There’s something magical about this RB pole vaulter

Rancho Bernardo High is becoming known as “Pole Vault High”.

Since opening in the fall of 1990, the Broncos’ track program has enjoyed tremendous success, led by the pole vaulters.

In the previous 27 seasons, there have been 16 San Diego Section champions in the pole vault - seven in boys track and nine in girls track, including several multiple winners.

Most of those vaulters were discovered by the coaching staff in physical education classes.

“They wanted me to do the long jump in PE class,’’ Jacob Rice said. “I told them I wanted to be a pole vaulter like my brother.’’

That’s what makes Rice so different. He came to the Broncos as a nearly ready-made vaulter because older brother, Joseph, was a pole vaulter.

Now a junior who has also been doing gymnastics for 12 years, Jacob had a little pole vaulting experience in middle school but opened eyes with a personal best of 12-feet, 2-inches as a freshman.

He shot up to 14-6 as a sophomore, setting the stage for this this season.

The 6-footer has already sailed over the bar at 15-6, 15-7 and a team-leading 15-9.

“I thought Joseph was nuts when he started the pole vault,’’ Jacob said. “I didn’t even know what the pole vault was at that point. I watched him work out at the Olympic Training Center and kind of thought it looked like fun.’’

Rice is one of three Broncos’ vaulters over 15 feet this season. And teammate Bryan Sperry, the section’s Division I champion last year at 14-6, has battled a few injuries but is on the brink with a best mark of 14-8.

In his first try in seventh grade, Rice hit 4-feet.

“That’s when he started showing up at his brother’s meets in seventh grade,’’ Broncos’ vault coach Tom Martin. “He would hang around the pole vault pit all the time. Now he’s on track to become our all-time best vaulter ever.’’

Right now, Billy Matthies holds the Broncos’ school record at 16-1.

Adams has already shot past brother Joseph, whose best as a Bronco was 14-3.

“I’d like to go over 16-5 by the end of this season,’’ Jacob said. “But that’s still a long way off. I’d qualify for nationals with that mark.’’

Pausing a second, Rice added that the national leader is 5-foot-6, 135-pound Armand Duplantis of Lafayette High.

Mondo, as he’s called, has already hit an amazing 19-5 this year.

“He’s already good enough for the Olympics,’’ Rice said. “He’s less than a foot off the world record. That’s crazy.’’

When track season ends, Rice will head back to gymnastics, although this offseason he plans to do more pole vaulting to prepare for senior year.

His favorite events in gymnastics are floor exercise and the vault. The hardest event, he said, is pommel horse.

“Gymnastics comes more naturally,’’ he said. “The first time I ran around the track with a pole in my hand was weird. The best part of the vault is coming down. You feel the power of the pole and shoot over the bar. The free fall from way up there is nice. It feels incredible.’’

When he’s not in class, in the pole vault pit or doing gymnastics, Rice works on his magic tricks, which he began working on three years ago. .

“Magic brings wonder into your life,’’ Rice said. “You get people wondering, ‘How did he do that?’ Magic tricks are a good icebreaker, a way to make instant friends.’’

Rice said he plans to major in mechanical engineering once he picks a college in the not too distant future.

“I want to be able to invent things for the future,’’ he said.

First, though, he’d like to invent himself into a school record holder who is also the 17th pole vault champion at Rancho Bernardo.