Just two years ago, Katy Viuf was a freshman on the UCLA cheer squad, performing for thousands of football fans on the Rose Bowl turf. One of the many fans sitting in the stands was UCLA pole vaulting coach Anthony Curran, watching Viuf as she ran down the field doing handspring after handspring. Curran could see that she had size, speed and explosiveness, but there was more to this cheerleader that stood out to him.
“I saw the power and the confidence and the strength that she had, and I knew she’d be good,” he said.
From there, Curran sought Viuf out. Without any experience in the sport, she came out to meet with Curran and give pole vaulting a try.
Viuf has now spent two seasons training with Curran since walking on to the track and field team in the spring of 2008, and she has jumped to the top quicker than anyone could have predicted. Currently, she sits tied for third in the NCAA this season, and third on the all-time UCLA list with a jump of 14-1.25 that she achieved at Drake Stadium last month in the Cal/Nevada Championships.
The cheerleader is literally inches from becoming a national champion.
“I kind of just blew it off”
Viuf did not even pick up a pole until she came to UCLA, but she has always been an athlete. For the 10 years preceding high school, Viuf competed in gymnastics, but after a decade in the sport something was not right.
“It was just getting to be too much time,” Viuf said. “I’d done it for 10 years, and I’d had enough of it. It just wasn’t fun anymore.”
After leaving competitive gymnastics behind, Viuf spent her time focusing on cheerleading in high school. She said it was a good fit because of her tumbling skills from gymnastics.
While going to school and cheering at Cascia Hall Prep School in Tulsa, Okla., she also managed to play soccer and compete for the track and field team, lettering in both sports. However, because of her involvement in soccer she never committed much time to track.
“I wasn’t really on the track team,” Viuf said. “I just went to the meets for fun.”
Yet it was apparent that Viuf had talent, qualifying for the state meet in the 100 meters, the 200 meters and the 4×100-meter relays. She also had her first encounter with the pole vault, but brushed it aside.
“We didn’t have pole vaulters because I went to a very small high school,” Viuf said. “One of the coaches was like, “˜You should do pole vault,’ and I was like, “˜I’m not going to do pole vault, nobody pole vaults.’ So I kind of just blew it off.”
Loving Los Angeles
Although she is from out of state, Viuf made the jump to college in Los Angeles without a second thought. She knew what she wanted.
“I for sure wanted to get out of Oklahoma,” Viuf said. “I had a brother who went out here ““ he went to Chapman ““ and I just really liked it out here. It’s fun being in a different place for college.”
Picking UCLA in particular was an even easier decision.
“When I visited the school I just fell in love with it,” Viuf said. “First thing since I walked on campus ““ I just loved it.”
Viuf came to UCLA planning to be a member of the cheer squad. She joined the cheer squad and performed with them her first year, but quickly found it was not meant for her.
“The cheerleading here was just not what I expected. It was not competitive at all, and I missed the athletics part of it,” Viuf said.
Viuf had a very different experience cheering in high school and was not accustomed to the style that she found at UCLA.
“When I did cheerleading in high school, it was very competitive,” Viuf said. “We didn’t do it so much for cheering at games.”
Knowing she would not continue cheering, there was a void left in Viuf’s life. Having always competed in athletics, not doing anything would be the biggest change. Luckily for her, Curran noticed her back handsprings, and she was given a very unique opportunity that would keep her in athletics and solidify her decision to leave cheering behind.
Soon after starting training with Curran, it was quickly apparent that he had been spot-on in his assessment.
“Within the first four weeks, maybe the first six or eight workouts she had jumped over 10-feet-6, which usually takes a few months to get the feel of the vault to jump that high,” Curran said. “She picked it up really quickly, more quickly than I even expected.”
With such a wide athletic background, Viuf fell naturally into pole vaulting, using her previous sports to help her along.
“It was a lot like gymnastics,” Viuf said. “Once you’re on the bar you just swing your hips up just like you would on the uneven bars in gymnastics. It’s just very similar, it’s all the same body awareness and the speed and strength.”
Yet it hasn’t all been easy. Although she possessed natural ability, it has still been a lot of hard work, time and effort.
“We kind of knew that she could be (really good), but she’d have to do a lot of things,” Curran said. “She’d have to commit at a Division I level mentally, physically. She’d have to get in great shape and learn the event and be a student of the event, and she’s done all of those things.”
Last season, Viuf finished 11th at the NCAA Outdoor Nationals and is looking to make a big improvement this year when she competes in the 2009 championships in June.
Her coach is optimistic.
“I think she could win a national championship this year,” Curran said.