The Virginian-Pilot–VIRGINIA BEACH–It takes a special and sometimes “crazy” person to become a pole vaulter.After all, how many athletes do you know sprint down a runway at top speed carrying a fiberglass pole and then thrust themselves 12 feet in the air? But 15 vaulters regularly show up to train with coach Brian Triolet.Triolet is the head track coach at Princess Anne High School, but he’s also the Beach District’s go-to guy for the pole vault. He trains vaulters from Kellam, Ocean Lakes, First Colonial and Tallwood.”It kind of snowballed and we started having more kids come,” Triolet said. “I have to give the coaches from the Beach District a lot of respect because they let me work with their kids each day. And my coaches at Princess Anne have been great too because they have allowed me to work with these kids.”They practice together most days – often forming a traffic jam at the pole vault lane – then compete against each other at meets.”It’s kind of nice because when we go to meets, we know everyone,” First Colonial sophomore Jacqueline Meeks said. “It’s like one big family.”Triolet graduated from Great Bridge High, which is known for its dominance in the pole vault. The Wildcats have won 16 state titles in the event over the past 20 years.”But I wasn’t an awesome vaulter … I just kind of fell into it,” said Triolet, who picked up the event with his brother, Chad, who was state runner-up in 1989. “We didn’t have coaches back then, so we kind of coached ourselves. And then when new kids came in, we coached them, too.”Triolet went to various camps and spent time with other coaches to learn more. And like former Great Bridge standout vaulter Brian Hunter, who now coaches at Grassfield, Triolet wants to pass his knowledge onto others.Some of his top pupils are Meeks, Princess Anne junior Kelsey Radke, Kellam senior Brad Johnson and Ocean Lakes senior Derek O’Connell. All four are among the top pole vaulters in the state, and Johnson won the Group AAA state indoor title in March. Johnson became just the sixth Virginia Beach vaulter – and first since 2000 – to win the event.”When I first started to pole vault, we didn’t have a coach,” Johnson said. “So we would watch YouTube videos about pole vaulting and learn from them.”  Continue reading →

ERIE, Pa. – Senior David Morse and junior Cienna Simon demonstrated why they are considered to be two of the premier track and field competitors in Section 6 with their performances Saturday at the McDowell Invitational. Morse established a new Jamestown record in the pole vault (13-6) that earned him a second-place finish in the event. Morse cleared the record-breaking height on his second attempt and went on to barely miss 14 feet on all three of his final attempts. The old JHS record, 13-1, was set by Duane Wait in 1994. Morse also shares the JHS indoor record (13-0) with Andy Carlson, established in 2002.  more

ESCONDIDO — Two weeks ago, Mt. Carmel High’s Kyle Pater was a 13-9 pole vaulter with the lofty goal of 15 feet.Just a junior, Pater figured that would be a nice springboard to go after Travis Offner’s school record of 16-2 during his senior year.Then he jumped on a 15-foot pole and now he’s poised to make history.“I cleared 15 feet in my first meet on that pole, the Jaguar Invitational, and I went 15-7 against Poway,” said Pater, who eclipsed the school record in Friday night’s Escondido Invitational when he soared 16-2½.“Now my goal for this year is 16-6 and I definitely want 17 next year.”As so often happens, when the San Diego Section has one good vaulter, suddenly there is a crowd above 16 feet as Pater joins Vista’s Connor Rouse (16-3) and Rancho Bernardo’s Ryan Zacchilli (16-0), neither of whom attended this meet.Pater’s performance was one of the top marks in a meet which also saw El Camino’s Dylan McCloskey improve his section lead in the 100-meter dash to 10.83; Mt. Carmel’s Alexis Hernandez lower her season 400-meter best to 56.32; El Camino’s Tamika Brazzel edge Oceanside’s Joniece Ervin in the 300-meter hurdles 43.63 to 43.68; the Wildcats 4×100 relay team of Miche Scott, Brazzel, Taylor Williams and Jasmine Gibbs race to a season best of 47.98; and Scott set a yearly best in the long jump at 19-9½.Pater soared over 16-2½ on his first attempt, brushing the bar enough to make it jiggle but not enough to bring it down. He missed three tries at 16-8, the last two close enough to give him confidence for later in the season.“I was so surprised that the bar stayed up,” said Pater, who is hoping to continue his unexpected climb toward a shot at the section title and qualifying for the State Championships.

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Texas -The Region III-4A pole vault was as competitive as ever at Sam Houston State University, with five athletes clearing 14 feet or better. But Stratford senior Everette Favor rose to the challenge, clearing 16 feet to win the silver medal and clinch his second consecutive state meet qualification.Kingwood Park’s Shawn Barber won the pole vault at 16-6, while Favor held off Brazosport’s Xavier Crane who cleared 15-6. Favor, a University of Oklahoma signee, was the District 17-4A pole vault champion at 15-6, finishing ahead of two competitors who scored at the regional meet.  more

POWDER SPRINGS, GA.— A large contingent of Cobb County athletes clinched berths to the state championships after qualifying through Saturday’s Class AAAAA west sectional at McEachern.Harrison’s James Wenk will aim for a state title in the pole vault after winning the event Saturday with a personal-best 15-0. He finished a foot ahead of Kennesaw Mountain’s Taylor Wood (14-0).
Wenk said that only the hot conditions prevented him from improving his personal-best mark even more.
“I was going to see if I wanted to do 15-6, but because I had been in the heat for the last 3-4 hours, I decided I would just stay at 15-0,” Wenk said. “It’s a really good feeling when you can do that, when you don’t have three misses to worry about.”

Read more: The Marietta Daily Journal – County athletes dominate track sectional at McEachern