Orange County Community College Notebook : Weights Lift Fisher to New Heights

Brian Fisher’s rise to success started slowly, but in the last month, he has reached record heights.

Fisher, a sophomore at Rancho Santiago College, has broken the school pole vault record in each of his last two track and field meets.

He vaulted 15-feet 8-inches March 27 against Orange Coast to break Ed Ellett’s mark of 15-6 set in 1965. Fishee cleared 15-10 at the Fresno Relays April 5.

“This year is coming along great,” said Fisher, who will compete today in the Mt. San Antonio Relays at Walnut. “Last season I couldn’t have done anything this good.”

Fisher’s best vault as a freshman was 14-3, only nine inches better than when he won the 1985 Century League championship as a senior at Canyon High School. But a weightlifting program aimed at strengthening his upper body, forearms and wrists has enabled him to handle a longer pole.

Last season, Fisher used a 14-foot pole. Now he is using a 15-6 pole and is considering switching to one six inches longer.

“He was just weak as a freshman,” said Howard Brubaker, Fisher’s coach.

“We tried longer poles last season, but he just wasn’t able to handle them. I always felt he had the potential, though. He had good technique from high school, and with a good strength and running program, he’s really improved.”

Fisher and Brubaker agree that Fisher’s best vaults are ahead of him.

“I’d like to go 16-6 before the season is over,” said Fisher, who has cleared 16-0 in practice. “I’ve gotten a lot of positive encouragement from the coaches, and I think I can do it.”

Golden West will play host to the South Coast Conference swimming championships today through Saturday. Preliminaries start each morning at 10.

The Golden West men’s and women’s teams have 8-0 conference records. The men have won 29 consecutive dual meets since 1984 and have won the last two state championships.

The Orange Empire championships are at Saddleback today through Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. The OCC men and women finished 5-0 to win the dual-meet conference title.

Community College Notes

The Orange Coast men’s volleyball team will play an exhibition match against the University of Dalhousie (Nova Scotia, Canada) Sunday at OCC at 7 p.m. . . . Kent Griggs, who was a Times’ second-team all-Orange County tight end in 1985 for Edison High School, has left Utah State and is in spring football practice at OCC. Griggs caught 19 passes last season for Utah State. . . . Cerritos remains the top team in the Southland baseball poll this week. Defending state champion College of the Canyons is second, OCC third, Rancho Santiago fourth, Los Angeles Harbor fifth, Fullerton sixth, Mt. San Antonio seventh, Oxnard eighth, San Bernardino ninth and Citrus 10th.