Jonesboro vaulter makes U.S. team

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- It isn't Jeff Hartwig, but there will be a pole vaulter with Arkansas ties in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
Chad Harting, 28, an assistant track coach at Arkansas State who also vaulted for the Indians, won a three-way jumpoff for the final spot on the pole vault team at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials on Sunday.
Harting, who was tied with Derek Miles and Pat Manson, vaulted 18 feet, 5 1/2 inches for the jumpoff victory. The jumpoff, one of two o n the day, was the first jumpoff since 1936 to determined a berth on the Olympic team.
Harting becomes the second athlete with Arkansas connections to qualify for the Olympics. Former Arkansas Lady Razorback Deena Drossin qualified for Sydney by winning the women's 10,000-meter run on Saturday.
Sixth at the 1999 U.S. Outdoor Championships, Harting was also eighth at the 1999 U.S. Indoor Championships and was a silver medalist at the 1997 World University Games.
Jonesboro's Tye Harvey failed to qualify for the Olympics, finishing tied for sixth with a final-round pole vault of 18-1 3/4.
Lawrence Johnson won the event with a vault of 19-1 1/2, almost 8 inches lower than Hartwig's American record of 19-9 1/4 set in a meet at Arkansas State in June. Hartwig, who was a favorite to win gold in Sydney, suffered the first major disappointment of the trials, failing to clear the opening height.
Other athletes with Arkansas connections who competed Sunday included former Arkansas Razorbacks runner Seneca Lassiter, who failed to qualify for the Olympics with a seventh-place finish in the final of the 1,500-meter at 3 minutes, 38.81 seconds.
Stanford's Gabe Jennings won the event at 3:35.90, followed by Jason Pyrah (3.36.70) and Stanford's Michael Stember (3.37.04).
In the women's discus qualifying, ASU's Jenny Webster didn't qualify for the final, finishing 17th with a throw of 161-4.

WHEN Today-July 23
WHERE Sacramento, Calif.
TV Pax, 10 p.m. Central today
ON THE WEB www.nbcolympics.com ; www.usatf.org
ARKANSANS IN ACTION TODAY Brian Baker, Phillip Price, Reuben Reina, Teddy Mitchell, Ryan Wilson, Jessica Dailey, Deena Drossin and Amy Yoder, 5,000-meter first-round; Melvin Lister, Erick Walder and Robert Howard, long jump final.
HOW ARKANSANS FARED SUNDAY Chad Harting jumped 18 feet, 5 1/2 inches in a three-man jumpoff to claim the U.S. team's final pole vaulting spot. Tye Harvey tied for sixth. In the men's 1,500-meter final, Seneca Lassiter finished seventh and failed to make the team. In the women's discus qualifying, Jenny Webster finished 17th.
-- Democrat-Gazette Press Services

This article was published on Monday, July 17, 2000

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