Paul Wilson (pole vaulter)

Paul Wilson (born July 30, 1947)[1] is an American athlete specializing in the pole vault. He was the world record holder in the event. The first vaulter to clear his age in feet. In 1967 he was the number-one ranked pole vaulter in the world, but his career was cut short by injury.

Athletic career

High school

Wilson was an outstanding high-school pole vaulter. As a student of Warren High School (Downey, California), he was coached by John Mitchell.

In 1964 as a junior, Wilson came to the attention of Sports Illustrated magazine. SI published his "whizzer of 15 feet" in their March 16 edition and awarded him an "Award of Merit" for setting the interscholastic age record.[2] He broke the age record by becoming the first 16-year-old to clear 16 feet.[3]

A year later, in 1965, as a senior, he won CIF Southern Section and CIF California State Meet titles and had achieved an age best in the pole vault of 16 ft 6.75 in (5.05 m).[4] On 20 March 1965, he vaulted 16-6 3/4 at the Southern Counties meet as a Senior.[4] At the CIF Southern Section Track Championships, held on 28 May 1965 at Cerritos College, Wilson won with a height of 16-0.[4] He set records with his performances at the CIF Southern Section Championships (16-1 1/2) and California State Championships (15-6 1/2).[4] His personal best height of 16-6 3/4 was the best mark on record for a California high school athlete (more than 5 inches higher than the next highest mark, at 16-1 by fellow Warren High School athlete Bob Steinhoff),[4] set a national interscholastic track & field record,[4] and stood as the best in the world.[4]

Wilson was twice named as Athlete of the Year in the CIF Southern Section by the Helms Athletic Foundation.[4] In 1964 he was awarded for his pole vault of 16-0 1/8, in conjunction with hurdler Earl McCullough.[4] In 1965 he was named again, this time for vaulting 16-6 3/4, with the co-award going to runner Richard Joyce; the two athletes were named together because both had won CIF and State meets and both had set new National Interscholastic records (Joyce's record in the 880 yard run still stands today because high schools metrified in 1980).[4]

He was selected to the 1965 Honor Track & Field Team in the All-Southern Section of CIF by a panel of area sports writers.[4]

College

After graduating high school, Wilson attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he competed for the USC Trojans athletics team.[5] In his first year there, Wilson "hoisted the collegiate vault standard to 17-1."[3]

1967 was Wilson's best year, as a 19-year-old college sophomore. He was United States champion[6] and that winning vault broke the world record. He achieved this feat on 23 June 1967 in Bakersfield, California, with a height of 5.38 m (17 ft 8 in).[7][8] It was the same day Jim Ryun set his long lasting world record in the mile. His record of 17-7 3/4 continues to be the sixth best height ever achieved by a USC Trojan.[5]

Although he was the world record holder, injury prevented Wilson from competing at the United States trials for the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.[9]

The injury prematurely ended his career.

Records and rankings

During his curtailed career, Wilson was a formidable performer at USA national championships, held by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).[10] Wilson was also voted by the experts at Track and Field News[11] to be ranked among the best in the USA and the world at the pole vault during his career.[12][13]

Pole Vault: Records held by Wilson
Year	CIF Southern	CA State	AAU	National	World
1965	MR[4]	MR[4]	NA	AR[4]	WR[4]
1966	NA	NA	CR[3]
1967	NA	NA	CR	AR[6][7]	WR[7][9]

MR = Meet record, CR = Collegiate record, AR = American record, WR = World record, NA = not applicable

Pole vault: Ranking held by Wilson
Year	World rank[12]	US rank[13]	USA Championships[10]
1965	7th	5th	4th
1966	4th	3rd	2nd
1967	1st	1st	1st

Records
Preceded by Bob Seagren	Men's Pole Vault World Record Holder June 23, 1967 – September 12, 1968	Succeeded by Bob Seagren

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References

"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
James, Sidney L. (4 May 1964), "Letter From The Publisher", Sports Illustrated
Nelson, Bert (22 May 1966). "Pole Vaulting Is Really Taking Off This Year". The Tuscaloosa News. The Associated Press.
Southern California High School Track & Field Record, 1965 Season (PDF), Helms Athletic Foundation, 1965, retrieved 24 March 2013
"USC Men's Top 10 Performers". The Official Site of USC Trojan Athletics. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
"US Men's Outdoor Pole Vault Champions". USApolevaulting.org. 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
Imre Matrahazi (ed.). Progression of IAAF World Records, 2011 Edition. IAAF Athletics. p. 163.
Wallace, William N. (23 June 1967). "This Day in Sports". New York Times.
Hymans, Richard (2008), The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field (PDF), USA Track & Field, p. 144
"History of US Nationals Results: POLE VAULT". Track and Field News. 2005. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.
"Track & Field News Rankings". Track & Field News. Retrieved 25 July 2013. The Track & Field News World Rankings, the definitive work on the subject for more than 60 years, are coordinated by T&FN Editor E. Garry Hill. Current members of the international Rankings team are Nejat Kök, Dave Johnson, Richard Hymans & Jonathan Berenbom. The first-ever Rankings, for the '47 season (men only), were the brainchild of T&FN cofounder Cordner Nelson. The next year he handed the task off to stat legends R.L. Quercetani & Don Potts, who shepherded the project for the next three decades.... The whole purpose of our World Rankings is to establish relative merit for the single season in question. They are not reflective of how the compilers felt athletes would have finished in any kind of idealized competition. Ergo, the "best" athlete in any given year isn't always No. 1.... The Rankings are based on these 3 criteria, in descending order of importance: 1. Honors Won; 2. Head-To-Head records with other athletes; 3. Sequence Of Marks.
"World Rankings Index — Men's Pole Vault" (PDF). Track and Field News.
"All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men's Pole Vault" (PDF). Track and Field News. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01.

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[1] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-12. Retrieved 2013-12-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[2] James, Sidney L. (4 May 1964), "Letter From The Publisher", Sports Illustrated

[Nelson-3] Nelson, Bert (22 May 1966). "Pole Vaulting Is Really Taking Off This Year". The Tuscaloosa News. The Associated Press.

[CIF-4] Southern California High School Track & Field Record, 1965 Season (PDF), Helms Athletic Foundation, 1965, retrieved 24 March 2013

[trojan-5] "USC Men's Top 10 Performers". The Official Site of USC Trojan Athletics. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

[outdoorpv-6] "US Men's Outdoor Pole Vault Champions". USApolevaulting.org. 2008. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

[IAAF-7] Imre Matrahazi (ed.). Progression of IAAF World Records, 2011 Edition. IAAF Athletics. p. 163.

[8] Wallace, William N. (23 June 1967). "This Day in Sports". New York Times.

[hymans-9] Hymans, Richard (2008), The History of the United States Olympic Trials - Track & Field (PDF), USA Track & Field, p. 144

[natchamps-10] "History of US Nationals Results: POLE VAULT". Track and Field News. 2005. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2013.

[11] "Track & Field News Rankings". Track & Field News. Retrieved 25 July 2013. The Track & Field News World Rankings, the definitive work on the subject for more than 60 years, are coordinated by T&FN Editor E. Garry Hill. Current members of the international Rankings team are Nejat Kök, Dave Johnson, Richard Hymans & Jonathan Berenbom. The first-ever Rankings, for the '47 season (men only), were the brainchild of T&FN cofounder Cordner Nelson. The next year he handed the task off to stat legends R.L. Quercetani & Don Potts, who shepherded the project for the next three decades.... The whole purpose of our World Rankings is to establish relative merit for the single season in question. They are not reflective of how the compilers felt athletes would have finished in any kind of idealized competition. Ergo, the "best" athlete in any given year isn't always No. 1.... The Rankings are based on these 3 criteria, in descending order of importance: 1. Honors Won; 2. Head-To-Head records with other athletes; 3. Sequence Of Marks.

[T&FNews-world-12] "World Rankings Index — Men's Pole Vault" (PDF). Track and Field News.

[T&FNews-us-13] "All-Time U.S. Rankings — Men's Pole Vault" (PDF). Track and Field News. 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-12-01.

US National Championship winners in men's pole vault
1876–1878 New York Athletic Club	1877: George McNichol 1878: Alfred Ing
1879–1888 NAAAA	1879–81: William Van Houten 1882: B.F. Richardson 1883–86: Hugh Baxter 1887: Tom Ray (GBR) & Hugh Baxter 1888^{Note 1}: G.B. Quinn
1888–1979 Amateur Athletic Union	1888^{Note 1}: Lincoln Godshall 1889: Lat Stones (GBR) & D.F. O'Brien 1890: Walter Rodenbaugh 1891–92: Theodore Luce 1893–94: Christian Buchholz 1895: Hermann Thomas 1896: Franklin Allis 1897: Jesse Hurlburt 1898: Raymond Clapp 1899: Irving Baxter 1900: Bascom Johnson 1901: Charles Dvorak 1902: August Anderson 1903: Charles Dvorak 1904: H.L. Gardner 1905: Roy Heater 1906: LeRoy Samse 1907: Ed Cook 1908: William Halpenny (CAN) & Claude Allen 1909: Roy Paulding 1910: Harry Babcock 1911: Ed Cook, Frank Coyle & Sam Bellah 1912: Harry Babcock 1913: Stanley Wagoner 1914: Ken Curtis 1915: Sam Bellah 1916: Sherman Landers 1917: Edward Knourek 1918: Carl Buck 1919–20: Frank Foss 1921–22: Edward Knourek 1923–24: Edwin Myers 1925: Harry Smith 1926: Paul Harrington 1927–28: Lee Barnes 1929–30: Fred Sturdy 1931: Jack Wool 1932: Bill Graber 1933: Keith Brown & Matt Gordy 1934: Keith Brown, Bill Graber & Wirt Thompson 1935: Earle Meadows & Bill Sefton 1936: George Varoff 1937: Bill Sefton 1938: Cornelius Warmerdam 1939: George Varoff 1940–44: Cornelius Warmerdam 1945: Boo Morcom & Robert Phelps 1946: Irving Moore 1947: Boo Morcom 1948: Boo Morcom & Bob Richards 1949–51: Bob Richards 1952: Bob Richards & Don Laz 1953: Don Laz & George Mattos 1954–57: Bob Richards 1958: Ron Morris 1959: Don Bragg 1960: Aubrey Dooley 1961–62: Ron Morris 1963: Brian Sternberg 1964: Fred Hansen 1965: John Pennel 1966: Bob Seagren 1967: Paul Wilson 1968: Dick Railsback 1969–70: Bob Seagren 1971: Jan Johnson 1972: Dave Roberts 1973: Mike Cotton 1974: Dave Roberts 1975: Don Baird (AUS) * Terry Porter 1976: Earl Bell 1977: Mike Tully 1978: Dan Ripley 1979: Mike Tully
1980–1992 The Athletics Congress	1980: Tom Hintnaus 1981: Billy Olson 1982: Dan Ripley & Billy Olson 1983: Jeff Buckingham 1984: Earl Bell 1985: Joe Dial 1986: Mike Tully 1987: Joe Dial 1988–89: Kory Tarpenning 1990: Earl Bell 1991–92: Tim Bright
1993–onwards USA Track & Field	1993–95: Scott Huffman 1996–97: Lawrence Johnson 1998–99: Jeff Hartwig 2000–01: Lawrence Johnson 2002–03: Jeff Hartwig 2004: Tim Mack 2005: Brad Walker 2006: Russ Buller 2007: Brad Walker 2008: Derek Miles 2009: Brad Walker 2010: Mark Hollis 2011: Derek Miles 2012–13: Brad Walker 2014–17: Sam Kendricks
Notes	Note 1: In 1888 both the NAAAA and the AAU held championships OT: The 1920, 1928, 1932, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016 championships incorporated the Olympic Trials, otherwise held as a discrete event.