JULY 28, 2000
By CHRISTOPHER FEAVER
Journal Staff
BINGHAMTON - To look at Nathan Jauvtis, one might think he was at the wrong athletic event on Thursday.
His long hair, encased in a bandana, and pierced tongue made him a perfect fit for skateboarding on the X-Games, rather than competing for the Open Men's pole vault title in the Empire State Games.
But one Jauvtis vault made it clear he was in the right place. Jauvtis, a 1999 Cornell graduate, easily outclassed the field competing at Binghamton University, setting an Empire State Games record by clearing 5.20 meters (17 feet).
It was the second Empire State Games title in a row for the 22-year-old recently accepted into the mechanical engineering doctoral program at Cornell.
But this year's performance far outdistanced his 15-11 winning effort oflast year. In fact, it outdistanced any pole vault effort ever by Jauvtis, whose previous career best was 16-6 while qualifying for the Empire Games earlier this summer.
"I had a practice Tuesday and it went terribly," said Jauvtis. "It was not too reassuring, but then my buddy Ryan (Williams) who I'm training with in the decathlon, he said, `A horrible practice means good stuff in the meet.' That worked for me."
Jauvtis essentially was competing against himself for much of the afternoon. He entered the competition easily clearing 14-11, a height that only three other vaulters could manage.
One of them was Cornell junior Scott Lundy, a former teammate and current workout partner of Jauvtis.
Lundy, too, easily cleared 14-11, then the next height as well. But he could not clear 15-11 and settled for second place.
"I wasn't jumping very well," said Lundy, whose personal best is 16-3. "But it was good to get out and compete."
Meanwhile, Jauvtis, the career indoor pole vault record holder at Cornell, easily cleared 15-11 for the win, then cleared 16-5 on his first attempt as well.
The previous Empire Games record had been 5.08 meters (16-6), but Jauvtis cleared 5.10 on his first effort, celebrating the record with a little dance around the landing mat as a large crowd that had gathered cheered on.
After one miss, he lengthened the mark to 5.20 meters before failing three times at 5.30 meters (17-4I).
"Just pure desire" was the reason Cornell track and field coach Nathan Taylor gave for Jauvtis' sticking with the sport after graduating from Cornell in '99. "He is the quintessential student-athlete. He has a 4.0 average. He made the time to stay with it."
Jauvtus' success Thursday made him think that even bigger things could be in his pole-vaulting future. An Olympic-trial qualifying height of 18-4 is a goal down the road, he said.
"This makes me that much more into it," Jauvtis said. "I love
it. I can't get enough of it."