s Elite competition, Nick Hysong, the former NCAA Champion living in Phoenix, Ariz., took first place with the day’s best vault of 19’ 1/4”.

Stacy’s and Nick’s performances highlighted those of more than 160 vaulters participating in the $100,000 Beach Pole Vault Challenge on June 20, 1999, an event that On Track is very proud to have sponsored. The two-day festival culminated in the “big money” challenge that pledged a $100,000 prize to any man to clear 20 feet and any woman to break through the 15-foot barrier. The event was organized by Entertainment On A Stick — a group of former John Burroughs High School (Burbank, Calif.) pole vaulters from the 1950’s to ’80’s including Brooks and Steve Morris (Ron Morris’ son and brother, respectively) and Jon Switzer.

On hand, providing coverage and color commentary for a specially-taped presentation of the spectacular, were Olympic Gold Medalist Bob Seagren and sportscaster Jake Downey. (See page 50 for our exclusive videotape of the event and page 26 for Beach Vault T-shirts.) Pit-side, USATF’s Fred and Madeline Arnold, Irv Jackman and Pat O’Malley delivered expert officiating, while Fresno’s Doug Fraley emceed.

Although the highly-anticipated event attracted many of the finest vaulters in the world, event organizers’ primary goal was to foster excitement among the sport’s youngest athletes and to encourage those yet to attempt it, as well as to familiarize the general public with vaulting. Check out the Beach Vault website: www.Beachvault.com.

With help from additional future sponsors, On Track hopes to continue to bring this exciting celebration of pole vaulting to a new generation of vaulters.

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POLE VAULTING: THE NEXT GENERATION!