Few collegiate athletes earn All-America status in two different sports. Even fewer of them enter the race to the Olympics. But for Kristin Quackenbush '98, the transition from superstar collegiate gymnast to hopeful Olympian has been a natural one.

When her WVU gymnastics eligibility ran out, "Quack," as she is known around campus, figured her athletic career was over. Andy Pintus, the WVU pole vault coach, helped change her mind pretty fast, though. After a few recruiting calls from Pintus, Quack admitted that her competitiveness was unabated.

"I had been in gymnastics for 20 of the 22 years of my life," she explains. "I don't think I'll ever get rid of that need for competition."

So, the irrepressible Quack took up pole vaulting. On the first day of practice she started out using a soft imitation bar and ended the day with an 8' 6" vault. The 5' 5" Quack then took her 13-foot vaulting pole to her first competition, where she cleared 9' 6" and came in third place. She was hooked.

She qualified eventually for the NCAA national championships. After only two or three months of training, Quack competed successfully against other female athletes who had been training for four to six years. Quack's vault of 12' 7" landed her in fourth place, and added the designation of All-American in pole vaulting to her record.

With her pole vaulting career just beginning, Quack graduated from WVU in 1998 with a degree in physical education teaching. Naturally, perhaps, she decided to make a run for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Originally from Deerfield, New York, Quack now works at WVU's Visitors Center, where her smiling face and friendly personality welcome prospective students and families daily. After her shift is over, she heads up Patteson Drive to the Coliseum, where she begins practice.

"A practice consists of vaulting, running, drills, cardiovascular training, and weight training. Each day involves a different combination of these areas. I'm at the track from two to three hours a day," she says. "After practice I run errands to do anything else that has to be done. Then I go home, eat dinner, and get ready for the next day. And the weekends are what I live for—competition time!"

Quack has recently cleared 13' 4.5" in competition, probably good enough to qualify her for the Olympics. She has cleared 14' in practice and would like to do that in a competition so that her grip on an Olympic bid would tighten.

Olympic trials begin in June 2000. Should she make the USA team, Quack would then have only about three months to prepare for the Olympic games. Not very much time to make travel arrangements, even. But then, Quack moves fast—and aims high.

—Laura Spitznogle