(Temecula, California) What a meet this was! Let’s just start out by saying that the start of the pole vault meet was great and by the end the boys section was cancelled. So for this week we have no points given out, but we have some new leader board kids to talk about. Fun times none the less and excitement for some of the youngest around. Read what caused the end of the boys session below.
With that said, we cannot thank our sponsors UST-ESSX and Cal Track Reconditioning enough for stepping up to the plate when pole vaulters called. We would also like to thank you athletes and the coaches that have participated and helped make this possible. So far, we have had three coaches and three clubs fulfill their part and six more to go. Let the news begin.
Leaders for the girls were hard fought and we had a couple pole vaulters drop off the list and other drop down to number two. Will they be at the top spot after week four or will another heavy hitter come and make a stand for first place?
Karlly Feng (Higher Flyers) came into the pole vault meet for the high school girls and jumped 10′ to take the lead on her first session out for the club. Karlly look good as usual and with a few adjustments was on her way to clearing some bars. Right behind her was Grace Clemence (New Port Harbor) jumping the same height and joining the mix for the high school upper level girls. In third place at 10 as well we have Amanda Mohr (Higher Flyers) keeping the pressure on the rest of the teams. This match up can go in any direction at this point, all three of these ladies hashed it our for the first place. I see these girls continuing to make their marks and shuffle from one to the other pushing the bar higher.
Madison Kast (Vaulter Club) was de-throned by her team mate Kaitlyn Swenson (Vaulter Club) with a new personal record of 8’6″ and now leads the 6th – 9th grade girls section of the jumping. Madison has held the top spot since the start of the season, but we knew that girls would be gunning for that top spot. Coming in third place and right on the girls tail is Nicole Silverlake (Vaulter Club) looking to upset the other two as they all polish off their skills. None of the girls have jumped for their high schools, so this will be a treat to see how the rest of this season unfolds. The new leader board Kaitlyn (Merritt) Swenson is currently in the 8th grade and plans to stay at the top of the board. What do I think will happen? Anything at this spot and it wouldn’t surprise me if this week any of these three girls could take a new personal record and lead the rest. They all three feed off one another and have the heart of a warrior. Competition is the name of their game and they tend to always bring it when its time!
For the boys, they had their guns loaded and ready for a fight. After breaking two pole vault crossbars, a temp fix was made and the rest of the meet went on as scheduled. Soon after that, one of the boys came down and broke the right standard which was obviously already weak at the very top. From what we were told, these standards were the worst in the area and the boys finished them off. At this point the meet was called off due to no parts to fix the standards and we live to fight another day!
Doug Bouma
Executive Director, Vaulter Magazine – Vaulter Club
