Second Annual Pole Vaulting Competition Planned for Dexter Daze

While parades, crafts and live music will be the main staple at this year’s annual Dexter Daze celebration, a dedicated group of athletes is hard at work preparing for an unusual festival event.

The second annual Dexter Daze pole vaulting competition will take place at on Saturday beginning with registration at noon. The competition will feature athletes from Dexter, Chelsea, Pinckney and Lansing, as well as Ohio and Indiana, who will compete for fun and a chance at bragging rights.

“This was inspired by numerous other competitions held around the state in conjunction with community events during the summer, which typically attract hundreds of vaulters between the ages of 10 and 70,” event organizer Geoffrey Gerstner said.

Gerstner said he expects roughly 40 to 60 athletes from seventh grade through college and beyond participating this year.

“It’s grown substantially from last year because of all the positive feedback we got,” he said. “We’re still not where I’d like to be as far as participation, but we don’t have the resources to accommodate 150 to 200 athletes right now.”

Gerstner said the competition will start at the 4-foot level and increase 6 inches at a time up to 16-17 feet. Athletes will be given three chances to clear the bar at different levels. If they clear the bar, they will move on to the next level. Athletes who surpass their personal best record will receive an award for competing.

“The athletes are competing with themselves,” Gerstner said. “Most of the athletes who participate want to see where their skill level is at the end of the summer.”

While he acknowledges the competition is not one typically associated with a summer arts festival, Gerstner said he expects heavy foot traffic throughout the village during the weekend.

“There’s no obvious reason why we’re hosting this competition during Dexter Daze other than it’s a time where people across the country compete in street vaults and beach vaults associated with summer activities,” he said. “Doing it in conjunction with a community event is just a natural hook to bring people into Dexter.”

In the future, Gerstner said he hopes to grow the event with local business sponsors in order to invite Olympic athletes to participate.

“Most competitions like ours have elite athletes who come and participate,” he said. “We would like to be able to offer that novelty to our competition in the future.”

The Dexter Daze pole vaulting competition will take place from noon to 7 p.m. or until the last athlete finishes.

Registration for the event is open and costs $20. For more information, email Gerstner at geger@umich.edu or call 734-426-8617.