Armed with a renewed motivation and a new career-best mark,
senior pole vaulter Yoo Kim heads into this weekend’s NCAA
Indoor Championships as one of the leading candidates to win a
championship in his event.
The only obstacle that appears to be in Kim’s path is
top-ranked vaulter and friendly rival Tommy Skipper from the
University of Oregon.
Skipper and Kim are No. 1 and No. 2 respectively in the nation,
but since appearing on the collegiate scene last year as a true
freshman, Skipper has been almost unbeatable.
“It’s always going to be a handful going against
Tommy Skipper,” Kim said. “But I’m going to beat
him, that’s the plan. He is beatable. Anyone is beatable.
“I wouldn’t go out there if I thought he
wasn’t beatable.”
And Kim is peaking at the right time of the season.
In his last competition, Kim set a new personal record of
18-4.50 at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Indoor
Championships two weeks ago.
“Yoo has become much more efficient, meaning he uses less
energy to vault,” sprints coach Tony Veney said.
“When the bar goes up, he has a huge reserve to get over
the bigger bars.”
As Kim heads to the championship held in Fayetteville, Ark. this
weekend, he brings with him experience from last summer’s
Olympics in Athens, Greece, where he represented Korea. Although
Kim had a disappointing performance in which he was unable to make
it past the qualifying round, he considered the experience to be
invaluable.
“I think that it was supposed to happen that way because
more than anything it can motivate you, but it is also very
humbling,” Kim said. “I learned to have more confidence
in myself. I know I can do it, and I can do it with my own
style.”
Besides Kim, the Bruins will also be looking for the
distance-medley relay team to have a strong showing. UCLA held the
top time in the nation for three weeks in the beginning of the
season with 9:35.45, but the Bruins come into the weekend only
laying claim to the nation’s eighth best time.
“We put everything on the distance medley relay, we really
did,” distance coach Eric Peterson said. “We tried to
run them in individual events, but we really wanted to focus on the
relay. We feel like the personnel, the fitness level, it’s
all there.
“Even finishing in the top three or four is a real
accomplishment.”
Sprinter Craig Everhart, a member of the distance-medley relay
team, will also have a shot at the finals in the 400-meter,
entering the meet ranked ninth in the nation.