Carson City company serves the Olympics

The country's finest athletes are vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, and for some of them, a piece of Carson City may head to Sydney in September, too.

In the small community of pole vaulting, Carson City-based UCS Spirit has a big reputation. The company makes the best poles in the track and field business.

The best may be a pretty high claim to stake, but poles made in Carson City carried both the men's and women's pole vaulting world record holders to victory.

"It's always been a goal of mine to be the best at something," said Lane Maestretti, UCS director of manufacturing. "It's a great thing to be thought of as best in the world."

The walls of the UCS Spirit office are covered in pictures and newspaper articles of pole vaulters, and of course, the athletes' UCS Spirit poles.

"This is a small-niche business," said Stephen Chappell, UCS Spirit general manager. "There aren't a lot of pole vaulters in the world. It's a Cinderella sport. Not many people can make a living at pole vaulting."

Women will be competing in the pole vault at the Olympics for the first time this year, and women's world record holder, American Stacy Dragila, jumps with a UCS pole. World record holder Sergei Bubka of the Ukraine holds the record at 20 feet 2 inches, and he, too, uses a UCS pole.

"We're thrilled to see those athletes jumping on our equipment," Chappell said. "It's exciting to be involved. You feel privileged to know that a lot of young, positive, ambitious people are trying for a difficult goal. The opportunities to shine are so few and far between. Only every four years do they get attention."

"We get more credit than we deserve," Maestretti said. "A pole's only a tool, but the athletes trust us that it's going to be the best pole."

UCS Spirit poles are made of fiberglass. Maestretti said it takes about a half a day to make one pole, although in an emergency they once made a pole in just under two hours.

Fiberglass sheets cut in specific patterns designed to bend certain ways are wrapped around aluminum-based metal poles. The poles are then heated at temperatures up to 300 degrees. After they are cooled and removed from the aluminum base, they are tested for strength and stiffness by putting the poles in a machine that bends the poles farther than they would every be bent in competition.

The company has just seven employees, and they make about 70 different sizes of poles. The company also hosts a national pole vaulting summit every year in Reno that draws up to 1,000 people including the top vaulters in the country.

Maestretti and Chappell both are in Sacramento helping set up equipment at the Olympic Trials to help the UCS parent company from New Jersey.

Watching pole vaulting for the pair isn't as carefree an experience as it is for most.

"We have more stress than the average fan," Maestretti said. "We're worried about the equipment, so it's a little less carefree."

While it doesn't take a vaulter to make a good pole, both Maestretti and Chappell have vaulting in their blood.

Austin, Nev., isn't known for turning out Olympic caliber athletes, but Maestretti is an exception.

Maestretti grew up in Austin and discovered pole vaulting at a young age.

"I got a chance to pole vault when I was in the fifth grade," he said. "I made six foot the first day, and I was hooked.

"You have to go one day at a time, but you never know what you can do unless you try."

The tiny rural community didn't even have a track at the time, but that didn't deter Maestretti from becoming good enough to get a track scholarship to the University of Nevada, Reno.

In 1980 he went to the Olympic trials in pole vaulting. He didn't make the team, but he returned to the 1984 Olympic trials as a contender in the decathlon. He pulled a muscle, ending his Olympic dreams, but not his involvement in track and field. His highest jump was 17-foot-4 inches, and between his Olympic attempts he traveled with the U.S. team, vaulting in Russia and other European countries.

He got a summer job in Carson City in 1981 working with George Moore, one of the pioneers in pole vault technology.

"What a great summer job for a pole vaulter, making poles," he said. "I have a degree in physical education and biology and, now, I'm in manufacturing."

Chappell's other brother taught him how to pole vault before he reached high school.

"I had a bit of an early start before high school," Chappell said. "I had a good coach and I progressed quite well."

A native of England, he set a national junior record while he was in high school. He said he didn't do very well at the sport in college because he didn't work hard enough. He came to the United States in the 1970s to worked with Moore as well. He married Moore's daughter, Debbie, in 1975 and has been making poles in Carson City since 1978. His son, Christopher, was this year's 4A state pole vaulting champion.

"We have a certain empathy and understanding of the athletes' struggles," Chappell said. "It's a very small-type community. You can't help but form liaisons and friendships, so we have to make a good product.

"It's important to know there is no magic to the product. Maybe one of these would be a pole that carries an athlete to victory."

The Olympic Track and Field Trials continue through Sunday, July 23.

Pole vaulting events include:

- Men's pole vault final today.

- Women's pole vault qualifying round and decathlon pole vaulting Friday.

- Women's pole vault final Sunday, July 23.