By Ken Mcmillan
Times Herald-Record
March 11, 2008
Robb Quiller was preparing to pole vault at the state high school championships on Saturday in Ithaca when he heard that older brother Rory was already jumping at a personal-best height in Boston.

"That kind of motivated me not to be shown up, that I had to live up to that expectation and make it a good day for all Quiller jumpers,'' Robb said.

Rory won the IC4A championship at 18 feet, 6½ inches. He spent the rest of the afternoon waiting for caller I.D. updates on Robb from their father — longtime Army track coach Jerry Quiller — on his dying cell phone.
"I could barely hear, it's so loud at that meet," Rory said. "All I could hear was breaking in and out '15-9, first attempt.' I was in the corner and more excited at that point than when I was walking off the pit after making" a jump.

Robb blew past the Section 9 indoor mark he set a week earlier and won the state title at 16-1, just four inches shy of the state mark — he failed on three subsequent attempts at 16-6.

"I think I snaked over, not too much room,'' Robb said of his winning leap.


Going to another level
The Quiller brothers have both vaulted into the elite of the nation.

Rory, a grad student at Binghamton University, is the top-ranked collegian heading into this weekend's NCAA Division I indoor championships in Arkansas. He is ranked sixth in the nation and 27th in the world.

Robb is ranked second in the state and 14th in the nation. The James I. O'Neill senior is headed to the national scholastic championships this weekend at the New York Armory.

What's amazing is both brothers have made marked improvements in just the past three weeks. Rory improved by almost five inches, winning the America East Conference title and placing second at the U.S. Indoor Nationals. He laughs because track and field bloggers have put out the question: When did this kid learn how to vault?

"It may be shocking for people who don't know me," Rory said. "It's different from mine and coach's standpoint. I've been jumping high for a while, but the bar is staying up. I am getting on bigger poles. I just keep getting better."

Robb was stuck at 14-6 — the height at which he won the OCIAA and Section 9 Class B titles — before popping off a 15-footer at Eastern States on Feb. 26, a 15-6 at the state qualifier on March 2 and the 16-1 just six days later.

"That kind of improvement is generally just unheard of," Rory said.

"It's pretty crazy," Robb said. "I think I am starting to figure out what I need. I always felt I had the potential to be jumping in the 15-s, maybe 15-6 throughout the season. I had the height, but maybe I had a bad day or my hamstring was hurt or the pole was too small. Then when I jumped in the 15s, it was like I broke a mental barrier. Then I started looking at 16.

"I think the key to what I try to do is not be intimidated by it. You have to realize that nothing is impossible in pole vault — it's just a couple more inches. "¦ It's not bad when you think about it like that.''

Binghamton coach Mike Thompson worked with Rory for five years and now he gets Robb for at least the next four at Binghamton. He, too, was impressed with the surge, but not totally surprised.

"You can tell that Robb was capable of jumping a lot higher than he had," Thompson said. "He's aggressive and he has a great mentality about the event. It's fun watching him jump. He is all business."


Good health and good poles
How did it come together so quickly for the Quillers? For one thing, both brothers are finally healthy: Rory missed four weeks early in the winter season with pneumonia and Robb has battled hamstring problems. Both of them have also adjusted well to newer, longer poles.

"I moved to a stiffer pole to give me a shot off the top and it worked perfectly," Robb said. "My standards were exactly where they needed to be. Everything was perfect and it worked out."

Rory tends to thrive on competition. He is a five-time NCAA qualifier, placing second at the 2007 indoor meet and fourth at the 2007 outdoor meet. On Feb. 23, he competed in his first USA championships and took home the silver medal with a jump of 18-4½, his best effort at the time.

"The motivation, the adrenalin and being next to guys who won Olympic gold medals and world championship titles was so exciting," Rory said. "I was trying to control it. There's no way I wasn't going to have a lot of height that day. Being around great competition, your body just goes to that next level.''

Rory would like to win his first NCAA title this weekend, and he expects a tough competition with vaulters from Stanford, Clemson and Kansas. "With the four of us," Rory said, the odds of one not setting a personal record "will be pretty slim."

His prime focus, though, is improving on his 18-6½ and reaching the U.S. Olympic Trials automatic standard of 18-8¼.

Thompson is sure his existing height will be more than enough to qualify for the June 27 preliminaries in Oregon.

"I really feel like 18-6 is good, but it's not good enough,'' Rory said. "It's on me to improve.''

Rory is certain his younger brother will beat his Binghamton jumping records within a few years. He lost his high school mark to Robb, but at least he'll have a substantial lead in the college ranks. No doubt that will push the younger Quiller.

"I hope to keep it kind of close,'' Robb said. "He's only 2½ feet ahead of me."