Bob Phillips

After a storied career as a pole vaulter at Virginia Tech, former Hokie All-American Bob Phillips has developed quite the reputation as a pole vaulter coach, as he enters his 37^th year as the coach of the Hokies’ pole vaulters. During that time, the vault program at Virginia Tech has become arguably the best in the ACC and among the best in the nation.

Phillips led the Hokies pole vaulters to new heights in 2022. Under his guidance, Rachel Baxter won the NCAA women’s indoor pole vault title to clinch Virginia Tech and Phillips’ first NCAA championship in the event. Baxter also clinched a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to tie the Virginia Tech women’s record for most career All-American honors with seven.
 
Baxter also made history at the conference level, winning her fourth consecutive indoor ACC pole vault title. She became the first vaulter – men’s or women’s – to ever win four straight pole vault crowns and ties the conference’s record for longest championship winning streak in a single event.
 
During her historic undefeated season, Baxter raised the ACC indoor pole vault record twice: once at the ACC Championships when she cleared 4.61m (15’ 1.5”) and again at the NCAA Championships with a vault of 4.62m (15’ 1.75”). Baxter’s mark ranks No. 5 indoors in NCAA history and means that vaulters coached by Phillips hold three of the ACC’s four pole vault records: Baxter (women’s indoors), D. Volz (men’s indoors), and T. Laidig (men’s outdoors).
 
Another vaulter who produced a stellar 2022 season under Phillips was Julia Fixsen, who earned top-five finishes at both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships. In her first season with Tech, Phillips led Fixsen to an NCAA bronze medal, ACC outdoor silver and indoor bronze medals, and two first team All-American honors. Fixsen also raised her personal bests from 4.05m to 4.45m outdoors and from 4.46m to 4.48m indoors.
 
On the men’s side, Phillips led Hokies to take four of the eight point-scoring finishes at the ACC Indoor Championships en route to a dominant team championship win. Conner McClure (3^rd), Jacob Rice (4^th), Harrison Rice (5^th), and Jake Spotswood (8^th) combined to score 16 points for the Hokies.


In 2021, the vaulters continued to excel under Phillips. During the indoor season Rachel Baxter became the first woman in ACC history to win three consecutive pole vault titles. Baxter cleared 4.37m (14' 4") to earn her third straight gold medal at the conference meet and went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Championships. On the men's side, Harrison Rice took second to win the silver medal and Jacob Rice finished fourth to help the Tech men's team win the ACC team title.

During the 2020 indoor season, Rachel Baxter broke the school record in the pole vault with her leap of 4.53 meters (14 feet, 10.25 inches) and won the event at the ACC Indoor Championships, helping the Tech women’s team to its third ACC indoor title. On the men’s side, Harrison Rice won a bronze medal, and Jacob Rice placed fifth.
 
In 2019, the Hokies continued their dominance in the pole vault, as Deakin Volz and  Baxter claimed gold at the ACC Indoor Championships, and Joel Leon Benitez claimed silver. Volz would go on to win gold at the ACC Outdoor Championships with a facility-record vault of 5.62 meters (18 feet, 5.25 inches).

The 2018 season marked another exceptional one for the pole vaulters, as both the men’s and women’s vaulters combined to claim nine ACC medals, three NCAA medals and nine All-America nods, including seven first-team nods. Lisa Gunnarsson and Volz won ACC gold medals at the ACC Indoor Championships in February, with Volz, Torben Laidig and Benitez giving the Tech men’s team a sweep of the top three places in the event. Gunnarsson and Laidig added silver medals at the ACC Outdoor Championships, with Baxter and Volz winning bronze medals.

The vaulters also fared well on the national stage. At the NCAA Indoor Championships, Volz won a bronze medal with a top vault of 5.60 meters (18 feet, 4.5 inches), while Laidig won a silver in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, registering a top vault of 5.55 meters (18 feet, 2.5 inches). On the women’s side, Gunnarsson was fourth at the NCAA’s indoor meet and third at the outdoor meet (4.40 meters; 14 feet, 5.25 inches). Baxter came in fourth at the outdoor meet to earn first-team All-America honors as well.

Laidig’s performance capped an outstanding career for the Germany native. He finished as a six-time All-American, including a four-time first-team All-American. The two-time ACC gold medalist – including a gold at the 2017 ACC Indoor Championships in which he set the meet record – also was a two-time ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In addition, he departed as the school’s outdoor record holder in the event (5.70 meters; 18 feet, 8.25 inches).

Phillips’ vaulters played a pivotal role in helping the Tech men’s team win the ACC title during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Laidig won the event at the ACC Indoor Championships with a meet-record vault of 5.55 meters (18 feet, 2.5 inches). Volz finished second, with Brad Johnson and James Steck tying for fourth. The quartet added points to the team total, which led to the Tech men’s team capturing the ACC title – the program’s fourth ACC indoor crown. Laidig and Volz went on to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

During the 2017 outdoor season, Johnson won a bronze medal at the ACC Outdoor Championships, while Volz came in fifth. Those two played roles in helping the Hokies’ win the league’s outdoor crown – which gave the men’s program a seventh ACC title since 2011.

The 2016 outdoor season may have been the finest in school history for Tech’s vaulters. The Hokies claimed the top seven places in the event at the 2016 ACC Outdoor Championships, accumulating 38 points toward the team total. Chris Uhle won the gold medal, with Laidig finishing second and Volz coming in third. The vaulters’ performances lifted Tech to the outdoor team crown.

Volz capped the 2016 season for Tech by winning the gold medal in the pole vault at the IAAF U-20 World Championships held in July in Poland. Volz, who became the first Tech athlete to win a junior world gold medal, set a school record (at the time) with a vault of 5.65 meters (18 feet, 6.5 inches).

Those successes are simply a continuation of the excellence enjoyed by the Hokies’ vaulters since Phillips took over as the coach of the event. Under him, 17 vaulters have combined to earn 50 All-America honors in the event – all coming since Virginia Tech joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season. Yavgeniy Olhovsky, who attended Tech from 2008-12, is Phillips’ most accomplished vaulter, having earned All-America nods on seven occasions and won three ACC championships.

Phillips’ vaulters have dominated at the conference level. Twenty-three vaulters have combined to win 48 individual conference titles. Brian Mondschein, who vaulted from 2001-05, won five conference championships, including two in the BIG EAST and three in the ACC, while Martina Schultze, who competed from 2012-14, won five conference crowns, all in the ACC.

Tech’s vaulters have combined to win a total of 37 individual ACC titles – more than all the other schools in the ACC combined. In addition to coaching 23 vaulters who have won conference titles, Phillips also has coached a world champion (Volz), a junior national champion, nine NCAA medalists (top 3), four U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers and two qualifiers to the IAAF World Championships.

As a student-athlete at Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Phillips set the school record in the indoor and outdoor vault during his career. He was a four-time NCAA national qualifier and earned All-America honors in 1980. He also was a member of the U.S. National Team that took on Great Britain in 1984, and he competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July that same year.

In addition, Phillips was a three-time Metro Conference, four-time indoor Virginia collegiate and four-time outdoor Virginia collegiate champion. In 1999, Virginia Tech honored Phillips by inducting him into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a student-athlete.

Phillips, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, holds three degrees from Virginia Tech. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education, a master’s degree in accountancy, with a concentration in accounting information systems, and a Ph.D. in business administration, with a major in accounting and minors in information systems and finance.