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High School Record, U.S. Record,
World Record...Nice Resume!
By Lindsay Goodier
After
a triumphant pole-vaulting career that included a world record in
1986 and a U.S. record that stood from 1985 until 1994, Track and
Field head coach Joe Dial is again leading his team to victory in
his eighth season at ORU.
Like all athletes, Dial's athletic career has had its share of triumphs
and disappointments. Though he has held numerous titles, he was
never able to attend the Olympics due mainly to injuries.
One could say that pole-vaulting is in the Dial bloodline. Joe's
father was an avid pole-vaulter, his brother was the Oklahoma Pole-Vaulting
State Champion in 1969 and his seventh-grade son Timmy is already
extraordinary at this event. Most recently, Dial had the pleasure
of coaching his niece Dena Dial at ORU. She became an All-American
pole-vaulter at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships, placing seventh
in the competition.
Dial began pole-vaulting at the age of five, when his father broke
off some wooden poles and sent him out onto their front yard in
Marlow, Okla. Since that time, Dial has walked away with quite a
few interesting stories, including a time when he pole-vaulted in
an animal husbandry building.
"It was just a cow barn, with dirt, cows and pigs all around us.
The year after I graduated from OSU I was jumping in there. I went
up and over the bar, and then I just heard a big explosion. When
I landed, there were glass and sparks lying all around me. I had
never noticed that there was a light above the jumping area and
I'd never see it again," Dial said.
When asked what his greatest personal moments have been, Dial answered
that setting his high school record for the first time his junior
year was very memorable. In fact, Dial was the first high school
pole-vaulter in the country to clear 18 feet. However, he claims
that "the satisfaction from coaching is just as good or even better
than competing. Setting world records is really no different than
winning the conference championships: it all produces the same thrill."
Dial has led the most successful era in Golden Eagle Track and Field
history. Last year, Dial's team claimed both the men's and women's
championships at the 2001 Mid-Con Indoor Championships and he was
named Coach of the Year for the fifth time.
The team realizes the great treasure they have been given through
the person of Joe Dial. "Coach is the best person to learn from,
and he really has a passion about what he's doing," said junior
Shaun Shaefer, member of the outdoor pole-vaulting team that brought
home first place at last year's Mid-Con Championship.
Dial's wife, Shawna, is also a major contributor to his success.
Shawna is the women's track and field assistant coach. The couple
has three sons, Timmy, 14, Tommy, 5 and newborn baby Tyler, born
Jan. 28.
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