Nationally he has presented at state and local pole vault conferences and conventions in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia, Kentucky, and Nevada. He has been a featured speaker many times internationally and nationally, including: Cologne, Germany, European Pole Vault/High Jump Conference (2018) Mito, Japan Pole Vault Conference (2018) San Juan Puerto Rico, IAAF Pole Vault Conference (2018) Victoria, British Columbia, Canda Pole Vault Clinic (2014) and Somero, Finland Pole Vault Carnival (2012). This award was given by the North American Pole Vault Association and the USA National Pole Vault Development Staff.Ĭoach Butler is a retired art teacher of 33 years who was inducted to the Spring Branch Memorial Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, and into the New Haven High (Ind.) School Hall of Fame in 2006. Pillow’s personal bests are 18-4.5 (5.60) indoors and 18-0.5 (5.50) outdoors. Post collegiately, Pillow increased his indoor personal best by jumping 18-6.5 (5.65) to earn the Silver Medal at the USATF Indoor National Championships.Īt the 2009 USA National Pole Vault Summit, Butler was awarded the 2009 Sports Culture Award for his work in promoting the history of the sport in the education of USA athletes and coaches. Pillow finished his career as a three-time All-American, a five-time conference champion and a C-USA meet record setter for the Owls. In addition to Colwick, Chris Pillow is a recent representation of Coach Butler’s major successes. Coach Butler’s contribution to these counts has been substantial, specifically amassing two National Champions, six All-Americans and 12 Conference Champions during his time at Rice. The Owls boasts two Olympic Medalists (Fred Hansen-Gold-1964 and Dave Roberts-Bronze-1976), six NCAA National Champions, 21 NCAA All Americans, and 30 Conference Champions. Rice’s history in the pole vault is second to none in collegiate history. Colwick, who graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, also posted the top NCAA mark in 2008 with a jump of 18-2.5 (5.55) and, furthermore, went on to finish second at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2010, jumping 18-0.5 (5.50), doing so, and was the USATF Outdoor Bronze Medalist. These are both school records and were the top marks in the NCAA that year. During that campaign Colwick cleared 18-9.25 (5.72) outdoors and 18-7.25 indoors (5.67). So far, out of the many highlights of Butler’s coaching career at Rice, the number one highlight has to be Jason Colwick capturing both the Indoor and Outdoor NCAA Championships in the Pole Vault in 2009. Slinkman was also a 2022 NCAA Outdoor All-American Honorable Mention after an 18th-place finish. Under Butler's guidance, Slinkman has grabbed four C-USA pole vault titles and swept the indoor/outdoor pole vault titles at the conference meets in 2023 while setting a meet record at both (5.39m indoor, 5.43m outdoor). Most recently Butler has worked with Alexander Slinkman who earned Second Team All-American honors at the 2023 NCAA Outdoor Championships (11th place) and also at the 2023 NCAA Indoor Championships (10th place). Butler brings over 50 years of experience as a pole vaulter, educator, coach, clinician and historian. Widely regarded as one of the top pole vault coaches in the country, the "Zen Master of the pole vault," David Butler begins his 24th year as an assistant coach of both the men's and women's pole vaulters at Rice University, where he has produced over 70 conference and NCAA medal winners.
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