Abilene is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties, Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan statistical area, which had a population of 176,579 as of 2020. Abilene is home to three Christian universities: Abilene Christian University, McMurry University, and Hardin–Simmons University. It is the county seat of Taylor County. Dyess Air Force Base is located on the west side of the city.
Cornelius "Dutch" Warmerdam was an American pole vaulter who held the world record between 1940 and 1957. He missed the Olympics due to World War II, and retired from senior competitions in 1944, though he continued to vault into his sixties. He was inducted into the International Association of Athletics Federations Hall of Fame in 1974.
Jeff Hartwig is an American pole vaulter.
O.H. Cooper High School is a public high school located in Abilene, Texas. It opened in 1960, in part to handle the increase in school age youth resulting from the Post World War II Baby Boom. It is one of three 4-year high schools within Abilene Independent School District.
Shotwell Stadium is a stadium in Abilene, Texas. It was built in 1959, using Rice Stadium as a model. It was initially named the Public Schools Stadium. The first game played in the stadium was in the fall of 1959. Shortly after the first season, the stadium was renamed Shotwell Stadium, after P. E. Shotwell, a longtime football coach at Abilene High School.
Ronald Hugh Morris was an American track and field athlete who won the national title in pole vault in 1958, 1961 and 1962. He placed fourth at the 1959 Pan American Games and second at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Morris vaulted 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m) in June 1971 for a Masters M35 World Record at the 1971 Los Angeles Senior Olympics. After retiring from competitions, he worked as athletics coach. Morris competed for the USC Trojans track and field team. He died on May 31, 2024, at the age of 89.
Steven Leslie Hooker OAM is an Australian former pole vaulter and Olympic gold medalist. His personal best, achieved in 2008, is 6.06 m making him the fourth-highest pole vaulter in history, behind Sergey Bubka, Renaud Lavillenie and Armand Duplantis.
Jennifer Lynn Suhr is an American former pole vaulter. She has been an Olympic and World champion, has been ranked #1 in the World, has been the #1 American pole vaulter since 2006, and has won a total of 17 US National Championships. She holds the world indoor pole vault record at 5.03 m. She holds the American women's pole vault record indoors. In 2008, she won the U.S. Olympic trials, setting an American record of 4.92 m and won a silver medal in the Beijing Olympics. She won the gold medal at the London Olympics on August 6, 2012. Track & Field News named her American Female Athlete of the Year for 2008.
Kjell Gunnar Isaksson is a retired pole vaulter from Sweden, who broke the world record several times in 1972.
John Thomas Pennel was an American pole vaulter, and four-time world record holder.
Wallace Bullington, known as Coach Bully, was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He served Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas for 39 years as football player, assistant football coach, head football coach and athletic director before he retired from the university's athletic staff in 1988, but not before leading the school to its first national championship in 1973.
William Morris Carroll was an American pole vaulter and later coach of the track and field and cross country teams at the University of Oklahoma.
Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a private Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as Childers Classical Institute. It is affiliated with Churches of Christ.
Abilene Christian Wildcats refers to the sports teams of Abilene Christian University located in Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats joined the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) on July 1, 2021, after having spent the previous eight years in the Southland Conference. The nickname "Wildcat" is derived from the mascot of the team.
Luke Cutts is a British pole vaulter. His personal best of 5.83 m set in 2014 is the British indoor record for the event. His outdoor best of 5.70 m puts him third on the all-time British lists.
Frederic Harry Sturdy was an American pole vaulter. One of the first vaulters to clear 14 feet, Sturdy was U.S. outdoor champion in 1929 and 1930 and indoor champion from 1929 to 1932.
Samuel Hathorn Kendricks is an American pole vaulter. He is a three-time indoor and six-time outdoor national champion (2014–2019), the 2016 Olympics bronze and 2024 Olympics silver medalist, and the 2017 and 2019 World Champion. In 2019, Kendricks set the American pole vault record at 6.06 m, tying him with Steve Hooker for fourth all time. He later won the gold medal at the World Championships in Doha.
Eliza McCartney is a New Zealand track and field athlete who competes in the pole vault and won the bronze medal in this event at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She is the current New Zealand and Oceania record holder at 4.94 m, and is the outdoor world junior record holder at 4.64 m. She also won the silver medal at the Summer Universiade in 2015. In 2018, she placed second at the Commonwealth Games.
Dan Ripley is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for his success in the pole vault. Between January 18, 1975 and March 3, 1979 he improved the indoor World record in the pole vault five times.
William Eugene "Billy Gene" Pemelton is a retired American track and field athlete. He represented the United States in the pole vault at the 1964 Olympics where he finished in eighth place. He qualified by finishing third at the United States Olympic Trials. He vaulted collegiately for Abilene Christian University. Prior to that he went to Mercedes High School, winning the Texas State Championship in the 180 yard low hurdles. After the Olympics, he was the National Indoor Pole Vault Champion in 1965.
