By Fred J. Demarest
LSUsports.net
Who is the best baseball player ever? For every person who says Babe Ruth, there is another that will say Ted Williams or Ty Cobb. Who is the best running back ever? For every Walton Payton there is a Jim Brown or Gale Sayers.
The point is that its very difficult to differentiate who is the best ever at any sport or any position. Unless youre LSU pole vaulter Russ Buller. In a program with as illustrious a history as LSUs, Buller is undeniably the best ever at what he does.
Every so often an athlete comes around and makes everyone stop in their tracks and watch just at the slightest chance that they may catch something very special, something that doesnt happen very often. Buller has brought that element to track and field.
The senior from Westlake, La., has taken pole vaulting to new heights at LSU, having won just about every major title possible while breaking every school record in the process. He owns both the school indoor and outdoor records in the pole vault, is the reigning NCAA Indoor champion, has five SEC titles, two Penn Relays and two Texas Relays titles to his name. He is the only man in LSU history and one of only six in NCAA history to surpass 19-feet. Enough said.
Sunday evening at 6:30 p.m., LSU fans will get their final chance to see him compete at Bernie Moore Track Stadium. At this weekends SEC Championships Buller can achieve a truly remarkable feat. He can become the first man in the 104-year history of the LSU track and field program to win four consecutive conference titles. In addition, combined with the two SEC Indoor titles he has won, he can tie the SEC record for career pole vault titles with six.
“Its been a great run for me here at LSU and Im sorry its coming to an end,” says Buller. “When I stepped foot on this campus as a freshman I never dreamed I would be able to accomplish some of the things that I have.”
But the more he accomplishes, the more he wants to accomplish. Thats the sign of a true competitor. What he wants to accomplish now is to go out without a blemish on his record this year. To win the SEC and NCAA outdoor titles and be remembered as one of the greats, not only in LSU history, but in NCAA history.
He has already won the NCAA indoor title this year, but it is outdoors that still haunts him. The only thing in his career he hasnt done is earn All-American honors in the pole vault outdoors. This year, as the SEC and NCAA meets roll around, he is unquestionably at the top of his game.
In the past five weeks he is unbeaten, has broken two stadium records, his own school record and has cleared no less than 18-4 + in any of those meets. His mark of 18-8 +, recorded in winning his second straight Texas Relays title, leads the NCAA by a wide margin and ranks seventh on the world list.
Which begs the question, at 21 is he capable of qualifying for the Olympic team this year?
Its not out of the realm of possibility. Former Tennessee All-American and NCAA champion Lawrence Johnson road a similar wave in 1996, winning the NCAA title, then parlaying that into a spot on the Olympic team in Atlanta.
“I think about what Lawrence did in 1996 and it really motivates me,” says Buller. “I dont think a year or two ago I really thought I had a shot at making the Olympics in 2000, but Im right up there with the leaders right now and I feel that if I can put it all together then I definitely have a chance at Sydney.
“But if it doesnt work out this year, I still have the foresight to look at the big picture and see that Im one of the younger vaulters in America and there are a lot of guys getting up in their 30s now, so I think if its not this time, Ill still be focused, stick with it and eventually get my chance.”
Buller has already demonstrated an ability to compete with his primary American competition. At the 1999 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Atlanta, he finished fourth as the only collegian in the field and became the first LSU man to ever clear 19-feet, scaling a 19-1. He became the second youngest man in American history to surpass the 19-foot barrier.
It was at Bernie Moore Stadium five years ago that Buller felt he had finally found a home in athletics. A standout football and baseball player as well at Westlake High School, as a junior he won the state pole vault title in 1995 and his life has never been the same since.
Five years later, Buller now competes at Bernie Moore Stadium for the final time in an LSU uniform, sure of his decision to stick with track and field, an NCAA champion, an SEC champion, a school record-holder and the best the state and LSU has ever produced in the pole vault.
“There are over 10 million baseball players fighting out there for a handful of spots,” says Buller. “There are less than a hundred good pole vaulters in America. I think I definitely made the right choice.”