|
Former Sun Devil Ron Barela returns for his sixth season as a volunteer assistant coach with the Arizona State University track & field program and will once again continue his work with the men's and women's pole vault group. After another highly successful season in 2008 in which April Kubishta cleared 14-feet in competition and earned two more All-America honors, Barela will turn his attention to a young crop of talented vaulters in 2009, which includes one of the top freshmen to come out of Arizona and several multi-event athletes new to the event. Barela's career with the program has seen great improvements, from school-records set and broken in the women's event to Kubishta's national outdoor title at the 2007 NCAA Championships. In her senior season, Kubishta cleared a school-record 14-01.25 (4.30m) to finish as the national runner-up indoors before placing fourth outdoors. During the outdoor season, she also cleared 14-02.00 to better her school record. That mark also stands as the sixth-best in the history of the Pac-10 Conference. Also in 2008, Barela also worked with Alana Waterford, who became on the third woman to clear 4.00m in competition (13-01.50) and qualified for the regional meet. Along with Kubishta's national crown in 2007 came All-America honors, the first of her career and the fifth for an athlete working under Barela. Kubishta, who was a standout in the classroom and was selected as the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year for women's track and field, finished her career with three All-America honors and three Top 4 finishes nationally. His first All-American was Brandon Glenn, who finished seventh at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships, before he worked with multi-event athlete Joshua Kinnaman, who earned honors in the indoor heptathlon (2006, 2007) and outdoor decathlon (2006). Barela has been a part of the Arizona State track and field program in the past as a student-athlete. Following one year at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs, N.M., Barela came to Tempe where he competed in pole vault and decathlon events for the Sun Devils. A member of ASU's 1977 NCAA Championship team, Barela still ranks among the best in pole vault at ASU. He is tied for ninth on the outdoor lists with a mark of 16-8 achieved in 1980 and is tied for fourth indoors with a mark of 16-6. In 1997, Barela returned to the coaching ranks and began overseeing the pole vaulters of Desert Vista High School in Phoenix. In his seven years with DVHS, he guided six vaulters to state runner-up crowns. He also assisted in leading the team to state tram titles. In 1999, the girls won the Arizona 5A title before finishing as runners-up each of the last three seasons. Barela also coached two vaulters to Junior Olympic national titles in 2003 as Kubishta and Glenn each brought home gold medals. Barela also coached Kubishta to back-to-back 4A state titles. She also still holds the state record of 13-0.25. One year prior to his national success, Barela took on more coaching duties as he began to guide the pole vaulters at Mesa Community College in 2002. In his two years at MCC, his vaulters finished as national runners-up six times total in men's and women's indoor and outdoor pole vault while also earning All-America accolades. Barela continues to compete following his return to the track in 1998. That year, he competed in the USA Masters Championships in Orono, Maine, in the 40+ age division. He won the national tournament with a vault of 15-1 and earned a berth into the Nike World Masters Games in Eugene, Ore. Competing in two events, Barela finished as the runner-up in both the pole vault and the pentathlon. He is still in training as his goal is to break the world record for pole vaulting in the 50-59 age division. Ron and his wife Christine reside in Phoenix with their three children, Chris, Patricia and Cynthia. All three of his children enjoy competing in track and field events with Chris and Cynthia both participating in pole vault and Patricia in distance running. |
 
  |
|||||||||||||||
