Shore pole vault trio next generation

The Rio Olympics did big things for pole vault in New Zealand but the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games are set to do more.

Pole vaulters make up a fifth of the athletics team that was named on Friday, for the event which runs from April 4 to 15.

Eliza McCartney, the Rio bronze medallist, leads the way, and is joined by Olivia McTaggart, the 18-year-old who is breaking her national age-group records, and Nick Southgate, a five-time national champion.

The trio have trained together under Jeremy McColl on the North Shore for years, and will now compete together at a major international event, in what is almost a pinch yourself moment.

‘‘It’s been quite the evolution,’’ said McCartney, who turned 21 in December.

‘‘Going from having nobody at this level, to having me, to now having Nick and Olivia as well. There’s certainly others coming through who have not quite made it, but will be here soon.

‘‘It’s just amazing, it shows the hard work Jeremy’s put in, and the type of coach he is.’’

At 23, Southgate is the oldest of the trio. The Commonwealth Games will be his first major international event, and he was full of praise for what McColl had done to help him and the others get there.

‘‘It’s just

Southgate said.

‘‘His creativeness, his dedication, his commitment to us as athletes and getting us to really find ourselves as athletes as well. He’s got an incredible eye for technique, and in pole vault, that’s his ingenuity,’’ something that’s essential.’’

Athletics New Zealand high performance director Scott Goodman has seen what McColl’s dedication looks like.

‘‘When I started here six and a half years ago, Jeremy, who is a builder, he’d start at two o’clock in the morning and work to midday on a building site, and then he’d come out here [to Athletics NZ’s Auckland training base] and work from as soon as he got here until nine o’clock at night on pole vault.’’

On the back of that work ethic, McColl created something special, which Athletics NZ has invested in heavily, especially in the wake of Rio.

‘‘It’s not just the coach, we find,’’ said Goodman. ‘‘It’s the environment.’’

At the Commonwealth Games, the men’s pole vault final takes place on April 12, and the women’s on April 13.

PHIL WALTER/GETTY IMAGES Eliza McCartney, Nick Southgate and Olivia McTaggart are all trained by Jeremy McColl.