Pole Vaulters Set National Records

Hot, humid conditions made things rough for distance runners in the Golden West Invitational track and field meet at Cal State Sacramento on Sunday, but they were just fine for pole vaulters Tommy Skipper of Sandy, Ore., and Kira Costa of Fresno San Joaquin Memorial, and sprinter Shalonda Solomon of Long Beach Poly.

Skipper set a national high school record in the boys’ pole vault when he cleared 18 feet 3 inches. Costa broke the national record in the girls’ pole vault with a 13-foot-8 1/2 clearance. Solomon had a hand in three victories as she won the 100 meters in 11.47 seconds and the 200 in 23.08 while facing headwinds and anchored Poly’s 400 relay team in a meet-record time of 45.43.

Skipper, a senior, suffered a broken thumb on his left hand in March when the pole he was using snapped in two during the Nike Indoor Classic in Maryland, but he showed no ill effects Sunday.

He cleared his opening height of 17-1 on his second attempt to win the competition against a field that included highly regarded Donovan Kilmartin of Eagle, Idaho, and made a career-best 18-0 1/2 on his first try at that height.

He then cleared 18-3 on his second attempt to break the national record of 18-2 1/4 set by Eric Eshbach of Orangefield, Texas, in 1999. He missed his first try at 18-6 before passing his final two attempts.

“You’re either going to get it or you’re not, so you might as well go for it,” Skipper said when asked why he had the bar raised to 18-3 instead of 18-2 1/2 for his record attempt. “Half an inch is not going to make a difference.”

Costa, who has signed with California, set a national indoor record of 13-4 1/2 in the L.A. Invitational at the Sports Arena in February, but had not bettered that mark outdoors until she cleared 13-5 to win the state championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk on June 7.

She cleared 11-6, 12-0, 12-6, 12-11 1/2 and 13-6 1/4 on her first attempts Sunday before clearing 13-8 1/2 on her second try to break the national record of 13-8 set by Shayla Balentine of Morro Bay in the 2001 state championships.

Costa had the bar raised to 14 feet after that, but ran underneath it on her first attempt and called it a day.

“I was over the bar at 13-8 1/2, but I came down on the back side [of the bar] a little bit,” Costa said. “So I really didn’t think it stayed up there, but it did. It was really cool to hear everyone going, ‘Ooh,’ so I was like, ‘Oh wow. It’s still up there.’ ”

Solomon, who placed second to Allyson Felix of North Hills Los Angeles Baptist in the 100 and 200 in the state championships, wasn’t seriously challenged in either event Sunday. Yet the junior bettered her career best of 23.31 in the 200 and moved into a tie for 12th on the all-time national performer list.