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TEXAS RELAYS --- High school pole vault record falls


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(excerpt)

As fans clapped in unison and then cheered in awe and delight, Jack Whitt of Norman (Okla.) North obliterated the 11-year-old high school meet record of 17 feet, 2 inches by soaring 18 feet and one-quarter inch on his third and final vault at that height.

"The jump really didn't feel as good as I wanted it to. I honestly didn't think I was going to make it," said Whitt, a senior.

That didn't stop him from upping the bar to 18-31/4 and giving it three close shots. The height would have been a national high school record and a stadium record, and a clearance would have made placed him No. 1 in the world for 19-and-under juniors.

Even after those misses, his father, Kevin, said, "Man, it couldn't get any better."

As the competition had moved beyond 17 feet, Kevin Whitt had walked down in the stands and yelled to Jack that maybe it was time to switch to a stiffer pole.

"I jumped on a pole I had never planted before," Whitt said of his record-setting vault.

Less than a month ago, Whitt vaulted 17-103/4 to break Joe Dial's Oklahoma state high school record, which had stood since 1981.

"Hey, as long as he's coming to ORU, I'm happy with that," said Dial, who was watching from the stands. The former world record-holder, now the coach at Oral Roberts University, said, "I've been coaching for 23 years, and he's the best talent in the pole vault I have ever seen coming out of high school."

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/other/04/04/0404relayside.html

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That's pretty incredible, really.  ORU is attracting some great track and field athletes.  I have a nephew that is among the top five or so cross country runners in the country - wish I could have encouraged him to come to ORU, but he's already committed to Stanford.  I think he would have fit in PERFECTLY at ORU.

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ORU is really becoming a track and field power....perhaps TheEagleman can see this kid next year if he comes to Philly for the Penn Relays.... :-)

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