GIRARD, Kan. — All Prairie View junior Jayce Phelps could do was watch.Louisburg senior Jacob Albright knew that all he had to do to win the Class 4A regional title in the boys’ pole vault at Girard High School on Friday was to clear the bar at 15 feet, 6 inches — the last attempt for either competitor.If Albright missed, Phelps would win the title because Albright missed on an earlier attempt at a lower height. If Albright had a successful attempt, he would win the title.While the stakes were high, Phelps admitted that he didn’t feel any pressure. He and Albright have had similar encounters at previous track meets this season. In fact, the two vaulters have mutual respect for each other, especially because they train at the same facility during the offseason in the Kansas City metro area.So, after Albright missed his last attempt to give Phelps the title, clearing a height of 15-0, the two competitors shook hands and talked for a couple of minutes before going their separate ways.“Me and Jake go back and forth all the time, so I don’t care if he beats me,” Phelps said. “We’re good friends, so it’s all good.”Phelps will be joined in the pole vault at state by his teammate, junior Zach Craig, Continue reading →

KEAAU, Hawaii – Michael Teves says he isn’t very good under pressure. He proved himself wrong Friday.The King Kekaulike High School senior cleared 14 feet to win the boys pole vault title at the Island Movers Track and Field Championships at Keaau High School Stadium.”At practice I was doing OK, but usually at the meets I tense up and I panic, but tonight all of a sudden it just clicked and I got it,” Teves said.He added, “Then the adrenaline started going and the crowd was amazing, so after a while I started to feel comfortable and confident on my jumping.”Maui athletes swept the top three spots. Kihei Charter’s Lucas Zarro matched Teves at 14-0, but had more attempts.Baldwin’s Tyler Feiteira, the Maui Interscholastic League champion, was third at 13-6.Teves had the top height in the state this year, 14-3 at the Punahou Relays last month. Still, he didn’t imagine he’d end up on top. “I really didn’t think I would win the state title, but it was good to finally do it,” Teves said. “It was a good season, so I had to finish it hard. I worked so hard this season and it felt good winning. It’s like all the hard work paid off.”Teves and Zarro were in familiar territory competing against each other on Friday. Both jumped 13-6 at last year’s state meet, with Zarro finishing with less jumps to take fifth place. “We’re always kind of close to each other with jumping,” Teves said of the friendly competition with Zarro. “It was just really fun, and me and him were having a good time and just having fun tonight. We’re both from Maui, and so we just pushed each other, and I’m happy we could both do it.”  more

Pennsylvania–Competing in the pole vault requires a combination of coordination and courage.Attempting to propel yourself into the air, to the height of a second-story window or higher, is challenging enough without also having to make sure you position your body to clear the bar.The York-Adams League has had a number of outstanding pole vaulters who have been able to consistently accomplish the feat over the years. Three vaulters added their names to the list this season.Jared Allison of Dallastown became just the second person to surpass 15 feet in league history. Dylan Moynihan of Kennard-Dale and Roger Hollenbaugh of Littlestown have recorded jumps of 14 feet or better.The trio provides the York-Adams Track and Field Honor Roll with three 14-feet-or-better vaulters for the first time in at least 10 years.All three vaulters qualified for the most prestigious meet of the high school season: the PIAA State Track and Field Championships.

Hollenbaugh will compete in the Boys’ Class AA competition Friday, and Allison and Moynihan will vault in Boys’ Class AAA on Saturday at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium.

Allison is seeded sixth with the 14-9 performance he turned in at the District 3 Meet. However, the Wildcats’ star has a personal-best effort of 15-6. Moynihan is in a tie for the No. 8 seed at 14-3. Hollenbaugh’s 14-0 effort places him in a tie for fourth in AA.

 CALDWELL, Idaho — They told her a girl from a town like Caldwell might as well forget about going to a prestigious Ivy League college.They said it would be too hard, too far away, in too big a city for Caldwell High School graduate Ivy Johnson.But a few days before she took the podium Monday to deliver a commencement speech at Caldwell High’s graduation, Johnson, 18, said facing fear is how people grow.She faced her fear and the doubters, and now she’s headed to the University of Pennsylvania in the Ivy League in Philadelphia. Look out, metropolis and elite university, here comes one of little Caldwell, Idaho’s finest.“A lot of people told me that I couldn’t do it or I shouldn’t go,” Johnson said. “A lot of people just think that someone from Caldwell, which is kind of small, wouldn’t be able to make it there, or that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the rigor of that kind of challenge.”If her high school career is any indication, Johnson will vault over any challenge Penn puts in her way.Besides finishing in the top 10 in her class academically, Johnson competed in the pole vault and sprinted on the track team. She served as class president for three years, earned a GPA over 4.0, took every advanced-placement class available at her school and was voted homecoming queen and Most Spirited this academic year. She also volunteered 90 hours with a Continue reading →

 St. Cloud, Minnesota –Year in school/sport: Senior on the track and field team.
• Highlights: Dockendorf won the pole vault with a leap of 10 feet at the state Class 2A true-team championships Saturday at Stillwater, helping Sartell take second. Dockendorf also was part of the 3,200-meter relay team that took second and the 1,600 relay team that placed third. The Sabres, a wild-card entrant in boys and girls, took second to Totino-Grace by 6.5 points. Totino-Grace beat Sartell in the section true-team championships.
• What has competing in athletics taught you? “To be very grounded and know that whatever the outcome, you did your best and to be happy you can still do athletics when others can’t.”
• What’s your most memorable high school moment? “Probably for me, when I finished runnerup at state in gymnastics. There year it was on the vault and last year it was on the floor.”
• What’s your pre-meet routine? “I’m kind of a psychological person. I do a specific number of warmups, so many leg kicks, so many high knees, so many butt-kickers. I do certain shoulder stretches when I do the pole vault and I do three jumps.”
• What’s your most embarrassing high school moment? “I can’t think of any one specific thing. I’ve had quite a few, but I can’t think of a specific one.”
• Favorite food: Oreo cookies.
• Favorite movie: “Miracle” or “Stick It.”
• Favorite TV show: Friends. Continue reading →

Should Steven Cahoy improve as much in the next 12 months as he has in the last five, then the sky is the limit for the Grand Island (Neb.) junior pole-vaulter  Cahoy, the son of former Husker and U.S. Olympic gymnast Phil Cahoy, gave up high school baseball in January to see if he could truly fly. Relying on his gymnastics background to get started, Cahoy improved by leaps and bounds, and on a weekly basis.
Saturday Cahoy accomplished the ultimate in Nebraska high school track and field, winning Class A gold over North Star (Lincoln, Neb.) senior Andrew Tate at Omaha Burke Stadium. Cahoy’s vault of 15 feet, 8 inches also netted the first year vaulter the All-Class gold.
After failing on his third try at 16-feet, in an attempt to eventually break former Kearney (Kearney, Neb.) pole vaulter Brett Maher’s 2008 state meet mark of 16-2, Cahoy’s thoughts turned quickly to his senior season – a season in which he aims to take down Maher’s mark as well as the Nebraska state record of 16-7 set by Beatrice’s Seth Burney in 2006.  Continue reading →