Of the 12 competitors in the women’s pole vault at the Oregon Relays Friday, the winner was an insurance worker.
Sammie Dobson, a 2014 University of Oregon grad and former Ducks pole vaulter, competed unattached and won the event on her first vault, 13 feet, 1 ½ inches. The 2014 grad bested a field of 11 other collegiate competitors for her win Friday.
“I felt really good,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve jumped outdoors since I graduated from U of O, so it’s been a while.”
Since December, Dobson has been splitting her time between work at an insurance agency and pole vault practice at twice a week at Raising the Bar pole vault club in Springfield.
Dobson and her husband, former Duck decathlete Kevin Dobson, have both been practicing at Raising the Bar. For the Relays, she decided that it was time to return to her alma mater.
“I did a couple meets indoors and didn’t do as well as I wanted to,” Dobson said. “I was just ready to come back to Hayward.”
Dobson’s husband felt the same way. Though he was only watching from the stands, he was happy to be back at the track.
“It’s the same old thing,” he said. “But Oregon has great atmosphere. It’s just exciting.”
Dobson didn’t enter the competition Friday until the bar was raised to her winning mark. The only remaining competitor, Helen Ann Haun of Oregon State, ended her run at 12-3 1/4, leaving Dobson as the last vaulter in competition.
Because Dobson had not yet posted a mark, she had to clear 13-1 ½ to win. If she were to fail all three of her attempts at that height, the win would default to Haun.
But for today’s meet, Dobson wasn’t worried about the win; height was her goal.
“If I no heighted, then I no heighted,” Dobson said with a shrug. “I’m just out here for fun. It takes a lot of the pressure off.”
She cleared her opening vault. Rather than take her single-vault win and leave, Dobson decided to soak up her time at Hayward, raising the bar to 13-5, a mark just shy of her collegiate personal record, 13 -6 1/4.
She missed all three attempts, but found that the practice was well worth her time.
In recent practices at Raising the Bar, Dobson’s coach Mark Vanderville said she has been working on a shorter, more explosive approach. She also moved up a pole size for this meet.
Now that she is back in the swing of things, Dobson is planning to compete at Oregon Twilight meet in May.
“Pole vaulting is the best part of my day,” she said. “I’m glad that I can still do it.”
