PoleVaultPower.com

The meet was postponed yesterday after 3 rain delays. They are going to pick up today at 10:00 am. I'll get results this afternoon, I hope.

Boys Pole Vault
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CLASS M: * 13-08.50 1988 ERIC FINK, HADD-KILL
QUALIFYING: @ 10-06
SPEC STAND: ^ 12-00
Name Year School Finals Points
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1 Waszczak, Pat 12 Bacon Academ 14-00.00* 10
2 Read, Samuel 12 Northwest RE 13-06.00^ 8
3 Wiseman, Owen 12 Weston 13-00.00^ 6
4 Gerroll, Ben 12 Weston 12-00.00^ 5
5 Stowe, Brian 12 Seymour J12-00.00^ 3.5
5 Seymour, Ryan 11 Weston J12-00.00^ 3.5
7 Brisson, Nicholas 12 Griswold 11-06.00@ 2
8 Wilson, Matt 12 Bacon Academ J11-06.00@ 0.5
8 Basak Smith, Ronny 12 Joel Barlow J11-06.00@ 0.5
10 Parrella, Daniel 12 Weston J11-06.00@
11 Loftus, John 11 East Catholi 11-00.00@
11 Aviner, Joshua 10 Weston 11-00.00@
11 Jordan, Phil 11 Avon 11-00.00@
11 Gracey, Brian 11 Suffield 11-00.00@
15 Bearce, Robert 11 Enfield 10-06.00@
15 Traub, John 10 Northwest RE 10-06.00@
17 Gentile, Andrew 11 Avon 10-00.00
17 Groody, Devin 10 Wolcott 10-00.00
17 Fillmore, Kyle 11 Killingly 10-00.00
17 Kellner, Nicholas 10 Ellington 10-00.00
17 Fitzpatrick, Josh 10 Woodland 10-00.00
-- Uricchio, Nathan 10 Enfield NH
-- Theroux, Christopher 12 Northwest RE NH
-- Newcomb, Robert Granby NH
-- Smith, Nathan 11 Northwest RE NH
-- Ponte, Tom 10 Lewis Mills NH
-- Auger, Seth 10 Plainfield NH
-- Galli, Jonathan 11 Joel Barlow NH
-- McDonald, Joe 11 Woodland NH
-- Carlson, Robert 11 Woodland NH

Bacon vaulter sets new record
By PATRICK PARKER
For the Norwich Bulletin


NEW BRITAIN -- Even the weather couldn't ruin Bacon Academy's pole vaulter Patrick Waszczak's undefeated streak.

Waszczak vaulted a new meet record of 14 feet to capture first in the Class M state track meet Friday after the meet got pushed from Thursday because of rain.

Waszczak faced off head-to-head against Samuel Read of Northwest Regional for first place after the two were the only ones to clear the 13-6 foot mark Thursday. But Friday Waszczak -- already the Eastern Connecticut Conference champion and winner at the Hartford Invitational -- would be the only vaulter to clear the 14-foot mark to win the event.

Braving the inclement weather Thursday with Patrick was his father, Lee, who is Patrick's biggest fan and a big part of his vaulting success.

During practices at Bacon, the father works with his son to try and improve any part of Patrick's vaulting. One of the tools Lee Waszczak uses is a video camera hooked up to a laptop with which he tapes all of his son's jumps then replays them at a slower speed to look for any improvement.

"He is such a hard worker," Lee Waszczak said. "He is always looking to improve his own jumps and also his teammates."

Helping his teammates is something that the younger Waszczak clearly tries to do as some of his teammates even go as far as calling him one of their coaches.

"Bacon Academy has three other vaulters," Waszczak said. "And I try to help each other out any way I can, especially in the big meets like this one."

"Without Pat I wouldn't be where I am today," said Matt Wilson, Bacon Academy's other pole vaulter.

Like the coach he is, Waszczak watched Wilson's every move during his vaulting attempts at the meet Thursday. After Wilson finished one of his runs, Waszczak would be waiting to give him advice to improve on his next jump. Wilson vaulted 11.6 feet, matching his personal best and good enough for eighth in the meet.

During Wednesday's Class MM meet, another one of Waszczak's "pupils," Alicia Gray, was center stage touting everything she learned from her 17-year-old coach.

"Patrick tries to teach us everything he knows about the sport," Gray said. "He is a huge help, especially when he uses his video camera to replay our vaults."

On Wednesday, Grey vaulted nine feet, good enough for third in the event.

Patrick's career best vault was 14.1 feet, but even though Friday's attempt wasn't that high, his 14-foot jump that made him the champion broke a Class M state meet mark that was held for almost 20 years. The old mark set in 1988 was 13.85 feet.

"There were a lot of great jumpers in the meet," Waszczak said. "That really gets you revved up before you jump."

Open ahead

By winning the event, Waszczak will continue on to the State Open next week and if he does well enough there he will travel onto the New England championships. But even after those events, he still won't be done with vaulting. He'll compete at Southern Connecticut State University in the fall.