JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?pXc p 늃tcu!GH_Z3l?/m\^cp7a' P96iwk7Fp<ڂ=& $f7ed j>ޚ6+nd2F4L[Rގ1u+1 xOA%s;XL['lf@x*V'8XH9sYݗcܦqǔcxmHs*,}ŭ&2QkOã%2iq@"Ƃ8aduNT5:0`/'ڧE⢌$Lqִ@?oSEU=E J@ȝSQ8UTI.i( 1k8'=O7 q[i:^G bۦ9Z9$fz:Lhӓxij^M@:Vxf` kU"4[QA覺 |:S?5lb9#"WkŻ= T9tbfM:Zu '26n~&;J牢ǘ}s2rxyOrRMjxLX-2CHܮ{U|=ʄ㓓ӋmjeV%jD8V:DTVPp '=j/AU2d{S ƽGIBsR(m4#b<*n[[5ؙlDeyXoo wj[C_C #f'#=ONՏ7,Ldu>𭬺T\ķXZȤO=g%&GL @f=zW5n4J3)-'Ю>`}YIJOy$`pğZފÍ~F!.z 8W3keWIhUv'~[DU۱z[ܙeHm8V t%Sߚ?:|L"_<T͈NK]MpzS#zu B]>aɫ1EVާBTֈBG#N}8kA{0pzz2d +מ H\֜Y1Y ᾴQ+3z+AXb##ծh;~r /Ou٤Q$3 ZQۡtt%OQXY.eja|c eOЏeY^Mxf,-4JpgO"D/ vtVEDç+Cɢ|QR[͉ٓbb?sF^, "u<zWxHL En"P\VyMO.1܌uopG EQ RNҸ$ϸ q致8^M5wi͞=EOEۻG\EHcf=QZ8Us<⚃oCᇏ<;kZ#g (>ֹ-+VXϙm5.Y!:WLSJ*ӌSO$h7b9ڳLEPd(\&YN0y]j[XaX, .q;z\2_-$~th<3xPĪMڬJsո'=Ԭmʍ*ܞ*Ҝ/;|P}:E~ /P$X< *?+Oy/sV#SՋ+.W 7vs 8,dp)gҵ_.e+X;}Rz6ipOQk.lu9, Oz-{G1*qь0ٕz kuzNSZ$ql"Cp>i/s # {kTOo jiaW+>FS]H#]u A?h~mL(2'k9a*3k6k)A)|:Έ޺!%+gI#@9P9*`*&Y`\@ U@a8'g0HrHI7`s؏FX.7+n+Ta%{hT#ϯ<]4G%ጫV5-!Kue r=(j_js?,11Dx OŚonyq?S^zU2۵9*N"ֶTQzW\V.t6r )~)]j{xQk)%`d+C!g`BҰKwkah0Ku;OYY˵(+P6 1 7NZkx-ݎdFC>t5|:mVr}[(=oγyY. ]Xzm柫iVȻȅijIo~W:{>$wkp!FrM7;j-Qu:3V4Z}PIwڳKs@5o]5tV>yesT"z{/ ސ [FGҺK=cNkKirfumeC'>qzս j`_¦vNqG [ǿּ y4>giXqexp. `0 _eMy`FH( 8PviJұeۿBlF "׫R)ЭE̍,Iۃ[~-M]Ο$o `oots]ڢni;˕XCtY7m#LjT®e1`kQ"U+/$\z$.-s-a֏S}YVTr'+t]ZKɢlNCz͕ՕO:λYKrzΰKiketc%$Ck3WV9QZg%p5+HOj:S+%{da= F 7(8F̆fnnhv?v?4V:s/(2:;Y|l$I#µ?&)> T/mS~lh3T>liS9ŗMSBhΧ?64?e;4QM+W~liU>e}E¹AkgKhV9 lv+ R8YZ^d[sSpE!#'،QEq%$wMg<@ヰ7Ez,(;=hlly strong in the hurdles. Her success didn t go unnoticed, and in 1993 she left her home town of Auburn, California, with a track scholarship to Idaho State University in Pocatello.  You know, I always loved the mountains, says Dragila when asked why she decided to move to Idaho.  I had lived in California all my life, and I wanted to get away. <br><br><br>School Daze<br><br>Although recruited as a heptathlete, when Dragila came to Idaho in the spring of 1993 her coach, Dave Nielsen, encouraged her to try the pole vault.  I heard that the women in Europe had been doing it for the past three to four years. My coach, being a pole vaulter himself, said,  We should try this, because I bet it s going to become an event quicker than you think. <br>Because she had only two years of eligibility as a college athlete left, Dragila had her doubts that the sport would take off before she graduated.  I asked myself,  Why am I doing this? I thought that although 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 coac