Tyler Cone set three new personal bests at the Chandler Rotary Invitational meet in Arizona to earn the title of Pole Vault City Athlete of theWeek. His new PR of 14′ eclipses his previous best of 13′ by 12 inches clearing 13’6″, 13’9″ and finally 14′. Breakthroughs of this magnitude are few and far between and usually happen after a full slate of off season conditioning and training, but not in Tyler’s case. Tyler’s breakthrough came as a result of determination and fate.
After being injured during one of the Pole Vault City Elite Vault Camps over the summer, Tyler flew to Melbourne, Florida over his spring break to finish the training he was due. After 2 days of making some minor technical changes, a rainstorm rolled in and changed Tyler’s pole vault future dramatically. Because of the rain, we had to close the door which limited Tyler’s run. It was the last day of training for Tyler and he was very excited about trying to vault 13’3″, which is the qualifier for the Arizona State Championships. After coming up with a plan, Tyler decided to try altering his bounding style run for one with a little more aggressive tempo. By the end of the evening, Tyler was rearranging his flight plans to stay another day to work on the magic he had discovered that night.
Tyler’s efforts and willing to change paid big dividends as he found himself setting PR’s and getting on much larger poles than he was used to in competition. It is because of Tyler’s determination to succeed that he was selected as the Pole Vault City Athlete of the Week. Congratulations Tyler.
