Illinois –Woodstock North’s Jon Walsh offered his coaches a bold prediction at the end of the 2011 track and field season.“I told them I was going to win [the pole vault at Class 2A] state,” Walsh said. “[Assistant coach] Bruce Farris never lets me forget that one.”Walsh simply declared his intentions to improve, and since he has raised his performance by almost 3 feet, he has lived up to his words so far. The Thunder senior is ranked among the state’s best pole vaulters as he heads to the IHSA Class 2A Richmond-Burton Sectional Meet, which starts at 4 p.m. today.

“I’m really excited,” Walsh said. “All summer I was training, almost every single day. I’ve been pretty much living pole vault for the last year.”

Walsh also will compete in the high, long and triple jumps, although pole vault is his main event. He has the best vault (15 feet, 6 inches) and long jump (22-1) in the Northwest Herald Track and Field Honor Roll, which chronicle’s the area’s top performances of the season Continue reading →

Lakeland, Florida– senior Josh McDaniel won a Class 3A state title in the pole vault on Friday. He jumped 15 feet 6 inches to win it, beating out competitors by 6 inches. McDaniel was a runner up in the event last year. His 15-6 mark was the best in all classifications in Florida this year  more

Clark County, Wa. –Now, two Clark County boys have state-leading marks in track and field.Skyview’s Jameson Shirley cleared a personal best of 15 feet, 7 inches to win the pole vault at the Class 4A bi-district track and field meet Friday at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.Shirley’s mark moved the senior to the top of the state’s best marks this season. Union’s Joe Thompson finished third at 13-6.  more

ELK GROVE, CA – The bar quivered in place, teasing Golden Valley senior Steven Pust. But it didn’t fall.
He had been pole vaulting for eight years, waiting for a major reward. He got it Friday night with a first-time clearance of 16 feet and a Sac-Joaquin Section Division 1 title.
“Just insane,” Pust exclaimed. “The closest you can get to flying as a human being. That’s why I do it.”
Pust topped 16 feet, 1 inch, on his final attempt — a personal best by 6 inches.

It launched him into some thin air — sixth-best in the state and one of only about 10 in California who’ve negotiated 16 feet this season.
The first to greet Pust was his friendly rival Reed White of Vacaville, who led the section until Friday’s competition at Elk Grove High. The two hugged, a sign of both sportsmanship and the all-for-one camaraderie always seen in this event.
“We’ve been going back and forth all season,” Pust said. “We’ve competed since we were sophomores.” Continue reading →

LAKEWOOD, Colorado — Karli Jelden propped herself up from the pole vault pit, tears running down her face, and thrust her arms in the air.
Anxiously awaiting a public display of affection were her older sister, Kaelie, teammate Jazmin Schwark and maybe the best supporter Jelden’s ever had — her late grandpa, Dave, who died earlier this year after a bout with cancer.
“When the (meet) official hugged me and told me ‘Your grandpa was looking out for you,’ it really hit home,” said Jelden, again unable to hold back the tears. “That means so much to me.
“You know what?” Jelden added. “I think he was.”
Oh, by the way, the reason for all the emotion — Jelden cleared 11 feet, 2 inches in the pole vault, setting a new Class 3A state record to claim her third straight state title in the event at Jeffco Stadium. Continue reading →

 OMAHA – Classes A and C picked up where B and D left off on Friday, as they began session two of the Nebraska State Track Meet at Burke Stadium in Omaha.Session two only produced one state champion for area participants, as Allexis Mengheni defended her Class A pole vault crown with a second consecutive title. Fighting a strong cross wind, Menghini had less misses than Papillion-La Vista South’s Elizabeth Stanton, as each made 11-02.Menghini had an early miss at 10-10 to fall behind, but came back to clear 11-02 on her first attempt, while Stanton missed, to gain the lead back for the win.”I wasn’t too worried, I just know how to get after it and no more misses and stuff like that,” said Menghini. “I’m pretty happy, but I’m a little disappointed I didn’t get a PR [personal record]. I guess I’m pleased.”It was a horrible cross wind and you had to be patient for it to go down. It was definitely a big factor and made it lot more difficult, but everyone had to vault in it – so it was fair.”Vault coach Casey Werkmeister knew Continue reading →