Pole vaulter Rory Quiller’s bid to become the third student-athlete in Binghamton University history to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team fell short in Eugene, Ore., on June 27.
Quiller, a 24-year-old graduate student at BU and the reigning NCAA Division I Indoor champion, tied for 14th at the U.S. Olympic Trials, held at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field. Quiller cleared his opening height of 17-8 1/2 but was unsuccessful in his three attempts to clear 18 1/2, the minimum mark necessary to advance to the finals. The top 13 pole vaulters advanced to the finals.
“Obviously I’m super disappointed about it, probably moreso than any meet I’ve gone to,” Quiller said. “It’s just a culmination of the travel and the kind of scale of the meet.”
In the finals on June 29, Jeff Hartwig, Derek Miles and Brad Walker, the American record-holder, qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team in the 2008 Summer Games, held in Beijing, China. Walker, 27, reached a height of 18-6 1/2, the minimum necessary to make the team. The 40-year-old Hartwig, who will be the oldest vaulter in U.S. Olympic history, reached 18-8 1/4. Miles, 35, led the pack with a height of 19 1/4.
Quiller said making contact as he cleared the bar, not height, was his problem.
“Height was definitely not an issue, I think a lot of guys saw me and said hey maybe that guy should’ve been in the finals height-wise,” Quiller says. “I just made enought contact that I took the bar off the pegs.”
Quiller used a bigger pole than he normally did, and missed his first attempt at 17-8 1/2. Once he cleared it, and heard the cheers of the crowd, he felt he would be able to at least advance to the finals.
“I thought, ‘If I just keep hitting the takeoffs I’m going to key the next five heights,’” he said.
Though Quiller was initially disappointed, some advice from a veteran pole vaulter comforted him.
“Nick Hysong really took me aside. He’s a little older now, hasn’t put up the big heights this year, but he’s been around it forever,” Quiller says. “Walking off into the pit, I’m trying not to have a stream of profanity coming out of my mouth, and he says, ‘You know, you have many more of these. Let it sink in a little bit and let it sting, and just remember it’s not a fun experience but it’s a great experience when it works out for you. You know you can’t be on top of your game all the time.’”
Hysong, 36, won the gold medal for the U.S. in the pole vault at the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney, Australia.
Quiller didn’t notice just how many fans were in attendance until watching the finals. Quiller said before the Trials he was excited to be jumping at Hayward Field, a venue he had never competed at, because it is considered “the mecca” of track and field events. Hayward Field’s fan capacity is listed as 10,500.
“It’s tough to put it in scale, probably like if you go to a college football game at you know like an SEC college football colelge game,” Quiller said. “It’s a whole bowl, a whole stadium packed with people.”
With a year to go before earning a graduate degree, Quiller said he will continue to train at Binghamton University. He may also serve as an assitant coach to BU’s track and field team. Quiller said he is also looking into competing in international pole vaulting events later this summer.
Former BU student-athletes to make the U.S. Olympic Team are John Moreau, ‘77, a fencer at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics; and Chris Coleman, ‘89, a member of the bobsled team at the 1992 and 1994 Winter Olympics.