MIDDLETOWN, PA. — Central Bucks West’s Corey Smith planned a busy weekend, competing in the pole vault at the Puma/Henderson Invitational in West Chester on Friday and at the Rob Thomas Memorial Invitational at Neshaminy on Saturday.Smith’s schedule got tighter on Friday night, when lightning and the threat of rain forced suspension of the pole vault midway through the competition.So, Smith and four other competitors made their way back to Henderson on Saturday for a 10 a.m. start. That gave Smith time to make it to Neshaminy for a 1:30 p.m. start.By the time it was all over, he had two gold medals.“We ran down to West Chester this morning. I won it there at 14 (feet), 6 (inches). The weather was nice. I couldn’t complain.“Then I came here and won it at 14-6 and had a couple of good jumps at 15-0,” he said.Quakertown’s James Harcher was the pole vault runner-up, clearing 13-0 on Saturday.A senior headed to East Stroudsburg, Smith owns the school record. He cleared 15-1 in a dual meet against Central Bucks East.Smith started vaulting as a sophomore and qualified for states during the indoor season this year. He’s looking forward to Saturday’s Suburban One League Continental Conference meet, followed a week later by the District One Class AAA meet.“It’s a practice week,” he said. “I’m very excited. I would like to hit 15 again and be consistent. I hope I can make states.”  more

Oklahoma –One Purcell Dragon set a record, and another went out with a bang. Cole Swayze closed his career with four medals — two golds, a silver and a bronze — while Katy Whitekillersurprised everyone, including herself, with a record-setting pole vault.  Whitekiller set the Class 4A state meet record at 11 feet, 9 inches on her first attempt at the height, but the junior wasn’t finished. In her next two attempts, she cleared 12-0 and 12-3. After missing twice at 12-6, she passed on her final attempt to save some strength for the 800-meter relay, which was held shortly after she finished vaulting.“This is extremely exciting, especially since I’m a junior, and there’s no telling what I can do next year if I keep working,” she said.Whitekiller had never attempted a vault with the longer pole she used to set the new 4A state meet record at 12-3.

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t was just like old times for the Wisconsin Dells High School varsity girls track team with wins in seven events at its first head-to-head battle with South Central Conference rivals.With those victories along with five runners up showings and another four third place finishers, the Lady Chiefs racked up an 83 point total and took top spot among the four teams participating in the South Central Conference Quadrangular at Westfield High School on Tuesday.The boys meanwhile also turned in some solid performances including five event winners on its way to a 64 point total and third place overall in a tightly-grouped foursome of teams.It’s important to note the two teams not participating in this event – Mauston and Nekoosa, will likely be ranked 1-2 in both boys and girls divisions when all six teams faceoff at Westfield in the SCC Championship meet a week from Tuesday. But with some dominant performers and new personal records being written at nearly every meet so far, the Chiefs and Lady Chiefs will make those other two teams work for their honors.The conference host generally allows each team a glimpse of the conference site so another Triangular involving them, Nekoosa and Mauston is likely also scheduled.While Karissa Mace inched a little closer to the school pole vault mark she has had as her carrot for some time, two other seniors – Brianna Metcalfe and Shelby Barry were dominant on the track and throws pit.Coming off of her first ever ‘scratch’ in the pole vault at Reedsburg Friday, ending string of four straight meet wins, Mace responded in a big way, leading the field for a fifth time at Westfield and clearing the bar at 10’6” for the first time. Heading into the season, Mace had never topped the elusive 10-foot mark. After first hitting 10’3” earlier this season, she nudged closer to a record height of 10’9” by Kelley Schulz, a vaulter who routinely made the trip to the state championship meet and continued as a vaulter at Texas Tech University after graduating from Wisconsin Dells High School.While Mace was focusing on the vaults, Brianna (‘Bam’) Metcalfe and Shelby each topped the podium three times.  more

Chattanooga, TN –Kaufman, Among Record Breakers In Best Of Preps Track–Baylor sophomore Kate Kaufman broke the mark in the girls pole vault while Bradley’s James Stovall rewrote the standard in the boys triple jump.Kaufman has only been vaulting for a couple of years, but she’s steadily gotten better and it showed Friday afternoon.And to think she did it with a borrowed pole. One that she had ordered wasn’t the right size, so her father Julian spent most of the day Thursday locating one she could use. It didn’t seem to hinder her effort one bit as she smashed the old record by more than a foot.She already had first place locked up when she took aim at the meet record of 9-6, which had been held by Crissy Singer of GPS in 2006 and tied by Baylor’s Taylor Davidson in 2009.Kaufman cleared 10-6 on her third attempt before doing the same at 10-9. She then had three tries at 11-3, but was unable to master that height.Her goal was to break the meet record and she was smiling from ear to ear once she accomplished it.”I’m really happy to win and get the record. I was comfortable with the borrowed pole and felt like I might have a shot at 11-3, but I got tired at the end,” she said after vaulting 14 times  more

JACKSONVILLE — On a searing afternoon at the University of North Florida, the bar again was raised in the Bales inner-family pole vault feud. A year after A.J. Bales won the Class 3A state title for Mitchell with a 14-foot, 9-inch effort, 17-year-old sibling Evan did him a bit better — sort of. Matching his career best with a 15-foot effort, the River Ridge junior placed third at Friday’s 3A meet.“He’s really my main motivation,” Evan said of his brother, a freshman at Butler Community College in Kansas. “Me and him are matching heights right now. He’s up to 15-3 and I’m just pushing 15.” Bales was among a trio of local top-three finishers Friday at Hodges Stadium. As the pole vault competition proceeded, Springstead sophomore Bobby Harris was hundred yards away, getting vertical with equal proficiency.  more