Jenn Stuczynski biography
Date of birth : 1982-02-06
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Fredonia, New York, U.S.
Nationality : American
Category : Sports
Last modified : 2010-06-21
Credited as : Athlete, olympic track and filed athlete,
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Jenn Stuczynski did not compete in the pole vault until her senior year in college. Four years later, she had become an Olympic hopeful. Stuczynski, who gave up graduate school to pursue the sport, holds the U.S. record in the women's pole vault. She also became the first American woman to clear 16 feet in that track and field event.
Grew up in Western New York
Stuczynski was born in Fredonia, New York, about 45 miles southwest of Buffalo. She won the state pentathlon title as a senior at Fredonia High School. Stuczynski was the all-time leading scorer in women's basketball, with 1,819 points, at Roberts Wesleyan College in nearby Rochester, where she also competed in track and softball.
Rick Suhr, then an assistant track coach at Roberts Wesleyan, talked her into competing in the pole vault. "I sat her down and said, 'You've been good at a few things. You've been a good basketball player, a good softball player, [and] a good golfer. But you've never been great. I think that got her attention," Suhr said, according to Dick Patrick in USA Today. Suhr is still her coach.
...Stuczynski took up the sport after her college basketball career ended in 2004. She cleared 12 feet by the summer. Within a year she was the U.S. indoor champion. In mid-2005 Stuczynski suspended her graduate studies in psychology to devote herself to the sport full-time. "People wondered whether Jenn Stuczynski should have her head examined. A driver with a learner's permit had more experience in locomotion than Stuczynski did with a pole on the runway," Karen Crouse wrote in the New York Times. Stuczynski earned extra money working an eight-hour shift at her father's grocery store in Fredonia. After work, she would drive two hours to Suhr's practice center in Churchville, a Rochester suburb. The shoe company Adidas then signed her to an endorsement contract, relieving her of the need to moonlight.
Cleared Milestone 16 Feet
On June 2, 2007, Stuczynski became the first U.S. female to vault 16 feet. Competing at the Reebok Grand Prix at New York City's Randall's Island, she reached her height despite a difficult crosswind. On her final try, she reached the milestone and broke by an inch and a half the American record she had set a month earlier in Los Angeles. "I wanted to be the first American to clear 16 feet because everybody remembers the first," Stuczynski said, according to Crouse. Only Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia has vaulted higher, with a world-record 16 feet, 5-1/4 inches.
..."The pole vault is filled with stories of women being discovered, Lana Turner-style, and transformed into stars," Crouse wrote. "Stacy Dragila competed in the rodeo and the heptathlon before she was talked into trying the pole vault. Isinbayeva was a gymnast for 10 years before switching sports when she was 15."
Stuczynski broke her record on May 18, 2008, during the Adidas Track Classic in Carson City, California. Competing in oppressive heat, Stuczynski cleared 16 feet, 0-3/4 inches, though she failed in all three events to break Isinbayeva's world mark. "I feel like she is within [my] sights, but I still need to become a little more consistent and a little more confident, and there are still some technical things I need to work on," Stuczynski told the Associated Press, as quoted in the Buffalo News.
Considered Olympic Medal Contender
Stuczynski, who lives in Churchville, could contend for a medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic games in Beijing, China, assuming she makes the U.S. Olympic team. "There are many things I still want in life," she said in an interview with Frank Litsky of the New York Times. "A world record. Have a family. Live on Lake Erie. Have three dogs; I have one now. Keep in the pole-vault scene. I don't think I would be a good coach, but I could do clinics and share my experiences."
