Nearly three dozen athletes took part in camp at Alpena High School on Thursday, which focused on pole vaulting and throwing events. Though the next track season won’t begin until next spring, Thursday’s camp allowed athletes of ages–from middle schoolers to incoming college freshmen–to fine tune their technique.

“It’s a nice mix of beginners to kids who are going to college to vault to kids who are in town to kids who are an hour and a half away,” Alpena girls track coach Joy Bullis said. “I think a lot of them don’t necessarily have pole vaulting coaches. Pole vaulting coaches are kind of rare and the kids who are here are kids who want to get better and become good at this particular event. They’re going to listen and they’re going to learn.”

The pole vaulting group was split into two groups, beginners and advanced, and got to spend the day under the tutelage of renowned pole vaulting coach Ron Gebauer. His son Aaron led the beginning pole vault group.

Gebauer has coached for more than 20 years and runs Tip of the Thumb Vaulters. He has helped multiple vaulters win state titles, including his son Brad who won three consecutive state pole vault titles. Aaron Gebauer was an indoor pole vault champion at Central Michigan.

News Photo by James Andersen Recent Alpena graduate Trevor Roznowski, right, instructs Posen's Gabe Jakubcin in the shot put. Roznowski and Alpena throws coach Jamie Bullis led the throwing portion of the camp, coaching the shot put and discus respectively.

Bullis started the camp last year after her son Gabe had a successful year vaulting as an eighth grader. Bullis contacted Gebauer, who offered to come to Alpena to coach. Bullis also contacted every school within an hour and a half radius of Alpena and drew interest from athletes in Tawas and Gladwin in addition to those who attended on Thursday.

Thursday’s camp drew vaulters from area schools Alpena, Atlanta, Whittemore-Prescott, Onaway and Ogemaw Heights and both coaches spent time breaking down technique and offering critiques as vaulters took their turns. Ron Gebauer offered advice to his group on where to plant the pole before vaulting, where the hands should be on the pole and how to follow through once a vaulter is in the air.

Hearing a renowned coach break down the fundamentals of the event not only helps the vaulters improve, but Bullis said it also reinforces advice area coaches try to impart to their athletes.

“Not only from a different voice, but different perspectives,” Bullis said. “I’ve never vaulted myself, so it is difficult for me to coach. I coach it just from listening and learning myself. For them to hear what he’s saying, reiterates everything.”

Breaking down technique and fine tuning was the name of the game for the throwers who participated in the camp. Recent Alpena graduate Trevor Roznowski coached throwers in the shot put and Alpena throws coach Jamie Bullis led the discus throwers.

Like the pole vault, both throwing events require strong fundamentals and Jamie Bullis and Roznowski took the athletes through every step, coaching them on release points, throwing motions and proper positioning.

“We try to break the shot put and the discus down into very basic individual movements. It’s a very technique heavy event, so we try to build from the front of the circle to the back until they can put together a full throw,” Jamie Bullis said. “We try to work on the very fine details of the throw and try to break it down as simple as we can.”

Jamie Bullis was encouraged to see middle schoolers taking part in the camp as he said it will give them a good fundamental base to work from when they eventually join the high school team.

“Throwing is like every sport and there are fundamentals to each and every event,” he said. “So what we’re trying to do is teach them the absolute fundamentals when they throw, so when they go back to their schools if they want to tweak it or individualize it they can, but at least they have the fundamentals down like dribbling a basketball or throwing a baseball.”

James Andersen can be reached via email at sports@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5694. Follow James on Twitter @ja_alpenanews.