"Well, he's finished second at the NCAA Championships twice, although it remains to be seen where he will ultimately wind up." said Dave Cianelli, director of track and field. "He has to be considered as one of the best athletes we've had at Tech."
Senior Yavgeniy Olhovsky has turned heads at the collegiate level his entire career as a Hokie. A native of Isreal, Olhovsky is a three-time All-American and has matched the record for the highest finish by a Hokie in the pole vault by finishing second in the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
This summer, Olhovsky was given an even grander stage to showcase his talent when he earned the honor of representing Israel at the International Association of Athletics Federations World Championships in August.
Olhovsky cleared 17 feet and 8.75 inches to finish 16th in Group A of the preliminaries, falling short of the 18-0.250 mark needed to qualify for the finals, but he rose to the occasion in competing in one of the biggest venues of his sport.
"It was my first time at the world competition," Olhovsky said. "It was the biggest competition I've participated in so I didn't do so well. Competing here, I expect myself to win, but there I was at the bottom of the list."
But it was a very impressive list Olhovsky found himself at the bottom of - competing against the likes of 2008 Olympic gold medalist Steven Hooker and the United States' Olympic representative Derek Miles.
"I plan to return to the Worlds in two years and hopefully do much better," Olhovsky said.
Tech's track staff fully expects this to happen. It's already seen Olhovsky improve from the 17-4.75 he jumped his senior year of high school to the indoor track school record of 18-0.25 he set in February.
"He already holds the school indoor record and certainly has the ability to be close to a 19-footer before he's done at Tech, a feat only accomplished by half a dozen or so men at the college level," Cianelli said.
Olhovsky was born in the Ukraine, but at a young age he and his family immigrated to Israel where he grew up. He hoped in coming to the U.S. that he would find a school with a strong vault program where he could continue to grow as an athlete.
Tech was that school.
"He e-mailed one of our coaches with interest," Cianelli said, "which is not unusual. We've had several international students in our program, although none from Israel. But that's really how it all got started."
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If you are going to use a quote as the lead, use one that is short and to the point, and meaningful. Cut out the first part and just use, "He has to be considered as one of the best athletes we've had at Tech." That would be a great lead.
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