Local pole vaulters are raising the bar through the first month of track and field season
Pole vaulting requires a full commitment from its participants.
If there is even a sliver of a doubt in the athlete’s mind, their attempt is going to be doomed.
For that reason and more, the pole vault community tends to band together on meet day.
Most athletes begin their sport at a young age. There are those who stood behind them from the beginning, encouraging them to stick with the program.
A major difference between the pole vault and other sports is that most who jump do so for the first time in high school.
“When you’re coaching beginners, first-year kids, you never know,” Newport Harbor pole vault coach Fritz Howser said. “You’re coming out, you’re teaching them what to do, and you’re seeing what comes out of that effort, both on your part and their part.”
For vaulters, high school is that intramural team that so many athletes experience at a younger age. Athletes, parents and coaches all want to see the talent fulfill its potential.
With acts like former Marina great Jett Gordon and Canyon’s Rachel Baxter gracing the poles these past few years, are we in a golden age for the event in Orange County?
There have been greats before, Michael Woepse (Mater Dei) and Kaitlyn Merritt (Santa Margarita) to name a couple.
Baxter continues to be the national leader on the girls’ side, having conquered 14 feet on multiple occasions.
A more localized sample has four boys from the Coastal Cities fighting on a weekly basis for the top spot at invitationals.
Michael Chadwick (Edison), Ryan Fegan (Newport Harbor), Michael Magula (Marina) and Alex Escalera (Sage Hill) have all surpassed 15 feet 4.
“I love a good competition, and they definitely bring it,” Chadwick said. “We always cheer for each other because we’ve known each other for so long.”
“It’s a pretty tight-knit group. It’s always fun trying to go for higher heights with each other.”
The fearless four all rank inside the top five in the CIF Southern Section. They have exploded over the last week.
I would say that there is a great level camaraderie between the coaches, between athletes.
— Fritz Howser
On Saturday at the Beach Cities Invitational, Escalera set his lifetime best at 15-10 in winning the competition.
He had little time to sit atop the area’s leaderboard, as Chadwick jumped to a personal record of 16 feet in a Sunset League tri-meet Wednesday.
“It was great to put it together and get my season going kind of early on rather than waiting until the end of the season,” Chadwick said. “Now I’m chasing the school record of 16-5, and hopefully, I will get that soon.”
All four of these outstanding vaulters are scheduled to compete again in the Trabuco Hills Invitational on Saturday.
As these marks suggest, the athletes are competing against themselves as much as they are the field. Each meet presents a new opportunity to push the limits of what they have been able to accomplish.
No one is rooting against them, even Gordon, who joked that Escalera should have attempted a jump of 16 feet ¼ at Beach Cities just to try to beat his meet record (16 feet, 2016) by the slimmest of margins.
Pole vaulting is a very close group, including its coaching fraternity. Howser, Kevin Magula (Marina), Dave Rynearson (Edison) and BJ Vandrovec (Victory Athletics) are among those who have worked together in support of all athletes, not just theirs, at the meets.
“ I would say that there is a great level of camaraderie between the coaches, between athletes,” Howser said. “ Everyone is also competing to try to get their next PR.”
“You’ll see it often times at meets if I’m not available, one of the other coaches will step in, and I’ll do the same for them.”
“We’re sharing the same poles, sharing ideas. It is a good supportive group for everyone who is involved.”
CdM’s Hellgren Shines at APU
The top distance runners gathered at Azusa Pacific University on Saturday night to compete in the Distance Meet of Champions.
Corona del Mar senior Leif Hellgren stepped up on the big stage, running a time of 9 minutes 21 seconds to win the boys’ 3,200-meter rated race.
His new personal record helped him fend off a highly competitive field, with the top five finishing within five seconds of each other.
Hellgren knocked eight seconds off his career best from last season, which he ran at the CIF Southern Section Division 3 Prelims.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
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