On Campus: Former McHenry pole vaulter Nate Richartz expecting big things in final season at Notre Dame

For a few days this week, Nate Richartz was in pole-vault heaven.

The Notre Dame graduate student was coming off a career-best indoor vault of 18 feet, 3¾ inches at the National Pole Vault Summit last weekend in Reno, Nevada. The performance was the seventh-best vault in the world this season, according to rankings by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

While there, he met former Olympians, Olympic coaches and others just like him, passionate athletes who want to continue vaulting after college.

“I was riding this kind of cloud of euphoria,” said Richartz, a McHenry East grad. “That was an amazing experience.”

A few days after the meet, however, Richartz and other men’s athletes got the news from meet organizers that their marks were invalid. The pegs that hold the bar that vaulters clear aloft did not meet the IAAF standards. Instead, the pegs were set for U.S. high school standards.

The difference in the peg measurement was a mere two centimeters shorter than required.

“It definitely hurt,” said Richartz, a three-time NCAA All-American in the event. “Personal bests in my sport are so, so rare. When you have a breakthrough like that, it’s an amazing feeling.”

But the anger, frustration and disappointment didn’t last long – about 15 minutes, in fact.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “Being upset or being frustrated isn’t going to help.”

Richartz has chosen to look at what he gained from the meet – many new connections and renewed confidence in his abilities.

“I know I can jump that,” said Richartz, whose previous career best was 18 feet, ½ inch. “To see an improvement reinforces that I’m doing the right thing. It’s so early in the season. To jump that high this early is really exciting. I can definitely go higher.”

Richartz also was encouraged by clearing 18-3¾ with a shorter runway approach than usual.

“I didn’t quite feel ready going for my full approach,” he said.

During the indoor season, Richartz is competing unattached since he has used all of his college eligibility. He has one outdoor season remaining, and will compete for the Irish this spring.

“I’m still quite involved with the team,” he said. “It’s a huge advantage to have a daily group to work with.”

As Richartz looks down the road to a post-collegiate career, staying involved at Notre Dame is the one certainty he sees. His future needs to include part-time job possibilities in the area, access to facilities and poles, along with coaches he is comfortable with.

“My plan is to keep training at Notre Dame because this is where I’ve had success,” he said. “There are a lot of unknowns. For 99 percent of professional pole vaulters, it doesn’t pay the bills.”

One thing Richartz is certain of is that his training is showing results.

“I’ve matured a lot as an athlete since last year,” he said. “I’ve gotten smarter with my training. I have had a tenacity this year. I’ve refused to let [bad habits] stay. I’ve drilled and drilled and drilled until I’ve battered them out of existence.

“I expect to jump higher in every meet than I did the last meet,” he said.

NAIA honors: Anthony Moscatello, a senior men’s soccer player at Missouri’s William Woods University, was named last month to the NAIA honorable mention All-American team.

A Jacobs grad, Moscatello scored eight goals this fall for the Owls (13-4-3) and produced career highs with five assists and 21 points.

He ranks fifth in school history in career goals (28) and points (67), and he played in 66 career games.

Moscatello earned first-team All-American Midwest Conference honors while helping the team finish 10-0-1 in conference play and share the league title. The team also qualified for the NAIA tournament.

Carthage speedster: Crystal Lake South grad Cailey Ciezadlo won the 200-meter dash and placed third in the 55 dash last weekend in D-III Carthage College’s season-opening indoor track meet.

Ciezadlo, a freshman, bested the 200 field with a time of 27.26 seconds. She finished in 7.64 seconds in the 55. Carthage swept the top three spots in both races as it won the meet, the annual Private College Invitational, by a 114-point margin over second-place finisher Concordia University (Wis.).

Mohr swats a lot: McHenry East grad Matt Mohr, a freshman men’s basketball forward at D-III North Park University in Chicago, ranks sixth this season in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in blocked shots and seventh in rebounding.

Mohr is averaging 1.18 blocks a game for the Vikings (4-10) while also leading the team in rebounding (6.2) as a reserve. He is scoring 3.8 points a game and his 13 blocked shots lead the team. He had a career-high 10 rebounds Dec. 16 in a victory against Lake Forest. In the team’s next game, a Dec. 20 win against Guilford, he blocked a career-best five shots.

Mat master at Augie: Dale Charlier, a junior 141-pound wrestler at D-III Augustana College, ranks second on the team this season in victories.

Charlier, a Cary-Grove grad, is 16-8 for the Vikings. The 16 wins is a career high in a single season for Charlier. He placed sixth in the team’s season-opening Wisconsin-Platteville Invitational.

Truman contributor: Senior forward Sam Andrews is averaging career highs in scoring (5.1 points) and rebounding (1.6) a game this season for D-II Truman State’s women’s basketball team.

Andrews (Huntley) has played in every game this season for the Bulldogs (10-4) and has the second-most three-pointers on the team (16).

Truman State, located in Kirksville, Missouri, is in second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference’s West Division with a 5-2 record.

• Barry Bottino writes a weekly column about local college athletes for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at barryoncampus@hotmail.com and follow @BarryOnCampus on Twitter.