Coaching philosophy
Pole vault is an event that is very specific and takes TIME to learn. This is something that I stress to my athletes. For most people, vaulting does not come overnight. Yes, I have had vaulters who have gone from never touching a pole to state qualifying in one season, but for most people, this is an anamoly. I believe every vaulter deserves a chance in a meet, deserves a spot on the runway, and deserves the same treatment no matter how high they go. I believe that the process is what makes the athlete a better person, vaulter, and citizen. Learning that hard work is the way to earn the accolades you want is a lesson that will go far.
I love track and field and especially the pole vault. I want athletes to succeed whether they are trying to vault 6 feet, 12 feet, or just get off the ground. You will see me at a meet get just as excited for my girl who no heights but improves her form as for my girl who wins the meet. Your child is important to me! Pole vault requires a certain amount of athleticism. I do want my pole vaulters to have some background in sports no matter what that might be. The sport will be easier for them to catch on that way.
I emphasize safety in the vault. I always have mats around my pit, I follow the rules of the IHSA, the NFHSA, and any other governing rules for track and field. I am a IHSA state pole vault official in the spring at the state track meet and am well versed on the rules and regulations of pole vault. I am one of the only female officials down there which I take pride in. We may attempt things that to parents, may seem crazy. Yes, in pole vault we go over high heights and my goal is to make your child go upside down while doing that. We use practice techniques such as jumping off box jumps. We use the rope. In all these activities, your child is safe. There are mats everywhere, I am spotting whenever needed, and I will not have an athlete try a drill that I do not believe they are ready for. Parents are welcome at my practice if they want to see what we do. We do have athletic trainers on site at all times. If an athlete is injured, I do not have them vault at the meet. This goes for my elite athletes and my beginner athletes. Vaulting requires coming down from a height and landing on the mat. This same mat catches athletes landing from a vault of 6 feet and elite athletes landing from a vault of 18 feet. They are created safe for the sport.
About Coach Zimm: I grew up in Wheaton, IL and attended Wheaton Warrenville South High School. I did gymnastics at Midwest Academy of Gymnastics in Warrenville and it was out of my freshman year gymnastics season at WWS that the track coach came and recruited me for pole vault. Little did I know at that time that the PV coach at WWS was the head PV state official in Illinois, a master pole vaulter, and one of the best pole vault coaches in IL, Mike Fontana. I was just excited to vault. During my four years at WWS I competed in sectionals in the vault 3 times, was a 2 time state qualifier, and my senior year competed in finals. I was never all-state yet I enjoyed every minute of my experience. I was indoor conference champion my senior year with a vault of 11'0". I no heighted at outdoor conference and then qualified for state the next weekend with a vault of 10'3". I qualified for state finals and in prelims vaulted 10'9" which put me to finals where I vaulted 10'3" and placed 15th overall.
I attended North Central College under one of the best NCAA college coaches in the nation, Tim Winder. After my freshman year, I injured my back and the doctors found that I suffered from degenerative disc disease. Basically, the discs in my back were starting to degenerate and every time I vaulted it made this worse. I chose not to have the surgery and remove the discs but this meant I could not vault anymore. I stopped vaulting at the collegiate level and ran the rest of the 3 years in college as a distance runner where I qualified for nationals in the 3000m steeplechase in 2011 and placed 58th in the nation in cross country nationals in 2011.
After graduating in 2012 I was hired by Oswego High School as the pole vault coach and have been coaching here ever since. In the fall of 2013 I also began helping out with the girls cross country program. I began teaching in the district in 2015. I taught drivers education behind the wheel and did long term subs in the building up until the end of the 2017 school year. I was hired on by the mathematics department in 2017 and currently teach algebra and geometry at OHS. I married my husband, Kevin Rafferty (Head coach xc and track at Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora) in 2014. We live in Oswego with our son Philip who was born in September of 2017, ourthree dogs, two turtles, one bearded dragon, six fish, and a multitude of track spikes taking over our house.
