By TIM KORTE -- Associated Press
  As a high school rodeo standout, Stacy Dragila could tie a goat faster than her shoes.

  These days, she has roped up the record books as a pioneer in the increasingly popular sport of women's pole vault.

  The world record holder and gold medal favorite for the Sydney Olympics, Dragila lives and trains in Pocatello, Idaho, where she's an assistant track and field coach at Idaho State.

  Women's pole vault is still a young sport, with athletes making dramatic improvements in recent years.

  Dragila, 29, has been at the forefront, matching or breaking five U.S. indoor and outdoor records this year alone.

  "That's the nature of the event," she said. "It's so young, so new, that a world record could go down on any vault. That makes it exciting for spectators and exciting for athletes."

  Women's pole vault makes its Olympic debut at the Sept. 15-Oct. 1 Sydney Games. Women have vaulted seriously for fewer than 10 years, and it has only been in the last two years or so that the event has taken off.

  "If you ask people to name five events they want in a track and field meet right now, they're all going to say women's pole vault," said Craig Masback, executive director of USA Track & Field.

  Ten years ago, the idea wasn't even considered.

  "Plain and simple, women were deprived of the opportunity," Masback said. "The attitude was always, 'Girls can't do that. They don't have the strength or agility. They might get hurt."'

  Dragila and other women swiftly dispelled that notion, making exceptional improvements in a relatively brief span.

  In 1994, Dragila set the U.S. indoor record at 10 feet. Today, she holds the world indoor and outdoor records at 15-1 3/4.

  "Two years ago, nobody thought we could jump 14 feet," Dragila said. "Then it was 15 feet. Now, we're going for 16. It's fun to be part of something where you're pushing the edge all the time."

  On June 11, Dragila cleared 15-5 on a beach in Santa Barbara, Calif., but that mark wasn't recognized as a world record because she used a wooden runway.

  Of the top American outdoor marks in women's pole vault, Dragila's 15-5 is nine inches better than her closest competitors.

  However, that doesn't mean Dragila automatically wins every meet or always reaches 15 feet. Last weekend in Portland, Ore., she cleared 14-7 1/4 but won a four-way tie on the basis of fewer misses.

  She was fourth on June 18 at the IAAF Pontiac Grand Prix Invitational meet in Raleigh, N.C., clearing 13-5 1/4, two feet lower than her jump one week earlier on the California beach.

  No matter.

  Dragila said the Santa Barbara jump boosted her confidence for the U.S. Olympic track and field trials July 14-23 in Sacramento, some 35 miles from the farm in Auburn, Calif., where she grew up.

  "I think I can jump 16 feet this year," she said. "I'd like to get it in July or August so I'd have it under my belt going to the Games. It makes a big difference when you've done it and others haven't."

  In high school, Dragila was a 4-H Club member who excelled at goat-tying and breakaway roping. She also ran hurdles, which helped her land a scholarship to Idaho State, where she competed in heptathlon.

  In Pocatello, Dragila also was introduced to the pole vault.

  Idaho State coach Dave Nielsen, who cleared 17-6 as a Big Ten champion vaulter at Iowa in the 1970s, had heard reports in the early 1990s of European women experimenting with the vault.

  Nielsen encouraged several of his female athletes to try it, just for fun. Dragila recalled struggling to overcome the fear of hurtling upside down and grew frustrated by her slow progress.

  "Some of the girls walked away," she said.

  But after graduating in 1995, Dragila was invited to a women's pole vault exhibition at U.S. nationals. She placed second, and her mark of 11-5 3/4 was an encouraging personal best.

  "Soon, I was putting more and more time into it," Dragila said.

  Two years later, she cleared 14-5 1/4 to win the inaugural world indoor championship. Last August, she won the world outdoor title with a vault of 15-1, matching the world record by Australian Emma George.

  In May, Dragila vaulted 15-1 3/4, taking the world record for herself and capping a remarkable rise.

  "It's Bubka-esque," Masback said, alluding to Sergei Bubka, the Ukrainian who dominated men's pole vault in the 1990s.

  Dragila isn't finished. She spoke cautiously of ensuring a top three finish in Sacramento and Sydney, but she couldn't hide her excitement at the prospect of clearing 16 feet.

  "We've put it up there in practice a couple of times," she said. "Even 15 feet seemed real high at first. The more I've seen it up there, me and 16 feet have come to grips with each other."