WCAl Finals 2007-Casey no heights!

[ipolevault]

Event 31 Boys Pole Vault Varsity
================================================================================
Meet: ! 16-00 5/12/2006 Kyle Mills-Bunje, St. Francis
CCS: # 17-01 1997 Steve Harris, Del Mar
Name Year School Seed Finals Points
================================================================================
1 Campi, Adam 12 St. Francis (Mou 14-07.00 14-02.00 10
2 Normandin, Scott 11 Bellarmine Colle 14-00.00 13-08.00 8
3 Benham, Brett 11 St. Francis (Mou 13-06.00 J13-08.00 6
4 Benham, Tyler 12 St. Francis (Mou 13-00.00 12-08.00 4
5 Middleton, Kevin 11 St. Francis (Mou 13-01.00 J12-08.00 2
6 Libiran, John 11 Archbishop Riord 11-06.00 11-08.00 1
7 Waziri, Abe 11 St. Ignatius Col 12-00.00 11-02.00
8 Casazza, Tony 11 Junipero Serra 11-06.00 J11-02.00
9 Mahoney, Matt 11 St. Ignatius Col 11-00.00 10-08.00
10 Passantino, Frank 11 Junipero Serra 10-00.00 10-02.00
10 Sabalvaro, Scott 11 St. Ignatius Col 12-00.00 10-02.00
10 Cahill, Tom 11 St. Ignatius Col 10-06.00 10-02.00
10 Wegener, Eric Archbishop Mitty 11-00.00 10-02.00
-- Llamas, David 11 Bellarmine Colle 10-00.00 NH
-- Kolchak, Andrew 11 St. Ignatius Col 10-00.00 NH
-- Roche, Casey 12 St. Francis (Mou 17-00.00 NH
-- Meduri, Chris 11 Bellarmine Colle 10-06.00 NH

[ipolevault]

For those who don't know, now Casey won't be able to go to CCS, and then state.

[newPVer]

wow, major upset. what'd he come in at ?

[rainbowgirl28]

That sucks

[FriarPV]

That is heartbreaking news. Sometimes this can be a cruel sport. I really hate to see Casey's High School career end like this. This is another example of how difficult it is to win the state meet in Ca. You have to jump well at league finals, CIF prelims, CIF finals, CIF Masters, State prelims and then State finals the next day. If you have one bad day along the way in this 5 week period you are out no matter how high you qualified.
Good Luck to Casey if he decides to compete in J O's this summer and Junior Nationals.
I'm sure he will have a great career at Cal.

[Siros]

Aww, that sucks. I missed my state qualifications by 6 inches. So I won't be able to go either.

[skyshark177]

wow, that's pretty rough.
I feel real fortunate to be in Michigan.

Here, you only need to be the top two at your school or make a qualifying mark for the Regional meet then...at the Regional meet either clear the qualifying mark for states or finish 1st or 2nd at the regional meet to go on to the State meet.

When I was jumping, I thought that was tough.

[JumpinSkiing]

In NH it's even easier, you make a certain height, you get to go to the Class meet, then top 6 there gets you to the state championships, then top 6 there you go to New Englands.

[ipolevault]

Well, Casey came in at 14-8 and no heighted. (Qualifying hieght is 13-8) he will however be going to sectionals for long jump as he finished second. Ironically, this is exactly what happened to Kyle Mills-Bunje, also from St. Francis, last year. He came in at a height slightly too high and no heighted (for those who don't know, bunje went 16-6) while casey came in at qualifying hieght to make sure he qualified, which is what Adam Campi did this year (I'm pretty sure, could have come in at 13-02) in the end, i consider it a priviledge to have seen Casey and Bunje both vault in meets against my school, they're great athletes and nice guys.

Friar-casey is going to Stanford, not Cal.

[vault3rb0y]

Im sorry to hear that casey, and i know you are probably pretty upset from this, but just remember that college vaulting is way more exciting than high school, and you will still have a ton of time to enjoy and get ready for that! Good luck, i know we will hear from you in the future.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f ... PQ92R1.DTL

Top vaulter fails at WCAL meet
Mitch Stephens, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, May 13, 2007

(05-13) 07:37 PDT -- Casey Roche said he's been thinking far too much the last two weeks. On Saturday at his home track, the unthinkable occurred.
The St. Francis senior pole vaulter, the state leader in the event most of the year, failed to clear a height in the West Catholic Athletic League finals, ending his pole vault season and dream of a state title.
"I've been beating myself up the last two weeks -- been really down on myself," said the Stanford-signee who cleared 17 feet this season after recording the 20th-best mark in U.S. high school history, going 17-5 at the USATF Junior Olympics in Baltimore in the summer. "I've been expecting too much and pressing. This is very, very, very disappointing."
Roche passed until 14-2, where he twice just ran through the pit before hitting the bar on his way up on the third attempt. Just like that, his superb senior vault season went poof.
He did advance in the long jump, finishing second at 22-5 to St. Ignatius senior Elliot Ferrara (22-8Â 3/4) and ran the opening leg on the Lancers' 1,600 relay team that advanced.
"Like all vaulters, he hit a slump. Unfortunately, it was at the wrong time of the season," St. Francis pole vault coach Tom Tuite said. "Any other time and we'd have plenty of time to work it out."
Tuite, who has been part of the St. Francis program for 41 seasons, said Roche is the best vaulter he has ever worked with. That's what made Saturday's result so difficult.
Roche, who finished third at state last year, was visibly distraught for close to an hour.
"Casey is a very intense competitor so it's understandable that his reaction is intense as well," Tuite said.
Said Roche: "The whole thing is obviously mental. I was just running way too fast through the runway today. All week I think I've been trying to get it together but kept kind of thinking the worst. It was kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy thing.
"I have to just let it go and focus on the long jump. At the end of the year, I'll vault at Golden West and junior nationals and hopefully show everyone what I can do."
St. Francis head coach Mike Saso said Roche showed plenty by running the opening leg of the 1,600 relay about an hour after no-heighting.
"Talk about character," Saso said. "Most athletes in that state of disappointment would have no part of (the relay). But he's a total team guy who does everything we ask and then some. That's why he's such an elite athlete. He'll bounce back."

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5901550?s ... ck_check=1

ault star
By Dennis Knight
Mercury News
Article Launched: 05/15/2007 11:38:36 AM PDT

St. Francis pole vaulter Casey Roche's season ended Saturday when the senior failed to clear a height at the West Catholic Athletic League championships.
The defending Central Coast Section champion finished third in the state meet last year and set a CCS and Junior Olympic record height of 17 feet, 5 inches at a Junior Olympic meet last summer in Baltimore.
"It was certainly disappointing - Casey put so much work and energy into pursuing his goals," Lancers pole vault coach Tom Tuite said. "Nobody wanted to see this happen.
"He is a great kid who hit a tough stretch. It's kind of like a batter going into a slump. Unfortunately it happened during a part of the season that is unforgiving."
Roche's father, former Stanford pole vault coach E. Casey Roche, said he saw this coming after Casey hit his head on the pole during a jump at the Top 8 Meet last month.
"In an event as dangerous as the pole vault, when that happens you need to get back out there and jump again within five minutes," E. Casey Roche said. "But that was his last vault of the day. Sometimes it takes four to eight weeks to get through it."
But the Stanford-bound Casey bounced back mentally quickly, his father said.
"Three hours later he was checking Pac-10 results to see where he could place next year," E. Casey Roche said