Bob Phillips, the Hokie pole vault coach, used to vault for Tech in the late '70s and early '80s and set the school record in the indoor and outdoor vault while competing at Tech.
The 1980 All-American was a four-time NCAA national qualifier and also a member of the U.S. National Team that took on Great Britain in 1984 and competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July of that year.
Phillips has been coaching the vault team at Tech for the past 23 years and has been pumping out successful athletes during his tenure, coaching vaulters to 20 conference championship titles - making Tech a very strong program nationally.
Phillips knew Tech had someone special when Olhovsky e-mailed him explaining his interest in the school.
"He isn't the biggest vaulter we've seen - he's only around 5'11" - but he is one of the fastest vaulters I've coached," Phillips said. "It's his best attribute as a vaulter."
Philips puts Olhovsky and Tech's other vaulters through four different workouts during training. They'll typically do gymnastic exercises, weight lifting and running in addition to the pole vault training he does with them.
But Olhovsky has more on his plate than just that. Back home, Olhovsky also trains under Israeli vault coach Bavel Kogan while he continues to strive towards his dream of becoming a world-class pole-vaulter.
"Back in Israel, they demand much more of us, and the training is harder," Olhovksy said. "Here we are considered student athletes; there we are considered professionals."
The discipline and maturity he has received with competing under those high expectations have translated to a great deal of success here in the U.S. and at Tech.
"He's a very dedicated young man and a very gifted student athlete," said Cianelli. "And it's shown as he's now probably one of the top two or three collegiate vaulters in the country."
As of now, Olhovsky wants to continue to develop so he can vault for his remaining three semesters at Tech and be competitive in the national arena. Coach Phillips has tremendous confidence that Olhovsky will be able to do just that.
"He has an excellent work ethic, on the track, in the weight room, in the class room," Phillips said. "If he keeps it up, I think he has a really good chance to represent Israel in London for the 2012 Olympics."
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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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