National Collegiate Athletic Association

NCAA News Archive - 2010

back to 2010 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

Feb 8, 2010 9:06:57 AM

The UC San Diego track and field program will host an open pole vault event Saturday in honor of Leon Roach, a former student-athlete who died in September.

Proceeds of the Leon T. Roach Vault-A-Thon will go toward a memorial fund in Roach's name to build a permanent memorial and improve the school's pole vault facility.

The event is open to pole vaulters only and will be held at the UC San Diego Track and Field Stadium on campus.

"We have had a tremendous response from the pole vault community with regard to the vault-a-thon in Leon's name," said Tritons' head track and field coach Tony Salerno. "This will be a celebration of Leon's life and will hopefully be a big step in helping to support the sport he loved so much."

Roach was a sophomore physiology and neuroscience major who spent one season with the UC San Diego track and field team. He was injured during a training exercise September 3 and died two days later at Scripps Memorial Hospital.

A native of Huntington Beach, California, Roach came from a family of successful pole vaulters. His father, Leon Roach II, cleared 16-8¾ at the University of Hawaii in the 1970s and had aspirations of competing in the Olympics. His half-brother Curtis Hendrick cleared 15-4 at Marina High School in California. Roach also hit that mark at Marina, which tied for the second best jump in school history.