JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?FW9u;V:V&5y-/#׽<3Z?JVhN#9vi(*x:e6~3[ִmo&sU$jIHא'ޙ 9:BIVZ5뚇QHG"n-.J‡9x÷]L Mw;gjYMd*0sn/oL֩X(ݗ^-_NT8):V67?F,`t53Ycf5ɞi ~us.CЫ3~Tyl'd_vTxQ)玤Qv`{A]V.-b~l5…aZϸ` @榶0*ZG,^X켋C2Ǽ܅pGa뼎0Kx qyŎ qn y<䎖&eVE%ycГ~b1V<K5uQ04d'46n=ZnftzXxV=9uܣG"(GSs4}"W 7v$g$Jm3P*v)΂LacF:ftgRZ"8:woo ϵ~ScQa?'riՋ\A9п o$fFC埚)z][cP#i卑Qd@vQ #x΍=isu<l>N@׭i'"RcuDQV 9w(QWjOZt~IX׵uMأrm9J*ɘ c"{vd?ӾԴ˦T'Tu"fs/?js^&(\nE^Y >:"!s#PN$t&/ hZJr?~qZ%vbdQ Py ϥtV}F|Sүq6Og{p)B)X=wHɶiqά>79Lj !4eOʮ j3e~vfNjF-$&>DQǶI4aUX.<'osn>i }}Oҹ?F9݀gL\bUwHU#v'ד3\" qx{Ʃzj $vC^zT( 8#ZOcKdlO'B#zם˛X_ʊ Jr#4dY?S\Ǖhzo-*iBcI3׌qXmA &bxvGfwc9~ͳW2X]:[HyB܎qCᧆc5y/n=#sC#uR9T.J9dp^5𖿩-9x7mgշGM+cpyL·ooZhXe|(-&3\!0˴֩$y6ٝxgMă+5~4{xMifq_E[qOk Gʘ񶆞e&m+ gQ)2z8wm0O` .Nݽґ1CFnQiEUd(gI',,;O@3 o+}Zѹs9S,)!K<``< H%|#lK_|JHBd}7i*$sr^lHb5`s K#'Γ3c@;@^0t#ȎgؤIk]YwLc5VRܵR*$^eJ}]YG,[H$g^'{N>d<&  xypTgFqPnū%s~'ME<_ޱ|[vY4E>Y =1u^b;=FGp7hlp>VRhjvyP,~&V>yV%;b܌8'hV#*J>#Dp8BFR4쑲;5 Ƅ5c?MA;LHq_dR sj?=i_յj <I]%'?E$SVԵydɧb]P p+y-޹?u>y"NǦxo _k79CD:tSYj[UclEt~,0V0 aڗI4e,r wx꠆#inN:/׹6y+;c UNwz3dHg{ffa$gi|hv,}Ud4v1OҸ =z/;HbbZ"cRs{ޜoiZw켳JO|rwiM2oy%#\P; j7uIm3\ɂ g<֎i>vbY«gTU']>e!A} V8ǁռ!(T0fcG SZw*Qq;FШi L~Ҟ{ MON <;WObIVOd`<>-XA+#>̀d\QrgO3G_ѵ)6ٗ !ڳW rO*zʍ #0EcqZA'f&Yǩi˹>a# ϰ44n=,l }{W|C.Hhk19( ow$ װ|PtJNe?3X4 S[` fbHOT<{ڰ5H`r O;6cҽZh-cq r~YZ Z 7S'W-PsU.4=&qYI@UN*`R4 gZBá~8_+,8#褀 p&YhJԓG5q7ûHŒcT MQRXaWD[B AUP -["O9iIە޵̬uOiyD+~jI 3Y)Ó ɮ9"rY=I+$;IH` lΜ6"Ap ٙ%8z3(y=kCÚoY}r$~Ji][XiE%ߏAW/SR{n0$1ǹNR-1(w/e gۏ\|һ:r'4QElr`#:4ySҫ.y Hm!#SjB($+Pf(֠?;Bw?? 3z{)#؃bo:'P>x&{lHB `ңNcf9 hv{ϜDR<+Chz}+>;"G~'wj䎽*SMXtWk䋯+=m gߞ藌v%xCAyzzTcJ[ڬb.t^fIxQWk'ӎc((m)<%Tg¶dFD Fn>E.% X=̰JY C֦fy%<I2,Y ׽RZr$\j22c֎H.>s޳;>!p==kvU`YY“ҹ^&.3u/$ ?7N^Wr-˺C>1KbQq(3lthough I would always participate in sports, my career in track and field would be over when I was done with college. But my coach just kept encouraging me to stay with it. <br>With the enthusiastic support of coach Nielsen, Dragila and several of her fellow heptathletes played around with the pole vault on their light workout days.  You know, pick up a pole and just kind of run with it, getting comfortable carrying the pole. I think that s the first thing that athletes often have a problem with--just getting used to coordinating your running while holding the pole, says Dragila.<br>Pole vaulters are considered daredevils, and consequently the question Dragila is most often asked about her event is if she s a risk taker.  They ask me,  Are you daring? Do you also jump off bridges? The answer is no, I m not a daredevil. When I was introduced to the pole vault everything we did was performed as safely as possible. It wasn t just,  grab this big ole stick, run down that track and hold on tight and see where you go! My coach gave me progressive drills. I stayed on the ground a lot, especially at the beginning. Then we progressed to  we re going to just plant it into the box, and stay on your feet and land in the pit. I never felt that I was totally out of control. <br>When she started to leave the ground, Dragila admits that she had some apprehension.  When I started to go upside down, that scared me. But then, luckily, my coach s wife owned a gymnastics gym about two blocks from our university. She had trampolines and high bars, and coaches who would teach her how to develop spatial awareness so that I wasn t flipping around like a fish out of water. Those coaches knew what they were doing, knew how to spot, and got me comfortable turning over in the air and teaching me how to land so that I wouldn t get injured. <br>The easygoing pole vault practices, however, soon lost their appeal.  We felt like we were never gaining any ground because we were always training for these other events, and we had to concentrate on these events because that s what our scholarship was for--not the pole vault. As such, her teammates eventually gave up on the experiment and concentrated on the scholarship events. But not Dragila.<br><br><br>High Expectations<br><br>Although she was putting in time with the pole vault, Dragila was still able to perform impressively in the heptathalon. By the time she finished her final year at Idaho State with a degree in physical education and health, she owned five school records and placed second in the 1995 Big Sky Championships. It was at this time that she was able to focus on serious training for the pole vault, and on Jan 13, 1996 in Pocatello, she set an indoor American record, 12 11 3/4 , her first of many to come. <br>The following year was the Olympics, and even though the women s pole vault was not yet approved as an Olympic event, Dragila was able to participate in the Trials on April 20 in Lawrence, Kansas. She really put on a show, setting an American record of 13 6 1/2 . Although she didn t get to compete in the Olympics, she did get to compete in the European circuit that summer. The following year she continued her steady progress and won the World Indoor Championships with a mark of 14 5 1/4 , a vault that tied the world record.<br>To fulfill her potential and achieve her go