In a sport where young stars are constantly breaking records, longtime athletes like pole vaulter Pat Manson tend to get overlooked.

There are few living athletes like him, people who stay healthy and focused long enough to perform at a world-class level for two decades.

Two years ago, shortly after Manson vaulted higher than 18 feet, a statistician told him something he hadn’t considered: He had broken the 18-feet barrier for 18 years in a row, tying U.S.A. Track and Field Hall of Famer Earl Bell’s all-time streak.

But it wasn’t until the 37-year-old University of Kansas graduate vaulted 18 feet, 1/2 inch two weeks ago, marking the 20th year Manson had cleared 18 feet, that people took notice.

Manson said the small meet, at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colo., had run late and by the time he vaulted at the end of the day there were only a few people around to hear the announcer say that he had cleared 18 feet for the 20th straight year.

But since the news spread across track and field chat rooms and news reports, Manson is enjoying a level of attention he hasn’t received for years.

The streak started in 1986, a year many University of Kansas freshmen were born, when Manson set a state record with a vault of exactly 18 feet as a senior at Aurora Central High School in Aurora, Colo. No Colorado high school athlete has come close to his record since. The next best is 16 feet, 2 inches.

After graduating from Aurora Central, he came to the University, where he competed alongside three-time U.S. champion and former American record-holder Scott Huffman on a team that included several of Kansas’ all-time great pole vaulters.

“We had the best vaulting crew in the nation,” Manson said.

He said one of his favorite memories at Kansas was receiving a gold watch for winning the Kansas Relays in 1989. He went on to win the meet again in 1992, 1995 and 2001.

He competed in his first of five Olympic trials in 1988, placing 17th. He also placed second in the 1989 NCAA Championships and third in 1991.

Manson graduated in 1991 with a degree in mechanical engineering. Figuring he wouldn’t be able to make much of a living as a professional athlete, he found a job in Lawrence with Environmental Management Resources, where he worked until 1996.

He said the company allowed him to stay involved in track despite his need to travel across the country and overseas for weeks at a time during the season.

“One of the tough things in a sport that doesn’t have the money is just supporting yourself,” he said. “One of the biggest challenges was the first couple of years out of college, and EMR in Lawrence was fantastic.”

Meanwhile, Manson vaulted a little higher each year. The summer after he graduated, he won the Pan-American Games, which he would later win two more times. In 1994 he cleared 19 feet for the first time, establishing a career best of 19 feet, 2.25 inches.

All this led to the 1996 Olympic trials. Manson was 28 years old, in his prime, and ranked as the top pole vaulter in the United States, 10th in the world, by Track and Field News.

But before it was his turn to vault, a truck ran over his poles and broke them.

Luckily, his friend and former teammate Huffman let him borrow one of his poles. Manson vaulted 18 feet, 8.25 inches, putting him in a tie for the third and final spot on the Olympic team. But because Manson had missed the bar more times, he finished sixth and didn’t make the Atlanta Olympics.

Manson didn’t view the event as a tragedy. He said he was grateful he even got to jump.

The day after the meet, Manson proposed to Amy Legacki. They had met in 1993 at the U.S. Nationals in Eugene, Ore. She was a long distance runner and University of Indiana graduate.

It’s not surprising that Manson, the son of a college football player and a marathon runner, should marry another track and field athlete. Amy, who still races competitively, said she enjoyed having someone who understood the hours of work and weeks of traveling it takes to be an elite athlete.

“We have a deal that someday I have to pole vault and he has to run a marathon,” she said. “Just so we know how difficult it is.”

Each year Manson has remained at the top of the United States pole vaulting circuit. He competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials, falling short of making the Olympic team both times. He knows that the 2004 meet, in which he didn’t make it past the preliminaries, was probably his last shot.

“Athletics is like a bell curve,” he said. “When you’re on your way up, just qualifying for the Olympic Trials is a big deal. Now I’m struggling not to go down the other side as far as my performance level.”

Now that Manson is nearing the end of his career, he has started to focus more on his business prospects.

He started a small business, Vault Mortgage Colo., two years ago.

The days of working out on the track for hours are gone. Now he’s happy when he can squeeze in an hour on the track at a local high school during his lunch break three times a week. He gives advice to the high school pole vaulters and their coaches, and puts on one-day clinics occasionally.

He and Amy have two children and live in Superior, Colo. Four years ago Amy started a track club which she and Pat run during the summer for local children. They bring in their professional track and field friends to talk to the children.

This Saturday Manson will compete at the Kansas Relays in the Scott Huffman Men’s Pole Vault at 2 p.m.

Manson asks himself: when is it time to stop? He no longer has the Olympic trials to train for, but the streak gently pushes him on. Should he keep going until he can’t get up to 18 feet any more, or should he walk away on his own terms?

He’s not ready to make that decision yet. But he says that this year’s Kansas Relays could be his last, at least in the invitational division.

“I know that the window of opportunity will soon be passed,” he said. “But when I’m an old man looking back, I don’t think I’ll regret getting the most out of my time as a professional athlete. And when it’s done, it’s done.”

— Edited by

Jesse Truesdale