Flintridge Prep’s Barrett Weiss masters pole vault
NORWALK — On an evening of hurdles and high bars, there was nothing that could stop the Flintridge Prep duo of Barrett and Gareth Weiss and St. Francis High junior Jasher Foster.
All three entered Friday evening’s CIF Southern Section Masters Meet with a goal of advancing to the season-ending CIF State Championships next weekend and did so much more.
Barrett Weiss towered over the entire Southern Section by winning the pole vault competition and blasting his personal record in an event in which brother Gareth also qualified to state, while Foster set another personal-best time in advancing out of the 110-meter hurdles.
All three earned a spot in next Friday’s 97th annual CIF State Meet at Buchanan High School in Clovis.
Senior Barrett Weiss turned in the evening’s most impressive area effort Friday in winning the pole vault with a height of 16 feet in a jump-off with Marina’s Jett Gordon.
“You don’t know how long I had wanted to get 15-9,” said Barrett Weiss, who missed on three attempts Saturday at 16 feet at the CIF-SS Division IV championships and settled for a then-personal best of 15-6. “That’s what I was trying to get, so when I got a chance to go even further, I had to take it.”
Barrett Weiss and Gordon proved to be the only two competitors to hit a height of 15-9, which at the time was a personal-best mark for Weiss.
Both athletes then missed on three subsequent tries at 16-3, which led to one additional attempt at the same height in a jump-off for first place.
After Gordon and Barrett Weiss both kicked the bar on their fourth attempt at 16-3, the height was lowered to 16 feet.
This time, Barrett Weiss blasted his just-earned personal record with a height of 16 feet.
The new standard was too much for Gordon, who in missing his attempt sealed the win for Barrett Weiss.
“I don’t want to say I didn’t think I’d hit 16 feet, but this is awesome, it’s unbelievable,” Barrett Weiss said. “This is what you work for.”
The effort was all a bonus for Barrett Weiss, who, along with Gareth, advanced to the state meet when each hit a state at-large berth of 15-3.
Yet, even in qualifying there was plenty of drama for Gareth Weiss, who tied for fourth with South Pasadena’s Esteban Suarez.
The senior faulted once at 14-9 and later on his first two attempts at 15-3 before hitting the final attempt at 15-3 to clinch a spot at state.
“There was a lot of pressure on me on that last jump,” said Gareth, the Division IV champion who missed on three ties at 15-9 on Friday. “I don’t know; I just had to make it. That’s all I thought.”
The state appearance marks the second straight year the brothers will move to Clovis.
As for Foster, the speedster was brilliant for a second straight weekend.
It was only two weeks earlier when Foster’s personal-best time was 14.50 seconds.
Yet, that was lowered last weekend when Foster won the Division III crown in a time of 14.30.
On Friday, Foster shaved a little more off his best, racing to fourth place in a mark of 14.27.
“I thank God for this because I’ve been working hard and getting better,” Foster said. “It’s great to get another PR. I can’t have asked for more.”
Foster easily eclipsed the at-large mark of 14.34, which became irrelevant when he finished in the automatic-qualifying top six in the Southern Section.
“All I was thinking about going into this race was 14.34,” Foster said. “As long as I could hit that, that’s all that mattered.”
Simi Valley’s Alexander Billing won the event with a mark of 13.81.