News Story - Idaho State Journal

EUGENE, Ore. - At the beginning of the week, Paul Litchfield wasn't even sure he would make it to the 2008 U.S. track and field Olympic trials at Hayward Field.

After Friday's performance on the opening day of the event, the pole vaulter will be sticking around for a few more days.

The Idaho State assistant track and field coach cleared 18 feet, 1/2 inch in the men's pole vault preliminaries to qualify for Sunday's final.

''I don't really know how to feel yet,'' he said by cell phone from the trials. ''I don't even know if it's real yet.''

Litchfield didn't know he qualified for the trials until Wednesday, and when he got the good word, Litchfield hastily gathered his belongings and booked a flight out of Boise.

With only a day to prepare mentally for the meet, Litchfield said he didn't have a good warmup Friday, which led to him missing his first jump at 17-8 1/2. He made the next attempt at that height, though, and successfully made it over at 18-0 1/2 before calling it a day.

That height was good enough to move on, so Litchfield didn't even attempt the next height - 18-4 1/2.

''Since you're jumping again Sunday,'' he said, ''you want to save your legs, and you don't want to risk an injury.''

The preliminary round trimmed the field from 27 down to 13, and the top three advance to the Beijing Olympics, which start Aug. 8. One of the vaulters knocked out was Tommy Skipper, who entered with the fourth-best mark and was considered one of the favorites.

''My goal from now,'' Litchfield said, ''is just to get it in my mind that I'm a 19-foot pole vaulter even though I've never done it. I have the talent.''

Jackie Poulson, another Idaho State track and field assistant, also competed Friday after squeaking into the trials field.

The American Falls native finished the first four events of the heptathlete with 3,408 points.

''Overall score-wise I'm sitting on my second-best first-day score ever,'' Poulson said by phone. ''So that feels pretty good.''

In the shot put, Poulson recorded a mark of 43 feet, 1 inch, which was the fourth-best attempt of the day.

Hyleas Fountain leads the heptathlon with three events to go, and she started the day by breaking Jackie Joyner-Kersee's decade-old U.S. record in the heptathlon 100 hurdles.

Poulson wasn't in that heat, but she had a good view of the feat.

''For (Joyner-Kersee's) record to fall,'' Poulson said, ''that was pretty cool to watch.''

This document was originally published online on Saturday, June 28, 2008

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