PoleVaultPower.com

Good job Jordan!!


http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentin ... 632513.htm

Oconee County's Scott sets state pole vault mark

Associated Press

JEFFERSON, Ga. - For about 10 minutes, Casey Herndon of Franklin County had soared higher on a pole than any schoolboy ever in the Georgia state track and field championships.

But on his final attempt at 15-feet, 11 1/2 inches, Jordan Scott of Oconee County equalled Herndon and then passed him at 16-6 to set a state record and win the Class AAA pole vault here Thursday in the first day of the GHSA boys meet.

"I'm really happy about this," said Scott, who won the AAAAA championship last year at 15-0. "I had a lot of concern on that third jump at 16."

"I'm just happy I made history," said defending AAA champion Herndon, a senior who recently signed a scholarship to vault at LSU. "For two vaulters in the same classification to jump 16-feet, or 15-11 whatever, that is a record that might stand a while."

Actually, it might be equalled next year when Scott returns, along with Cameron Cheek of Franklin County, who jumped 15-6 earlier this year. He finished third in the region meet behind Scott and Herndon and missed the state meet.

Scott and Herndon did not even enter the competition until the cross bar was at 15-feet, and neither missed until Scott failed on his first two attempts at 15-11 1/2. Herndon would have won on fewer misses at that height. But he failed all three attempts at 16-6, barely missing his final effort.

Scott attempted three times at 17-0, four inches higher than his personal record of 16-8. His second attempt was so close that Scott did not even know why he missed until afterward when he was told that his arm hit the bar.

The previous AAA record was 15-7, set by Franklin County's Brad Smith in 2001. The all-classification record was 15-8 by AA Jefferson's Chris Keen in 1988.

good stuff

Congrats to Jordan

http://onlineathens.com/stories/051305/ ... 3055.shtml

Oconee County's Jordan Scott clears 16 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault to break the state-meet record and repeat as champion.


The great Scott
Junior shatters state mark, repeats



By John Kaltefleiter
john.kaltefleiter@onlineathens.com


JEFFERSON - It took 17 years and three attempts for Casey Herndon to surpass Chris Keen's all-classification state record of 15 feet, 8 inches in the pole vault.

ADVERTISEMENT

Print-ready version
Send to a friend
Subscribe to the Banner-Herald
E-mail the Editor
Discuss in Forums
It took 10 minutes for Herndon to lose the record.

Oconee County junior Jordan Scott regrouped from two misses at 15-11 and soared to 16-6 on his first try to capture the Class AAA title Thursday evening at Memorial Stadium.

It was the second year in a row that Scott won the Billy Weeks Trophy as the top pole vaulter in Georgia. Last year, he did so in Class AAAAA.

Herndon, a Franklin County senior headed to LSU on a pole vault scholarship, settled for silver after three straight misses at 16-6. Herndon broke Keen's record on his first attempt at 15-111/2.

Scott was pleased with his record-setting leap, but he longed to reach 17 feet. He made three attempts at that height but clipped the bar each time. Scott's best chance came on his second try, but his right arm (near the armpit) grazed the bar and sent it tumbling down.

"I really wanted 17 feet, but I'm happy with 16-6," said Scott, who was an inch shy of equaling his personal record. "I'm hoping to get even higher next year."

Scott's first-place finish ended Franklin County's stranglehold on the event in Class AAA. Starting with current Georgia vaulter Brad Smith in 1999, a Franklin County pole vaulter had won Class AAA gold the last six years.

Herndon was seeking to become the seventh straight but a bailout on his second try at 16-6 and a under rotation on his final try denied him.

"I'm pretty disappointed I couldn't keep that going," Herndon said. "I just didn't get turned quick enough on the third attempt. It just didn't happen today."

Remarkably, Herndon was a Scott miss away from taking both the state record and the Weeks Trophy at one point. After Herndon cleared 15-11 on his first try, Scott hit the bar on his next two attempts.

Facing elimination for first place, Scott streaked down the runway, slipped his pole into the plant and catapulted over the bar unscathed, drawing a roar from the anxious crowd positioned at the north end of Bryan-Keen Track.

Scott laid on the mat for about 12 seconds before jumping to his feet and slapping his hands together. It was pure relief.

"I hate third attempts," Scott said. "It was nerve-wracking."

Scott's clearance sent the pressure back to Herndon, whose personal-best jump had been 16-0, which he set at the Region 8-AAA meet in Winder when he finished second behind Scott's 16-6.

"I never thought he'd need three (tries) to get over," Herndon said. "When he got over, I knew I had to get back on it."

Retired coach Jack Keen watched from about 20 yards away as the two vaulters jumped higher and higher. He seemed content that his son's 1988 state record was finally no more. He knew a day would come when it would be broken, he said.

"The vaulting has improved a lot since then," Keen said. "You've got these tall and slender guys now. That's a huge advantage in the pole vault."

Coincidentally, when Chris Keen, a former Jefferson vaulter, set the state record, it was the fifth-highest high school vault in the country. Scott's personal-best 16-7 is currently fifth in the country.

Scott wasn't cognizant of that minutia following his performance.

Breaking long-standing records and winning gold medals tend to produce a one-track mind.