Allison Stokke’s popularity has reached such heights that she tries not to leave the house, which makes her arrival at Cal this fall a little problematic.
Stokke, a high school senior from Newport Beach, is coming to Berkeley on a track and field scholarship. She has been one of the best high school female pole vaulters in the country the past four years.
But the exploding interest in Stokke doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with her athletic prowess. Early last month, pictures of the attractive 18-year-old started circulating on the Internet and now can be found all over cyberspace. A Google search of her name turns up more than 1 million hits.
Stokke and her family are understandably spooked by the attention, and in a couple of months she will be on a campus with an enrollment of 33,000 students — perhaps not the ideal setting for finding privacy.
Stories about Stokke have been written in the Washington Post and a couple of Southern California newspapers. She’s also made an appearance on Fox News but has decided to grant no more interviews at this time.
Her father, Allan, did say in an e-mail that he contacted Cal officials to advise them of the situation and determined that the school did not need to take any special action to prepare for his daughter’s arrival on campus. He said he would re-evaluate in the fall.
Stokke’s arrival has been a hot topic within Cal’s athletic department. Deputy athletic director Teresa Kuehn Gould and associate athletic director Foti Mellis have spoken with Allan Stokke. The school’s media relations department has been discussing how to deal withinterview and photo requests once she gets on campus.
“We’re certainly aware of the situation, and we’ve been in contact and have spoken to Allison’s family,” Cal assistant athletic director Herb Benenson said. “We just want to work with them to make sure we handle this the best way possible when she returns to campus in August.”
Stokke visited Cal a couple of weeks ago for student-athlete orientation. The visit fell on the same weekend of the state track and field championships at Sacramento City College, where Stokke placed fourth in the pole vault. She won the state title as a freshman.
It’s not clear how the Stokke Internet phenomenon was started. An image of Stokke adjusting her ponytail while wearing her Spandex pole vaulting uniform first appeared on dyestat.com, a Web site devoted to high school track.
Thebearinsider.com, a Web site for Cal fans, also featured Stokke photos. A fan posted a picture of her and started a thread on a message board.
It didn’t take long for Stokke’s photos to show up on thousands of sports blogs and various other sites. Her popularity grew even more after her image was posted on the popular sports blog, Withleather.com.
Thebearinsider.com founder Chris Avery said he sent messages to the fans posting pictures of Stokke and asked them to take them down. He said they agreed without contention.
“You have to respect her privacy,” Avery said. “They understood that her privacy was being invaded, and you shouldn’t do that. I went to Cal in the ’60s. I’m a free-speech advocate. But this isn’t truly a public forum. I immediately put a stop to anything that is even vaguely racist or sexist. There’s a balance.”
The Orange County Register reported that Stokke has turned down interview requests from CNN, ESPN and various morning shows. There was a Web site devoted exclusively to her — allisonstokke.com — but the fan page shut down because of the family’s concern. A visit to the site now finds a message that reads: “Farewell: Sorry for having contributed to the unwanted attention, Allison. We think you’re a phenomenal athlete and wish you the best of luck in your academic and athletic endeavors.”
Cal pole vault coach Scott Slovin said it might help that Stokke is coming to a big campus, because the school is equipped to deal with “every type of problem you could possibly imagine.” Cal has had other high-profile athletes on campus, such as gold medal-winning swimmer Natalie Coughlin and basketball star Leon Powe.
But Stokke’s situation is different. Her heightened profile doesn’t have much to do with her on-field exploits, and Slovin acknowledges it might make Stokke’s adjustment to college more difficult.
“The transition from high school to college is hard enough as it is when you’re dealing with school, track, being away from home, being in the dorms living right next to somebody,” Slovin said. “To have this on top of everything is the last thing she needs. Hopefully it turns into nothing and goes away. It could, but I doubt it. I wish people would just worry about their own lives.”
Stokke is an outstanding student who also was recruited by other top universities such as Harvard and Stanford.
While the attention makes her uncomfortable, she seems to be dealing with it. She told the Washington Post that the Internet attention is “demeaning,” but she’s been able to focus on school and pole vaulting.
By the time Stokke begins classes in August, her presence on campus may not be as big a deal. Stokke’s transition also may be aided by the fact that the track season doesn’t begin until the spring.
“I’m more concerned about what she’s going through right now,” Slovin said. “She doesn’t want to have to deal with this. She’s going to be a big-time athlete that obviously has a huge name now.”
