Erick Artusio alone at the top (MD)

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http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sectio ... yID=100185

Artusio alone at the top
Originally published January 16, 2010


By Greg Swatek
News-Post Staff


Photo by Graham Cullen


TJ's Erick Artusio beat his personal best in the pole vault Friday, clearing 15 feet, 3 inches at the Frederick County indoor track and field championships at Hagerstown Community College.


HAGERSTOWN ----In less than a year, the landscape for boys pole vault in Frederick County has changed dramatically.
That's why Thomas Johnson senior Erick Artusio spent most of the vaulting competition during Friday's county indoor track championships at Hagerstown Community College casually relaxing in his warm-ups than anxiously wondering who might pry the championship from him.

In fact, the other 11 vaulters in the boys competition had used up their allotted misses (three) at one height before Artusio attempted a single vault.

But once it was finally Artusio's turn, it did not take long for the defending indoor and outdoor state champion to get going.

He flew past the county indoor record (14 feet, 5 inches) on his second attempt of the day before going over the bar at 15-3 on his first attempt at the height to set a new personal record.

Last May, at the state outdoor meet, Artusio set the state record for all classifications by going over the bar at 15-2. The state indoor vault record, which Artusio doesn't own, still stands at 15-1.

The 15-3 vault, although the best ever in Maryland, is not recognized as the state record because it did not occur in a state-sanctioned meet. But that didn't really faze Artusio, who will still have ample opportunity to raise the bar even higher.

"I woke up feeling pretty confident," he said. "I wasn't taking no for an answer."

Artusio's victory was part of a sweep of the team titles for TJ.

The TJ boys produced 107 points behind Artusio, Fabian Gonzalez's win in the 500-meter dash and victories in the 800 and 1,600 relays.

Walkersville , on the strength of victories by Stephen Keith in the 800 and 1,600 runs, Jose Depadua in the 55 dash and a first-place time from the 3,200 relay, finished second with 91 points. Middletown was third with 50.

The TJ girls, on the other hand, rolled to victory with 108 points. Frederick , behind Morgan Carroll's victories in the 300 and 500 dashes, Paige Galloway's win in the 55 dash and first-place times in the 800 and 1,600 relays, was second with 80 points. Linganore was third with 66.

For TJ, Stephanie Bryan swept the 800, 1,600 and 3,200. Her winning time of 5:06.81 in the 1,600 was a county record.

"She is an amazing athlete," TJ girls coach Chris Lewis said. "She certainly squeezes the most out of what she's got."

In previous county meets, Artusio was vying for the vaulting title with other elite athletes, such as Middletown 's Alex Edelmann, Urbana 's Dustin Fishman, and Linganore 's Richard

Wilkinson and Jacob Wright. But they either graduated or are no longer vaulting in high school meets.

"I have been vaulting with them for years," Artusio said. "It's sad to seem them go."

This season, Artusio's closest competitor in the county has been Brunswick junior Nathan Diaz, who won the Class 1A championship at the state outdoor meet with a vault of 13 feet.

When asked about Artusio at the county indoor meet, Diaz, who placed second with a vault of 12 feet, smiled and said, "He's out of my league."

Artusio's opening height of 13-6 was greater than the personal record of anyone else in the field.

He spent most of the competition just relaxing, laying flat on his back in his warm-ups, his head propped by his backpack so he could watch.

Roughly 20 minutes before his first vault, Artusio got up and began to warm up by running sprints in an unoccupied lane on the track.

"I sometimes get tired just sitting there," he said. "I have to get up and do some stretches and make sure I am ready to go."

Artusio easily went over the bar on his first two attempts at 13-6 and 14-6. The second set the county indoor record. He missed his first two attempts at 15-0, which was his previous best height this season, before going over on the third.

Then, he sailed over on his first try at 15-3 and asked that the bar be raised to 15-5. He did not come close on his first two attempts at that height before nearly going over on his third and final try, just nudging the bar off on his descent.

"It's amazing he continues to vault at that level considering how little practice we have had this season," TJ boys coach Nick Snyder said.

The coaches and athletes are hoping this wasn't the final county indoor meet. Frederick County Public Schools, seeking to reduce its budget deficit, is contemplating eliminating indoor track as an athletic program.

It certainly was a hot topic at the meet. There was a petition circulating to express support for indoor track. And hanging right next to the meet results was a sign that read, "I don't want this to be our LAST indoor track season ... do you? Speak up! Sign the petition."