Howl Yes! Bell Vaulted To Greatness

Earl Bell of Arkansas State was in second place when the pole vault bar was raised to a meet-record height of 18-1 (5.51m) at the 1975 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

If successful, Bell would become the first 18-footer in meet history and, at the age of 19, the world’s first teenager over the barrier.

The only problem was he had lots of company – four had cleared the previous meet record height of 17-8 (5.38m), and the other three all had higher PRs than Bell. Leading that group was the first collegiate 18-footer, Dan Ripley of San Jose State, who scaled 18-1 a few months earlier for a world indoor best.

“When you get in a meet like this, it’s not only how much ability you have, but how much class and the ability to respond,” Arkansas State coach Guy Kochel explained to the Associated Press. “If a guy is not a consistent vaulter; if he does not have a little character, he’s going to choke before it’s over.”

“Choke” wasn’t in Bell’s vocabulary that day.

He was indeed the meet’s first 18-foot vaulter with a second-attempt clearance. Only Ripley could match him on his third – and when neither got over 18-4 (5.59m), Bell became the Red Wolves’ first NCAA outdoor champion.

“He can go higher than 18-1, but I can’t say how high,” added Kochel. “He’s not far from the world record (which was 18-6½ or 5.65m). Most people really don’t know how close he is. He was over 18-4 twice in the NCAA and brushed it coming down.”

Well, after repeating as NCAA Indoor champ with the meet’s first 18-foot clearance, Bell opened the outdoor season with a collegiate record of 18-3½ (5.57m). Bell asked the bar to be raised to the world record of 18-7 (5.66m) and while he missed on each of those attempts, he eventually got the mark two months later when he soared over 18-7¼ (5.67m). That made Bell, now 20, the youngest vault world record holder since 19-year-old Brian Sternberg of Washington became history’s first 5-meter (16-4¾) vaulted in 1963.

What made Bell’s world record even more remarkable was that he needed that all-time clearance just to win. He was behind on misses to Kansas alum Terry Porter, who PR’d by six inches at 18-1.

“Porter’s jump made a hell of a difference,” Bell told Don Steffens for Track & Field News. “I was jumping well obviously, but Porter … wow! Last year at the NCAA, I had the same feeling when Ripley was leading.”

Bell eventually repeated as NCAA Outdoor champ – raising the meet record to 18-1¼ (5.51m) – and then made the U.S. Olympic team for Montreal, where he finished sixth. In 1977 he added a third-straight NCAA Outdoor title to join Dave Roberts of Rice as then the only three-time solo winners of the event.

Seven years later, Bell became the first American to clear 19 feet (5.80m) outdoors and earned an Olympic bronze medal. It was a moment for celebration for the Bell family, which had a long history of vaulting success. Bell was the youngest of four vaulting brothers and began jumping at the age of 5. His dad William – a future masters word record holder from age 75 to 95 – made his poles in the early days.

After retiring in 1991, Earl Bell opened the doors of Bell Athletics in his Arkansas hometown of Jonesboro and has guided multiple future Olympians. Bell’s ASU school record of 18-7¼ lasted 43 years until the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships, when fellow Jonesboro native – and Bell Athletics pupil – Michael Carr raised his PR some eight inches to 5.70m (18-8¼) to finish fifth.