The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-05-13
Quakers To Lose Sport Stars By Graduation.
Laws of Physics
 Limit Pole Vault To Fifteen Feet
BY HARRY GRAYsON Sports Editor, NEA Service

Sports Editor, NEA Service
 Bill Sefton and Earle Meadows, amazing Southern California aerial ists, furnish additional evidence of an ultimate 15-foot ceiling in the pole vault by tying at new world record-14 feet Sh inches.
 It was only three weeks before that the blond Sefton hoisted him. self over a crossbar, set at IA feet T 3-8 to erase George Varoff's mark of. IA feet 6 1-2.
 Sefton actually cleared the height by a good six inches, which put him within a fraction of an inch of what Al Mccall, former Yale coach, has set as the absolute limit. Dean B. Cromwell, Southern California coach, and Alfred c. Gilbert, one of Yale's early vault ing stars, doubt that anyone ever will exceed IS feet or fraction above.
 Regardless of the physical capa- bilities of the athlete, the mechan- ical element also almost be consid- cred.
 It is physical impossibility to swing the body over a height greater than three and half feet above the point where the pole is gripped.
 Few can take an effective grip on the pole more than 12 feet inches from the end.
 The slot in which the pole is planted on the take-of is inches deep.
 Sol Mccall subtracts that depth from the height of the grip and gets Il feet 8 inches. He adds three and a half feet to that figure and suspects that he has the mechan- ical limit beyond which nobody can vault.
 No Vaulter Has Had Perfect Form
 Lengthening the pole wouldn't t help. That would tend only to make it more unwieldy and harder to handle.
 Poles differ in weight, with the newer aluminium construction gain ing favor rapidly.
 The Japanese have made excep- tionally fine progress with exceed ingly light poles.
 Styles also will continue to vary, but one will be as good as another as long as form is maintained, assert authorities.
 Form is absolutely necessary. The athlete must have perfect CO., ordination, timing, and muscular development. So far, no vaulter has been credited with perfect form. The first one with perfect form will be the first to do IS feet, predicts Mccall, who describes the perfect vaulter as being tall, good sprint CT, and an excellent gymnast. The Japanese appear to disprove the first two qualities, but make up for their lack of height and speed with remarkable gymnastic and muscular development.
 Sefton and Meadows are tall. They are first-rate sprinters with powerfully built shoulders and arms.
 Pole vaulting was introduced from Scotland in 1868. The partici- pants had little or no form in the early days. J. w. Pryor of Columbia set mark of 2 feet inches in 1877. H. H. Baxter was first to better II feet in 1883, and Robert Gardiner of Yale the first to do l2 feet or better in 1912.
 The world really did not become pole vault conscious until 1927 however, when the invasion of Charley Hoff of Norway and the achievements of Sabin Carr of Yale placed the spectacular specially in a prominent position in the public eye.
 The Boys Will Continue to Shoot
 Hoff was one of the first of the so-called modern vaulters, consist ently doing 13 feet or better.
 Carr was the first to clear IA feet in 1927.
 Yale is renowned for a long line of vaulters, with Carr the standout in 1926-7-8 and Keith Brown tops in 1933-34.
 Lofty lads of the Pacific coast started to steal the show from east ern climbers in 1928, with Lee Barnes of Southern California launching the attack with IA feet 1 1-2 inches.
 Barnes and two other Trojans. Bill Miller and Bill Graber, eX- plored the stratosphere until Graber established the world record at IA feet 4 3-8 inches in the 1882 Olym- pic trials.
 The coast luminaries battled Keith Brown for supremacy, but no one threatened 15 feet or even IA 1-2 feet. Graber's mark came to be regarded as the maximum by all except few who made startling predictions.
 It was not until last summer that George Varoff, Oregon freshman, gave the first inkling that 8 1o- foot vault might be in the offing by clearing IA feet 6 1-2 inches In the National A. A. U. meet, which was a prelude to the Olympic trials.
 There undoubtedly is a mechan- ical limit. Even Sefton and Mead ows can't overcome the law of physics.
 But extensive study, improved training, and stiffer competition are bound to continue to have an effect on the pole vaulting as well as all other records.
 HyI TODC VTCTORC