Irvine Invitational : Tully Wins Pole Vault With 19-2 Effort

Mike Tully pole vaulted 19-feet 2-inches, the best American mark this year and the eighth best U.S. performance ever, at the Irvine Invitational track meet Sunday at UC Irvine.

With a strong tail wind, Tully, of the Pacific Coast Club, cleared 19-2 on his third attempt. The mark was a half-inch higher than his former career best, set last June at Irvine.

Tully, 31, was the 1984 Olympic silver medalist in the pole vault. The American record is held by Joe Dial at 19-6 1/2.

“I’m still not 100% fit yet,” said Tully, who said he is planning to peak for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials, July 15-23 at Indianapolis.

“I got in some good jumps, but I need to work on getting my steps down. I want to build some consistency in my take off.

“My personal best is 19-4 in practice. My goal is to just go as high as in practice.”

Doug Wicks of the Stars and Stripes Track Club was second at 18-3, equaling the qualifying mark for the U.S. Olympic Trials.

In the 100-meters, the final--and fastest--heat featured a notable field including Great Britain’s Daley Thompson, the two-time Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon; Tonie Campbell, ranked second in the world last year in the 110-meter hurdles, and Ghana’s Rex Brobby, a 1984 Olympian in the 100-meters.

At the gun, Thompson got a good start out of the blocks, but by 70 meters, Rex Brown of the San Diego Track Club took the lead, winning in 10.36.

Oliver Daniels was second at 10.40; Campbell was third at 10.46; Brobby was fourth at 10.46 and Thompson was fifth at 10.61.

Brown, 24, and a former Ocean View High standout, said he tried not to worry about the competition, though now that he’s beaten such big names . . .

“Well, it’s definitely a confidence booster,” Brown said. “I pulled a hamstring about five or six weeks ago, so I’m just trying to work on smoothing things out. I’m happy.”

Said Campbell: “This was a ball, I just had a ball.” Campbell’s career best is 13.19 in the 110 hurdles and 10.7 in the 100-meter dash.

“Speedwork like this is definitely what I needed. Though, I’ll tell you, this was a lot easier than the hurdles.”