Track & Field Recruit

[CougDave]

Big time track recruit this week. Chloe Cunliffe from Seattle has signed with the Cougs. State record holder in the pole vault and US national high school champion last summer. Her best of 14' is actually better than the WSU outdoor school record. She's a former gymnast with just two years of track experience.

Older sister Hannah was an NCAA 60 meter sprint champion at Oregon, brother Sam was on a hoops scholarship at Kansas.

 

[SaveFerris]

I saw that yesterday but didn't make the connection on her last name. They have moved around a lot if I am remember the family. Very athletic family to say the least. I wonder who else Chloe was looking at? Impressive signing on the women's side.

 

[Brent H.]

I saw that yesterday but didn't make the connection on her last name. They have moved around a lot if I am remember the family. Very athletic family to say the least. I wonder who else Chloe was looking at? Impressive signing on the women's side.

100% she transfers. Brother left ASU after a semester for Kansas. Stayed there for year and a half has transferred again. Sister started at OU and transferred Oregon after her first.

 

[CougDave]

Who knows if she stays, her connection to WSU is coach Brad Walker (two time world pole vault champion and American record holder at 19-10). Walker competed for the Huskies but has already had two Pac 12 champions at WSU in three years. If she's really that good its probably more likely she leaves to turn pro like her sister did at Oregon.

The nine Cunliffe kids were home schooled so they were all over the place in high school.

 

[Brent H.]

Who knows if she stays, her connection to WSU is coach Brad Walker (two time world pole vault champion and American record holder at 19-10). Walker competed for the Huskies but has already had two Pac 12 champions at WSU in three years. If she's really that good its probably more likely she leaves to turn pro like her sister did at Oregon.

The nine Cunliffe kids were home schooled so they were all over the place in high school.

Nine?!

 

[Cougsocal]

A high end track athlete signing with the Cougs? I can only hope it is turning the page on the last 2 decades of filling the roster with the undertalented and the underwhelming. Brad clearly deserves a raise.

 

[79COUG]

Nine?!

Surprised she didn't sign with BYU..

 

[kougkurt]

Those records won't last for long. Women's PV is still trying to get elite athletes to compete in it. Most of the elite HS vaulters are shorter gymnasts; as the sport gains popularity, we'll see taller, faster women competing and women will vault into the high 17's, maybe even 18' marks. (I'm speaking world class here.)

Interesting take

 

[Cougsocal]

Those records won't last for long. Women's PV is still trying to get elite athletes to compete in it. Most of the elite HS vaulters are shorter gymnasts; as the sport gains popularity, we'll see taller, faster women competing and women will vault into the high 17's, maybe even 18' marks. (I'm speaking world class here.)

You do realize that women have been vaulting for 20 years, the record, 16' 7" has lasted for nearly 9 years and no non-Russian women has vaulted even 16.' That strongly suggests that the "fat" is out of the women's record. 17 feet is possible, some day, but that lady will need sprinter speed and the upper body strength to convert it upwards, a tough combo. At 5'9" 145#, ripped, Yelena Isinbayeva was no gymnast. If Cunliffe hits the weight room hard and has anything like her sister's speed, she has the potential to vault 16,' because runway speed is the element that most non-Russian vaulter's have lacked to date.

 

[cr8zyncalif]

SoCal, you sound like you follow this sport a lot more than I do. Opinion, please....has pole technology gone as far as it is likely to go, or is there another innovation out there that will re-write the records?

 

[FnuLnu]

SoCal, you sound like you follow this sport a lot more than I do. Opinion, please....has pole technology gone as far as it is likely to go, or is there another innovation out there that will re-write the records?

There is a little blue pill that the Russians took to help with their poles.
Isinbayeva was so buff, she made Jose Canseco blush.

 

[Cougsocal]

SoCal, you sound like you follow this sport a lot more than I do. Opinion, please....has pole technology gone as far as it is likely to go, or is there another innovation out there that will re-write the records?

There are no limitation on pole length or material, so long as it has a smooth surface. Could someone come up with a material that is lighter, with more flexibility and greater energy return, yes. It is likely at some point. But you have to be a hell of an athlete to vault the record 20' 3" regardless. By and large, athletic performance has plateaued in the last 20 years, so records now come from advancements in materials, primarily. I often wonder how fast guys like Bolt, van Niekerk would have been on cinders (like Bob Hayes 10.06), rather than the record manufacturing "hard as all hell" composite surfaces of today. Hayes may be the fastest man who ever lived.

 

[SaveFerris]

There are no limitation on pole length or material, so long as it has a smooth surface. Could someone come up with a material that is lighter, with more flexibility and greater energy return, yes. It is likely at some point. But you have to be a hell of an athlete to vault the record 20' 3" regardless. By and large, athletic performance has plateaued in the last 20 years, so records now come from advancements in materials, primarily. I often wonder how fast guys like Bolt, van Niekerk would have been on cinders (like Bob Hayes 10.06), rather than the record manufacturing "hard as all hell" composite surfaces of today. Hayes may be the fastest man who ever lived.

Not to mention weight training and PEDs.

 

[Cougsocal]

Not to mention weight training and PEDs.

Most athletes were doing heavy cycles of dianabol in the 1970s, let's not forget Brian Oldfield put the shot 75 ft. in 1975 and Mac Wilkens spun the discus 232 ft in 1976. They are still huge throws 40+ years later.

 

[SaveFerris]

Most athletes were doing heavy cycles of dianabol in the 1970s, let's not forget Brian Oldfield put the shot 75 ft. in 1975 and Mac Wilkens spun the discus 232 ft in 1976. They are still huge throws 40+ years later.

Sprints though? I thought that didn't really become prevalent with sprinters until the mid to late 80s especially in the US.