JFIFC    $ &%# #"(-90(*6+"#2D26;=@@@&0FKE>J9?@=C  =)#)==================================================c" }!1AQa"q2#BR$3br %&'()*456789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz w!1AQaq"2B #3Rbr $4%&'()*56789:CDEFGHIJSTUVWXYZcdefghijstuvwxyz ?k<ҥ %J ,v{V @n2#7HR3,5eqTJ-ltqee)FR1cjzB0?9'K_KydWpA"؉ -1GqO@CIsh|Z5pO/a 1횧qQBr1殣MȎ ?hi:8BspƩZL_3:dPG6vsʓElAvo~kjTPi(Lq3jƽmY*lMsq֚} zBi/5وOVƧgX&a:}+.wZ{4Lu.gFJ4WD)aMh9m8{fGIUbVe=NkVkM73ϣN "m%OsW,{_H&cZkõ3N"/8نUpԼےus*1].$q$ 3։|wygW#vypֱ) 1U-|%v :zgoCsݵRD#\Rw˨Nc*Cn\~tAcmjI#yqVsQ4_f&K;80q$g,E7kuK۝GcpҲ˛Q@RxXUrHSi7]y.G_\ZZ =>['u\ F|ҟ#m#O&t,Pmd̛6%ŕ۴`B0{`{U?:Bd$ PnVj#Sc⥏Q+2[ U|46VN NxkmĿgH."XiLAǦ} тI?L~xA_БvHx!>ثxu 0i@V+wO}E<0J6WYayu }g_}EDyqr wst1~[ȖA";igOKA69nx8ҼR$cZ0yG 9kx̒Md N67dWlWՠ{f7 Cc9u>-{ 3u1efܡ8*i JlWRm-!n: c׌U!K_rts.w(hD$3g>gOooouKapp3{Q~J`ϵ 7Pg+krZ͖ 6g$cfj%Ưs2*C"9<Nkд6E)1^ `gZu*8ErN}~-vɴg#ʴ|x4dÖ'k>e{Pe wnU9II"v54LCZս| |\Wy)i #NPY'<+Q,JiYmӎ#Hd j3,34S![ѿygW8;}+Oq)0XzgՃbIJd֦+]X!QszW Y&w;K=Or_o cXY˜Z㬾(k0O-爜ٴE^#[k:ŔV3E4鴖`UFkxSZ9R2G3xYH! vJ~ϥ_iA !0ku00\xۆlBq">SF߄5 ×"hHs5 CPdG UnRytMJ6;E.LKwqIk*嚨Vch\[L!FCg#|76}XF"Vy }Ҳ#'y$c?{!u0$ rOZsqoqziy^I 2HP1U?ıIۛo6:0 5Sĺz57dFO\}tQ*Q]>r팃ؙ.Wʷ:inIȒ'p~+3z&shWG ~Jsu.3ީhRs̡1žE/y0$V.$H[# gSJսD(=Moi{ (,Dc8lm^\<*;pMc*4B3Vf6]Cs$Ҁ!۸r$[W#t4yyex *DERFrK"~$*SKcڣRdQ_Pm*hp0j+P(4mQ#\m:+8|Wc8yGG,[yp9犿 +T{A!9JSUmu@ OJI+v$*ވ5//$v-##?bjjtR8;p^+V+! s{*KKܯ;(v`/ԜIsb'a FdPr8Jmլ0I-. ?9ɭt?ɣO6#E\zceh5}I5?NQn˴#7ϽMo!t˺ntx,- AC6wo yy;WϷ5~ K37t3PƩ^FH̉QVQPMXTҵ&5܀[PӒ:k[þ'Q0fPgn1S<&$PB1i~[ƹ8|@t[:ԶrA y^8SL֙kfk6V SĽUG2 z\8{dW8z@wLrV0M徃'?cA"gB@ c*6}Jk9#/A Rኃ FI"Q4v8ڸ=IS#U;Hr;ڊ>{m<3#6 wSlEuˡ4W[w 9>QEK4Bfzn^*6hpnsފ+j rsֺl:fmb̿$,Tuy_" CE3& 7xf`tbJܐVfX1$ VxU09;[hbXcU^ަ)|pQEsMtR^ 5 85 G#gs(ϩnU&wQi`K$04QUSr|!,ũL#vQpjijdf֊+/YP (%e 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 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 wa