Trumansburg’s Dom Mikula takes over as IC pole vault coach

Over the past two decades, Ithaca College has been among the best in the entire country when it comes to pole vaulting. Since Matt Scheffler took over the program in 2006, the Bombers have earned 44 conference titles, 28 All-America honors, and seven national titles. One of those national champions is set to take the reins.

On September 23, Dom Mikula was hired as the new pole vault coach, coinciding with the announcement of Scheffler’s retirement after 18 years leading the program. Coaching has been an aspiration of Mikula’s for some time, and he’s excited to fulfill that passion for his alma mater.

“This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” Mikula said. “This opportunity arose to stay close to home and be able to help the program that I thrived in. You really can’t say no to that. It has been a full circle moment, but it’s where I need to be right now.”

Mikula is the most decorated men’s track and field athlete in school history. Alongside his 2023 outdoor national championship, the Trumansburg native earned eight All-American honors, four Liberty League Field Performer of the Year awards, and broke his own school record at least 13 times, among other accomplishments.

After completing his master’s degree in occupational therapy, Mikula spent this past summer looking for coaching opportunities. His conversations with Scheffler and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Susan Bassett reassured him that Ithaca College would be the ideal starting spot in his coaching career.

“I actually had a conversation with Susan, and she was like, ‘Hey, just let me know what you’re thinking. We’d love to have you. Even if Coach Scheffler is going to stay, we’d love to have you on the staff regardless,’” Mikula said. “I had reached out to a couple other schools, and they were great programs [but] not a great fit. So Scheffler and I had a conversation, and his thoughts of retirement coincided with my desire to coach, so it really ended up being the perfect time for us to do this transition.”

Mikula’s history with Scheffler goes beyond their time together on South Hill. Mikula has worked with him for the past twelve years, beginning at the Tompkins County Pole Vault Club that Scheffler runs. Mikula has plenty of things he’s picked up from Scheffler coaching-wise beyond workout plans.

“It’s how to build relationships too,” Mikula said. “We always talk about how pole vault is such a big trust factor. It’s such a mental sport. It’s such a hard sport because it’s really all-encompassing. You need to be as flexible as a gymnast but as fast as a world-record sprinter, and so [it’s] just building relationships and being able to build that trust so when I tell an athlete, ‘Hey, this is what you need to do,’ that there’s no hiccups in it. They trust me fully, and I trust them fully to make those corrections.”

Mikula firmly believes that Scheffler will one day be enshrined into the Ithaca College Hall of Fame. He certainly has the numbers to strongly back up that assertion.

“He is one of the best pole vault coaches in the entire country. I will say that again and again and again,” Mikula said. “He’s been the best D3 pole vault coach for the last 18 years now. The resume and the legacy that he leaves behind is massive. It’s big shoes to fill. I’m very fortunate that I got to be part of that legacy and be on those teams with him and build up that program on the men’s side.”

There’s an abundance of pole vaulters on both the men’s and women’s teams to watch out for this upcoming season. For the men’s team, Shaun Herlihy will likely get close to the qualifying mark for nationals, typically around 16 feet. As for the women’s team, the trio of Talia Hutchinson, Bree Boyle and Erin Eastwood all qualified for regionals last year with marks over 3.5 meters. They too will hope to reach the national mark of around 3.75 meters.

While Mikula hopes to rack up more success in the Liberty League and at the national level, he also hopes to see his pole vaulters continue to develop during their time with the Bombers.

“I want to make sure that all these athletes are growing and progressing, and we have a great group.” Mikula said. “They’re going to come in and work hard every single day. Even those slight PRs or personal bests can really make a difference in someone’s life and in their development as a human being, too. So [it’s] maybe not all athletic [goals], but just to be there for those athletes.” 

The season begins on December 1-2 at the Cornell Greg Page Relays. Until then, they have plenty of time to prepare for the next chapter of Ithaca College pole vaulting.

“We’re really in that building phase, starting from scratch, trying to build them as athletes first before we start making them pole vaulters,” Mikula said. “You really can’t teach athleticism when it’s March and May when we’re talking about postseason meets.”