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Casey Roche enters his ninth year guiding the fortunes of the Stanford pole vaulters. During his tenure at Stanford, Roche has been responsible for helping several Cardinal athletes achieve All-America status.
Last season, Toby Stevenson captured the Pac-10 championship in the pole vault, and gained All-America honors when he finished second at the NCAA Track & Field Championships at Duke University. Stevenson set the Pac-10 and school record last year in the pole vault with a leap of 18-9 3/4 and later competed at the United States Olympic Trials in Sacramento. Two seasons ago, Roche helped Stevenson finish second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and fourth at the NCAA Indoors. In 1998, Roche guided Stevenson to an NCAA championship.
Kathleen Donoghue and Melissa Feinstein also are two national caliber pole vaulters under the tutelage of Roche. Donoghue tied the school record with a vault of 13-0 1/4 last year. Donoghue also competed at the Pac-10 Championships and later at the NCAA’s. Donoghue gained valuable experience by competing at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Feinstein, co-school record holder with Donoghue, was a finalist in the pole vault at the Pac-10’s, and competed at the Canadian Olympic Trials. In 1998, Feinstein gained All-America honors and won the Pac-10 title.
Six years ago, Roche coached Tyra Holt to an American outdoor record in the event.
Roche taught computer science at Rutgers, joined IBM for ten years and subsequently has been involved in several successful high-tech startup companies.
Roche comes from a family that has enjoyed success in track & field. His father, Gene, competed in the hurdles and triple jump at UCLA while his brother, Mike, was an Olympian in the 3,000 meter steeplechase.
Roche and his wife, Debbie, a 1980 Olympic Trials finalist in the 100 meter hurdles, live in Los Altos.