Pole Vault Approach and Plant Mechanics - Todd Lane

The Coach

ITCCCA

Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association

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Todd Lane | LSU | Assistant Coach

Lane was named the 2020 USTFCCCA South Central Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year during the indoor campaign. JuVaughn Harrison won his second consecutive SEC indoor title under the tutelage of Lane in the high jump with a clearance of 7’ 5”. H

Harrison had the No. 2 long jump (26’ 7.25”) and No. 3 high jump (7’ 5.75”) in the nation entering the NCAA Championships before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fellow jumper, Rayvon Grey, had the No. 3 long jumps in the nation with a season-best mark of 26’ 6.50” to make him and Harrison the most elite jumping duo in the country. All three marks listed above for Harrison and Grey are LSU top-10 marks.

On the women’s side, Lane had junior Abby O’Donoghue ready to compete for a national title in the high jump. O’Donoghue set the LSU school record with a clearance of 1.89 meters (6’ 2.25”) at the Tyson Invitational and she was set to enter the NCAA Indoor Championships as the No. 2 seed; she took silver at the SEC Championships with a clearance of 6’ 2”. Lane helped pole vaulter and indoor school record holder, Lisa Gunnarsson, become the first LSU woman to win an SEC indoor title in the event since 2009. Mercy Abire claimed a bronze medal for the Tigers at the SEC Indoor Championships in the long jump and her season-best leap of 21’ 1.50” (6.44 meters) ranks fourth in the LSU record books. Freshman Nyagoa Bayak also entered the LSU top-10 list in 2020 with a clearance of 5’ 11.50” in the high jump.

In 2019, Lane was named the USTFCCCA Outdoor Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year in the South Central region.

At the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Lane helped JuVaughn Harrison become the first man in NCAA history to sweep long jump and high jump titles at the NCAA meet.