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Coming at you, Dad: Uhler, a former Falcon, sets Radford pole vault mark
It took John Uhler little more than a year to capture Radford University's indoor and outdoor pole vault records.
But the family mark remains a Most Wanted fugitive.
Uhler, formerly a Fauquier High star who graduated in 2006, has twice broken the school's indoor pole vaulting record — the latest with a jump of 14 feet, 7-and-a-quarter inches on Jan. 25. The sophomore also holds the outdoor best at 13 feet, 11-and-three-quarters inches.
The next goal for Uhler is to tackle his dad Ted's vault of 15-feet, set when he competed for UVa. in the 1970s.
“My biggest goal right now is to break my dad's official record,” John said.
Ted's height is just the next on John's list of desires. It is a list that is rapidly ascending — literally.
The week before 14-foot-7-plus inch vault, Uhler set the Radford indoor record at 14-feet-6 inches.
He believes he can top both his indoor and outdoor records, surpass his father's mark and possibly even challenge the 16-foot, 6 inch NCAA regional qualifying score.
“I can't really say if it's going to happen or not, it's just what I want to happen,” Uhler explained.
Whether he flies over his prior accomplishments or not, Uhler's second collegiate year has already proved impressive.
Uhler is currently the second ranked pole vaulter in the Big South conference behind Kolby Shepherd of Liberty University (Lynchburg).
Shepherd has twice recorded heights of 15 feet, 3 inches this season. Still, Uhler believes that he can surpass him for the conference crown.
“It's going to be a battle about who has more that day when we compete at conference,” Uhler said. The Big South Conference meet is Feb. 29 and Mar. 1 in South Carolina. “I just have to continue what I'm doing, work little-by-little on aspects of my vault technique-wise, and just continue lifting and listening to my coaches.”
Uhler knows all about the importance of paying attention in practice. His coach back at FHS was Ted, who joined the Falcon staff as a volunteer specifically to work with the pole vaulters.
The two Uhlers still train together in the collegiate offseason, working out at Fauquier's track.
The training regimens are clearly paying off. When John left FHS, his personal-best sat right around 13 feet. Two years later, he's added a foot to that outdoors and nearly two feet during the indoor season.
“I was striving for (the indoor record), I was hoping that I'd do it and now I have to break it again,” Uhler said. “For outdoor, I'll blow (the previous record) away this year.”
All of his success can make you wonder why he didn't follow his dad's footsteps to a bigger collegiate program.
Radford, though, is where Uhler wanted to be and he has never wavered on that decision.
“This is where I kind of saw myself, I wanted a smaller school,” Uhler said. “I couldn't see myself going to a school the size of Virginia Tech or anything — my brother (Lee) goes there and he told me all about running cross campus to classes.”
The only running John has to do is on the track.
And he's hoping that one of those sprints ends with a trip over his dad's high mark.
“He's all for it,” said John about Ted's reaction to the family pole vaulting legacy switching owners. “He really wants to see me break his record.”
It's something John would really like to see as well — from about 15 feet up.
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