Rick Suhr

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Rick Suhr (pronounced shur) is an Olympic level pole vaulting coach in Rochester, New York. In the last 6 years Suhr's athletes have won an un-paralleled 15 National Championships and set 17 National Records in the pole vault at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. His most notable athlete, Jennifer Stuczynski has set the American Pole Vault Record 6 times and won the US National Championships 8 different times and is the only American woman ever to clear 16 feet. She also took first in the U.S. Olympic Trials during which she raised her own American Record in the process.^[1] Other athletes include HS National Champions Dan Tierney, Tiffany Maskilinski, and Mary Saxer.

Suhr’s contribution to American pole vaulting has had tremendous impact at the grass roots and professional levels. He has improved pole vault safety and technique through clinics, public speaking, and his consultation service at the youth level. Suhr has been a big advocate in helping push professional pole vaulting back into the American Track and Field circuit. He has committed time and money at his own expense into the success of recent American pole vaulting.^[2]

Suhr’s success over the last 6 year period took the National pole vault scene by surprise. This drew incredible interest and criticism. Suhr is not particularly liked by his competitors, they consider him to be isolated and secluded, almost withdrawn. However, they do identify him to be at the highest expert level in what he does (pole vault technique). Suhr was quoted responding to criticism, "Success breeds incredible jealousy, first people say you are lucky, then they criticize your technique, then when they can no longer do that, they attack you personally and simply say “we don’t like his coaching style or philosophy”.^[3] Suhr taught for several years with a degree in education and then went on to serve as a professional card counter for Black Jack Teams in the early 90’s counting cards and calculating complex betting ratios.

Suhr is the youngest of four brothers who have had celebrated wrestling careers. Suhr’s background included: a State Championship in wrestling, All-American status and inductions into The Wrestling Hall of Fame and Spencerport Athletic Hall of Fame.^[4] He and his brother John remain one of the few brother combinations to both win the New York State Wrestling Championships.

He founded Suhr Conditioning Systems in 1993 and built an indoor pole vault training facility behind his home in 1997. The business later became known as Suhr Sports. There he trained athletes from numerous disciplines including football, wrestling, and track and field.

Record Timeline

2004

      Coached High School National Champion (Tiffany Maskilinski)and Runner-Up (Jen O'Neil)
      Coached Indoor High School National Champion (Dan Tierney)
      Coached NAIA National Champion (Renee Evans)

2005

      Coached the 1st Two High School Girls to break the 14’ barrier
      Coached High School National Champion (Mary Saxer) and Runner-Up (Maskilinski)
      Shocked the Track World by coaching Jennifer Stuczynski from beginner to US Nat. Champ in just 10 months.

2006

      Coached Jenn Stuczynski to 5 consecutive indoor jumps over the 15’ barrier earning a contract with adidas.
      Suhr concludes other coaching to exclusively coach the pole vault
      Coached US Outdoor National Champion 

2007

      Coaching included winning both US Indoor and Outdoor Titles.  Breaking the American        
      Pole Vault Record 2x and coaching first American woman to jump the 16’ barrier

Since 2006, Suhr has exclusively coached Jennifer Stuczynski to 7 consecutive US Titles, 6 American pole vault records, Olympic Trials Record, and two World Medals (Olympic Silver). She remains the all-time highest American vaulter.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Suhr Sports