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PHOTOS: BEVERLY SCHAEFER (SLOVENSKI); FRANK WOJCIECHOWSKI (NODEN)
EXTRA POINT
For this pole vaulter, the world is his jungle gym
By Merrell Noden ’78
Merrell Noden ’78 is a
former staff writer at
Sports Illustrated
and a frequent PAW
contributor.
Pole vaulters are the wild men of track
and field, incorrigible risk takers who
have never met a rope too high to
swing from, or a motel balcony too far
from the pool to leap from. But what
could be more dangerous than hanging
upside down from a spaghetti strand of
fiberglass as it bends almost double,
and waiting for it to fling you up to a
handstand at the top?
For pole vaulter Dave Slovenski ’12,
that’s not a rhetorical question. It’s a
challenge. He and his brother, Steve
’09, once wrapped big metal rings in
oily rags, set them on fire, and vaulted
through the flaming circle. Perhaps
you’ve seen them on YouTube, jousting
on unicycles, using vaulting poles
tipped with boxing gloves as lances.
“Dave’s always thinking up creative
new things for the other vaulters to do,”
says track coach Fred Samara.
Dave Slovenski does 60-meter dashes
on his hands. He pulls himself up ropes
while hanging upside down. To develop
spatial awareness, he practices dives off
mini trampolines into the pole-vault pit.
“Jadwin is just a big jungle gym for
him,” chuckles Marc Anderson, who, as
the Princeton sprints coach, has watched
the brothers’ antics from a safe distance.
As crazy and dangerous as this all
might sound, it is serious training for
an event that demands speed, strength,
and the superb body control of a gymnast.
“Someone once told me I was
flirting with danger,” says Slovenski. “I
told them I don’t flirt; we’re going
steady.” And while he made sure his dad
wasn’t there to see that flaming vault,
he allows, “I always take safety precautions
appropriate for my skill.”
In December, Slovenski cleared 17
feet, 7.25 inches, an Ivy League indoor
May 16, 2012 Princeton Alumni Weekly • paw.princeton.edu
record. This spring he hopes to break
the Princeton outdoor record of 17
feet, 9 inches, set 19 years ago by Kevin
McGuire ’93. Slovenski has a shot at
qualifying for the Olympic trials.
The Slovenski brothers grew up surrounded
by track and field, with a
Pole vaulter Dave
Slovenski ’12 likes to
invent new athletic
challenges for himself
and the Tigers’ other
vaulters.
WATCH: Dave Slovenski ’12 and his brother Steve ’09 vault through fire, and nearly 3,000
students play dodgeball in a tournament Slovenski helped organize @ paw.princeton.edu
father and grandfather who were collegiate
track coaches. The three Slovenski
boys — Mike is a freshman at Harvard
— lived in a Tom Sawyer world of tree
climbing, rope swinging, and playing
what Dave calls “classic American
childhood games” such as flashlight
This season, MEN’S TRACK & FIELD, which won the indoor Heptagonal Championships
and was among the favorites for the outdoor conference title, set six Ivy League
records in the winter and spring seasons. (And a 52-year Princeton record in the
400-meter dash was erased by Tom Hopkins ’14.)
ATHLETE EVENT MARK SET PREVIOUS IVY
RECORD SET
Dave Slovenski ’12 Indoor pole vault 17 feet, 7.25 inches Dec. 10 2011
Donn Cabral ’12 Indoor 5,000 meters 13:45.92 Feb. 10 2002
Joe Stilin ’12 Indoor 3,000 meters 7:53.15 Feb. 11 1985
Conor McCullough ’15 Indoor weight throw 76 feet, 1 inch Feb. 11 1979
Trevor Van Ackeren ’12 Indoor distance 9:31.95 March 2 2011
Tom Hopkins ’14 medley relay
Michael Williams ’14
Peter Callahan ’13
Conor McCullough ’15 Outdoor hammer throw 242 feet, 10 inches April 6 2010