Women’s pole vaulter Laura Chmielewski continued her tear through the Northeastern record books; she has been named The Northeastern News Player of the Week after claiming the outdoor record with a 14-11.5 vault. The record was set during the 2002 season by Joanelle Bailey-Chandler.
It surprised no one that Chmielewski picked up where she left off in the indoor season, where she repeatedly broke her own record, eventually posting a 12-9.5 to set the NU and New England Championship record. She was undefeated until the final meet, the ECAC Championships, where she placed tenth. Her record-setting performance came at the Hurricane Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla., the Huskies first meet of the season.
“It feels really good to go out and break the record right off the bat,” Chmielewski said. “Especially with this being my first year at the school.”
Chmielewski spent her freshman year at Rutgers University in New Jersey, a 15-minute drive from her hometown of Monmouth. By the end of her freshman year, she had shattered the Scarlet Knight pole vault record by clearing 12 feet, but decided that the Rutgers coaching staff had taken her as far as it could.
A transfer was in order.
Chmielewski met Huskies jumping coach Brenner Abbott at a camp and began working with him. She decided not to compete at Rutgers as a sophomore to save her year of eligibility and transferred to NU as a junior.
“Brenner Abbott is probably the best coach I’ve ever met for pole vaulting,” Chmielewski said. “I’ve been working with him for a couple years now, even when I was at Rutgers. I always wanted to come (to Northeastern), I was just afraid to go to school so far from home, I guess. But I just had to come here, I just wasn’t getting any better at Rutgers, and I had very high expectations of myself athletically.”
“She’s been breaking her own records all along,” said Coach Sherman Hart. “I think, between indoor and outdoor seasons, she’s broken her record three times. (To be a great pole vaulter) you need speed, athleticism, agility, and she’s got all of them, but I think her greatest strength is probably her desire.”
A level-10 (highest) gymnast, who competed at the national level, Chmielewski said her gymnastic background gave her an edge in the pole vault.
“It gave me good body awareness, I’m very comfortable pole vaulting because of it, I’m not afraid to be upside-down, turn, or do crazy things in the air,” she said.
Despite setting the Northeastern record, Chmieleski was slightly disappointed that she didn’t clear 13 feet in her first meet. Coach Hart thinks she can go much higher.
“I would like to see her go at least 14 (feet),” Hart said. “She still has work to do, but I think she could probably get that before she graduates. She seems to be constantly improving, as long as she keeps a level head. Sometimes she gets a little excited or frustrated with herself when she misses something, but other than that she’ll get 14.”
Chmielewski has set the proverbial bar even higher.
“I have real high hopes, I want to jump 15, I don’t know if it’s going to be before I graduate, or after,” she said. “I plan on doing track for a long time, I want to be a professional. People probably think that’s crazy, but I don’t think so.”
The top women vaulters in the world clear heights in the high 15’s, while the Olympic trials are in the 14-foot range. Chmielewski is confident she will break the 13-foot mark April 2-3 in Tampa, Fla. Fans should be watching her carefully as she moves toward clearing the 14-foot mark.
— Peter Conroy, News Staff
