Friday January 16th was an epic Friday in the world of pole vaulting for Vaulter Club and the youth athletes that traveled to Reno, Nevada to see the best in pole vault reach for the sky. The elite session started with a casual warmup and escalated with Renaud Lavillenie, Sam Kendricks and Steve Lewis battling it out for the top position of the night for men. For the ladies side we had Katarina Stefanidi, Becky Holiday and Mary Saxer battling for the win.
Renaud Lavillenie 5.92 ended up winning the competition on the men’s side with a jump of 5.92 (19′ 5″), Sam Kendricks 5.86 (19′ 2″) and Steve Lewis 5.65 (18′ 6″). Sam Kendricks from The U.S.A. had two PR’s on the night and Renaud from France put on a showstopper for the crowd. Steve Lewis from Great Brittan looked better than ever as he shredded the runway for third place in the meet.
On the ladies side an impressive showing was beheld when Katarina Stefanidi (Greece) jumped 4.6 (15’1″) to win the event on the ladies side with Becky Holiday coming in second with 4.5 (14’9″) and Mary Saxer making 4.5 (14’9″) as well. The crowd was stacked and the athletes came with their game faces on. Plenty of elite athletes for the youth of the world to look up to in that crowd. Speaking of crowd, the crowd seems to get larger and larger each year. When the elites would clear a bar, the crowd came to their feet and cheered as if a new generation of track and field pole vaulting was born.
You can see all of the stats and results by clicking here.
For Vaulter Club…. We are hooked for life! We brought just under 20 athletes to the meet and they loved every minute of the festivities. Coach Mark Brown, Ryan Garcia, Derek Bouma, and Doug Bouma were all amazed and delighted when they saw the potential in our club and the results that they delivered. Many met their PR and below is a list of the Athletes that saw their PR go down.
| BETHANY | GARCIA | 4’6″ |
| JORDAN | GARCIA | 5’6″ |
| GRACE | GARCIA | 5’6″ |
| AUBREY | PENNOCK | 9’2″ |
| TARYN | FOWLIE | 9’6″ |
These are the kids that PR and below is the list of all the pole vaulters that came and made a difference. Many tied their PR and are right where they need to be for the start of the season.
Maddy Duong
Brandon Stone
Spencer Mills
Zach Green
Bethany Garcia
Jordan Garcia
Grace Garcia
Aubrey Pennock
Taryn Fowlie
Jenna Portis
Tim Marphew
Ryan Polakiewicz
Zack Ferris
Garrett Thompson
Asa Martin
Gabby
Come and join us and see what all of the fun is about!
