Roth Report
Pete Dye River Course Cam
Television & Radio
Travel Center
Former Virginia Tech All-American Bob Phillips begins his 30th year as coach of the Hokie pole vaulters. During that time the vault program at Virginia Tech has risen to national prominence and to the top of the ACC. Since joining the conference six years ago, 13 different Virginia Tech vaulters have qualified to the NCAA National Championships a total of 32 times where they have earned All-America honors 19 times including three silver medals. In that same time period Tech vaulters have claimed 34 ACC conference medals including 16 ACC conference titles.
Last season, Phillips was named the USTFCCCA Men’s Southeast Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year. For the year, six Hokie vaulters qualified for the NCAA Championships with four earning a total of five All-America honors. Yavgeniy Olhovsky tied former Hokie throwing great Spyridon Jullien by earning his seventh All-American accolade and Hunter Hall was an All-American both indoors and outdoors. At the ACC Indoor Championships, Hokie men accounted for 25 points and took four out of the top five places with Stephan Munz taking home the title and Hunter Hall placing third. Since joining the ACC, Tech men have won five of seven indoor pole vault conference titles. Phillips’ daughter, Kelly, won the ACC Indoor title and set the indoor school-record at 14’1.25” (4.30m) and was named a first-team Academic All-American. Jared Jodon and Joe Davis went 1-2 at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
2010 was another outstanding year for the Hokie squad. For the second year in a row the Tech men swept all three medals at the indoor conference meet with Hunter Hall, Jared Jodon, and Yavgeniy Olhovsky taking the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively. On the women’s side Kelly Phillips, Lisa Birnbaum, and Caitlin Thornley finished in scoring position as well bringing the total points scored by Hokie vaulters at the meet to thirty-six. Hall, Jodon, and Olhovsky went on to earn berths to the NCAA National Championships where Olhovsky earned his fifth All-American certificate. The outdoor conference meet saw the Hokie vaulters earn two more medals and twenty-two points as Yavgeniy Olhovsky and Hunter Hall took gold and bronze medals at the competition with Jared Jodon and Kelly Phillips also scoring. Jodon and Olhovsky qualified to the national Outdoor meet where Jodon earned his first All-American honor and Olhovsky his sixth.
In 2009, Yavgeniy Olhovsky and Hunter Hall both earned indoor and outdoor All-American honors. Olhovsky also set an indoor school record with a vault of 18’2.5” (5.54m) at the VT Elite Meet, a vault that also qualified him for the World Championships where he represented Israel. At the indoor meet Hokie vaulters took five medals with Yavgeniy Olhovsky, Hunter Hall, and Jared Jodon finishing in first, second, and third positions while Abby Schaffer and Kelly Phillips earned gold and silver on the women’s side. During the season Schaffer also set the indoor school record at 13’ 7.75” and was named ACC Freshman of the Year. Outdoors, Olhovsky again struck conference gold with four other VT vaulters finishing in scoring position.
2008 was another successful notch in Phillips’ hall of fame belt, guiding Tech pole vaulters to three All-America honors, two ACC championships and five all-conference performances. In the indoor season, Kelly Phillips won the conference crown in the pole vault as a freshman. On the men’s side, Olhovsky burst onto the scene with a second-place effort in the pole vault at the Indoor ACC Championships and a fifth-place vault of 17’8.5” at the NCAA Indoor Championships. Olhovsky came back in the outdoor season and received another All-America honor in the pole vault, clearing 17’2.75” for a tie for second place at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Erin Mahony won her second ACC pole vault title with a vault of 12’9.5” in the outdoor season. Mahony and Phillips both qualified for the national meet, with Phillips capturing All-American status by placing sixth overall.
The 2007 campaign was another record-filled year for Phillips’ vaulters. Thorsten Mueller became Virginia Tech’s fifth All-American in the pole vault with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Indoor National Championships. Five vaulters qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, more than any other team in the country and seven vaulters qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships, including Mahony who became Tech’s first-ever women’s NCAA Regional vault champion. On the men’s side, three Virginia Tech vaulters advanced to nationals, including bronze medalist and NCAA Academic All-American Joe Samaniuk. In ACC championship action, Virginia Tech vaulters won three of the four 2007 vault titles, had six conference medalists, and scored 74 conference points. Conference champions included Mahony (indoors), Early (outdoors) and Mueller (indoors).
In 2006, senior Brian Mondschein earned All-America honors for the third time with his fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the indoor season, Phillips’ men’s and women’s squads scored a combined 30 points at the ACC indoor championships. The pole vault crews then tallied 23 points at the ACC outdoor championships, with Mondschein winning his third ACC championship.
While competing at Tech, Phillips set the school record in the indoor and outdoor vault. He was a four-time NCAA national qualifier and was named an All-American in 1980. Phillips was 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. He was inducted into the Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 1999. Phillips has coached vaulters to 28 conference championship titles and was also a three-time Metro Conference, four-time indoor Virginia collegiate and four-time outdoor Virginia collegiate champion.
Phillips is a native of Baltimore, Md., and holds three degrees from Tech. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education, a master’s in accountancy with a concentration in accounting information systems and a Ph.D., in business administration with a major in accounting and minors in information systems and finance.
