In track and field, usually it is the big-name athlete that blows the field away and wins the event. Only every so often, a surprise winner comes out of nowhere to capture first place.
A few weeks ago, in the hot desert in Tempe, Ariz., a dark horse athlete stood atop the podium at the Pac-10 Championships wearing true blue and gold.
No one expected him to win pole vault title this year. No one even expected him to make it on the team.
“I think you’ll find maybe once every five to seven years a story like that. It’s very rare,” coach Art Venegas said. “It’s much greater than somebody becoming a starter on the team. It’s not only becoming a starter, but being the leading scorer all of a sudden.”
For Bobby Talley, it took a lot of work and dedication to get to the point he is at now. The walk-on junior from Dana Point has kept improving no matter the setback ““ an injury, the question of whether he would make the team, not hitting the next bar.
The hard work finally paid off and a Pac-10 title is what he has to show for it. After training on his own last year, Talley has established himself on a team that boasts the best, most well-rounded pole vault squad in the nation.
Although it has not been the perfect fairy-tale story, Talley would have it no other way.
“I can’t believe I’m even here right now. It was a sweet transition,” Talley said. “I wouldn’t have asked for it any other way. I wasn’t expecting anything, just being thankful for everything we get here.”
Bouncing back
Talley got his start in track in his freshman year of high school at Dana Hills, a little more than an hour away from Westwood.
Among the trio of sports he participated in, track was ranked behind football and basketball for him.
“It was more just a thing for fun in high school being the end of the season,” Talley said. “I just went out and loved the atmosphere. I wasn’t super serious about it in high school.”
After trying a multitude of events and missing the mark for each by a small amount, Talley settled with the pole vault as his last choice.
He made the high school team midway through the season after finally clearing the 8-foot bar necessary to make the team. His coach let Talley stick around on the team because Talley just “wanted to do something.”
Taking a couple years to learn the basic fundamentals of the sport, Talley progressed to 12 feet, 6 inches by the end of his junior year, and things were looking up.
But in the fall of his senior year, Talley suffered a devastating injury and tore his ACL during his last football season. Doctors said his athletic career would be over, but Talley had other plans: getting back on the track by the spring.
“I’m not going to sit around on my butt and let this injury take over my life,” Talley said at the time. “Hopefully in five to six months of rehab I’ll be able to do it.”
After a few months of rehab, Talley was jumping again and got back into form, reaching the 12-6 mark he achieved the previous year.
After graduating from Dana Hills High, Talley moved on to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo where he worked on his technique.
Talley learned to become more serious about the vault from his coach there, Simon Arkell, who holds the Australian record of 5.8 meters (19 feet, 1/4 inches).
“My coach was an Olympian for Australia so he knew what it was about, what it was going to take to get to the next level,” said Talley. “That is what I told him ““ “˜I just wanted to keep pole vaulting.’ I didn’t care where it was. I just wanted to keep going.”
The mindset transition from “just something” to do in high school to “100 percent or nothing” in junior college gave Talley the competitive edge to keep pursuing the sport.
After a freshman year spent still learning how to vault, Talley improved greatly in his sophomore year and peaked.
Talley was team captain in 2005-2006 and won Orange Empire Conference Champion. He left Saddleback tied for the school record at 15-6.
From walk-on to champion
Talley came to UCLA to earn a degree in economics. Track was not in the picture at the time, and coming in at 15-6 did not give him much of a chance to make the talented Bruin squad.
“It was academics and just coming here and seeing the campus drew me to UCLA,” said Talley.
He met with Venegas and pole vault coach Anthony Curran. Talley did not have much of a chance if any to make the team, and at one point, Venegas said there was an 80 percent chance he would be cut.
“I didn’t see much on him,” Venegas said. “When I would see him, especially with a red-shirt year, it didn’t seem like much. I just saw a kid that looked like, “˜Man, we have a lot of better vaulters than this guy.'”
However, Curran saw the potential Talley had and convinced Venegas that he would be a great addition to the already stacked team.
“To coach Curran’s credit, he always felt this kid has upside,” said Venegas. “He said let’s keep him. I said OK. I just took Coach’s word on it, and sure enough there he is.”
Talley felt defeated during his first quarter at UCLA. He took part in Campus Crusade and other activities on campus, leaving track. However, over the winter break he decided to pick up the pole again and get back to the sport he loved.
“Maybe the Lord doesn’t want me to pole vault because it’s too hard, and I don’t know if I can do it,” said Talley. “Over Christmas break, I don’t know if I was bored or it was antsy-ness, but I said, “˜I can do this.'”
The following quarter, Talley worked with Curran at his clinic at Santa Monica High School to improve his technique and his height. There were some flaws that needed to be corrected, and learning from the best was the only way to make the team. But the work was tough.
“Last year I was driving to Santa Monica High School three days a week, putting these poles on top of my car and driving on the freeway with poles on my car,” Talley said. “It was horrible. But at the same time such a humbling experience for what was to come.”
Talley improved his personal mark to make the team. After jumping 16 feet, Curran gave Talley the opportunity to join the team.
Talley was not supposed to compete a lot this year but made a couple trips early in the indoor season. He was very close to making indoor nationals, which set him up for a breakout outdoor season.
Now traveling with the team and competing most weekends, Talley joined in on the family-like atmosphere of the UCLA pole vault squad.
“We’re really tight,” Talley said. “We have a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun together; that helps us all jump better. The older guys really took the under(classmen) guys in. The camaraderie is great. It’s a constant competition, and at the same time it’s so much fun.”
Pushing each other in practice, the pole vaulters had a very consistent season with what seemed like a new jumper coming out on top each week. Talley stayed around the mid-16-foot range until the Pac-10 Championships in Arizona.
In the hot conditions, Talley took advantage of some competitors not having their best days, coming out of nowhere to win the title. Jumping a personal best of 17-1, Talley earned 10 points for the Bruins who finished third.
“It was overwhelming (winning the Pac-10 title). I was speechless,” Talley said. “What that means, being a Pac-10 champion and having that be in the record books, that really hasn’t settled in yet.”
Vaulting ahead
Despite not qualifying for the NCAA Championships two weekends ago at the West Regionals, there still is a bright future ahead for Talley.
“He’s gone way beyond where I thought he would be at this point right now,” said Curran. “I knew he had the talent as far as his size and his speed and his dedication. He still has a lot to go.”
Returning next year for his senior year, Talley will be assured of having more fans from the team he enjoys being on.
“He’s kind of like a team favorite. All the throwers, jumpers, they love the kid. He’s a fun guy,” said Venegas.
Improving on his 17-1 and making it to nationals with the team will be his goals. And he will have the support from the person who has helped him the most.
“I guess I’ve always been an underdog, but I’ve always had support around me that has pushed me and never let me put my head down,” said Talley. “My dad mentally prepared me and constantly encouraged me and inspired me with whatever it is ““ feeding me knowledge and pushing me to never settle.”
And so far Bobby Talley has never settled. He has stayed calm and focused on what he needs to do.
For him, it is no big deal. He just takes things day by day.
“He’s really a cool customer. That’s what I like about him,” Venegas said. “He’s just enjoying the ride and having fun with it. Putting him on the team is one of the best things we have ever done.”