PoleVaultPower.com

Congrats Riley! I can tell you are ready to jump big!

WOAH wyatt metzinger no hieghted! wow hes a good 15-15 6 jumper.
OH and kirk dandridge of the 3a competition was about a foot over his 3 16 ft attempts but continued to blow through his pole. standards set at 30 he was still apexing about 6-8 inches behind them. once he gets on a stiffer pole we can expect 17ft+ out of him. thats why im looking forward to him competing at NON

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/05 ... prepsports

Brink Wins State Pole Vault Title

By BART O'CONNELL
Tribune correspondent
Published: May 5, 2008

WINTER PARK - Keari Brink shrugged her shoulders, took a firm grip on her bright green pole, brought her hands to her right side and held the pole vertical. All the while, she stared at her chance to realize a dream four years in the making.
The Ridgewood senior then began to trot toward the pole vault pit and the bar, 11 feet high. In terms of her dream, it was all or nothing - clear the height for a state title, knock it down for a third-place finish.
Brink took off, hoisted her legs, then the rest of her body easily over the bar, and began celebrating before she hit the pit. She leaped up and raised her right fist while longtime Rams pole vault coach John Herig shouted, "Yes, yes, yes."
In her first state meet, Friday's Class 3A finals at Winter Park's Showalter Field, Brink got her state title.
"I was overwhelmed with joy," Brink said of the winning moment. "At first, I thought this was a dream - it wasn't happening. Then - reality check. I was so happy.
"It took four years, but it happened."
It was also a defining moment for Herig, who in 16 years of coaching at his alma mater had guided his athletes to 17 state qualifying berths, but no wins.
"I've had twos, threes, fours, fives all the way down to 16s in the years I've been doing it," he said, "but she's the first state champion."
Both Herig and Brink knew 11 feet was possible, even though her best performance in a meet had been 10-7. She'd done it "numerous" times in practice, even clearing 11-6 this week, but failed to clear the height in her first two attempts Friday.
Coupled with one miss each at 9-6 and 10 feet, Brink was forced to reach the height to win because Wharton's London Enos and Martin County's Bethany Holden cleared 10-6 without a miss. Several others had fewer misses than Brink during lower heights.
"When there were nine girls left, I felt like I was going to place sixth, and I started to panic," Brink said.
By overcoming those fears, Brink likely has catapulted herself into a college pole vault prospect. Though she hasn't received any formal offers, many college coaches like to wait until after the state finals to begin the recruiting process.
"She's got potential to go Division I," Herig said. "She got 11 feet and obviously I'm glad she finally hit it, but she's got potential to go higher. I couldn't imagine what college wouldn't want her, but obviously, I'm a little biased."

ummmm whoever published this article was mistaken. I believe keari brink is a sophomore. i know her personally but i could be wrong

Nice job John and Morgan! (both from Boone)

I believe both are juniors, not sophomores (sp?) like the article states

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/03/ ... second-in/

High school track: Holden soars to silver

By Laurel Scheffel (Contact)
Saturday, May 3, 2008


WINTER PARK — Martin County senior Bethany Holden couldn't bare to watch as Ridgewood's Keri Brink made her final attempt in the pole vault event of the Class 3A state track and field meet Friday.

Holden was tied for first in a group of four vaulters who cleared 10 feet, 6 inches. She and two others had already made their three attempts at 11 feet and missed, but Brink had one more chance.

Brink cleared the bar, and instead of earning a gold medal, Holden settled for a share of second place.

"I knew she had it in her," said Holden, who has signed to compete at the Naval Academy. "The best vaulter won. I gave it my best shot, but I think I have a lot of room to improve in college."

Though it was was an improvement over a fifth-place finish last year when she finished at 10 feet, Holden said she was disappointed not to clear a better height. She tied her personal record at 10-6.

"I needed a bigger pole because the other girl was holding a foot higher than me, and I think that made the difference," said Holden, who noted she had bought a bigger pole but wasn't ready for the faster running it required.

Holden, who entered the competition at 9-6 after taking passes through the first two heights, hadn't missed an attempt until 11 feet. She entered with the second seed at 10-5, but had cleared 10-6 on numerous occasions and has come close at 11 feet in the past.

"I was feeling good," Holden said. "I get less nervous when I come in late because by then there are less girls and I've had a chance to talk to the other girls and relax a little.

"I almost had. I just keep saying, 'If I only had a bigger pole.'"

Tigers coach Bruce Wells was sure Holden could have cleared it.

"She had the height on 10-6, but her step was a little under, and that cost her," Wells said. "I've had her four years, and she's had a great career."

broke my pole on opening height and no heighted

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may/28 ... -in-style/

Finishing In Style



By BART O'CONNELL Tribune correspondent
The Tampa Tribune
Published: May 28, 2008

PORT RICHEY - Keari Brink's name seemed so fitting as track and field season winded down. She was, by any measure, on the brink of greatness, capable of great things though past seasons had ended short of the state meet.
But it quickly became evident that the Ridgewood pole vaulter's senior year wouldn't be like all the others. For one thing, she never lost or even appeared in danger of losing en route to the postseason meets. And by the time she won region, earning the No. 1 seed at the 3A state meet, any talk of her falling short of expectations had died down.
And like any champion does, Brink finished her prep career in style, winning Pasco County's only track and field state title this year with a personal and school-record 11-foot vault at Showalter Field in Winter Park, on a do-or-die final attempt at the height. It was also the first state title for the traditionally strong Ridgewood pole vaulting program.
Combined with all the other accolades, including Sunshine Athletic Conference, district and regional titles, Brink was a natural choice for The Tampa Tribune Girls Track Athlete of the Year honors.
"The year went exactly how we expected it to go," said Ridgewood pole vault coach John Herig. "Conference, district, region, state, everything came together."
But it was one single vault, the 11-foot final attempt at state, which seemed to allow everything else to fall into place.
She had failed attempts at 9-6 and 10-0 before clearing each height, meaning she would lose a tiebreaker for the title if she did not clear 11 feet. Making the jump tenser was the fact that she had come so close to clearing it on the first two attempts, keeping her agonizingly short of her ultimate goal.
But as she contorted herself over the bar, prompting a rousing ovation from the crowd and screams of "yes, yes, yes" from Herig in the stands, Brink began to celebrate before she hit the ground.
"I was overwhelmed with joy," she said minutes after accepting her medal. "At first, I thought this was a dream - it wasn't happening. Then - reality check. I was so happy.
"It took four years, but it happened."
In addition to all her prep honors, including a place on the Ridgewood Wall of Fame, Brink has received added attention from college scouts and would appear on her way to an athletic scholarship, most likely from a Division I school. She remains undecided on where she'll go.
Herig said she will be competing at the Golden South Classic in Orlando on June 7. Coaches from several colleges are expected to attend.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28399935/

Brink Vaults To Title

By The Tampa Tribune
Tampa Bay Online
updated 3:16 p.m. PT, Sat., Dec. 27, 2008

For Ridgewood's Keari Brink, the question was never about talent. The county's best girls pole vaulter all year, she broke the Rams' school record and won every event she competed in prior to the Class 3A state finals May 2.

But there was one lingering doubt about Brink heading into that Friday afternoon at Showalter Field in Winter Park: she had never been in this position before. It was the senior's first state meet, and coupled with her top seeding against a talented field, the expectations were higher and the pressure more daunting than any bar she had ever cleared.

Well, maybe except the last one.

Forced to vault 11 feet on her final attempt to either win a state title or finish third, a height she had never cleared before in competition, Brink knew what she had done before she even hit the ground. She hoisted her arms after a flawless vault in celebration of Ridgewood's first state title in the event.

"I was overwhelmed with joy," Brink said of the winning moment. "At first, I thought this was a dream - it wasn't happening. Then - reality check. I was so happy.

"It took four years, but it happened."

Longtime Rams coach John Herig was perhaps even more excited, shouting "Yes, yes, yes" from the stands as Brink cleared the height. It was the culmination of a long journey for Herig, who had qualified 17 vaulters for state in 16 years of coaching, but never a state champion until that moment.

"I've had twos, threes, fours, fives all the way down to 16s in the years I've been doing it," he said, "but she's the first state champion."

Both Herig and Brink knew 11 feet was possible, even though her best performance in a meet had been 10-7. She'd done it "numerous" times in practice, even clearing 11-6 in the week leading up to the meet, but failed to clear the height in her first two attempts that day.

Brink's historic vault led to her being named the Tribune's Girls Track Athlete of the Year later in the month. She was also the third state champion Pasco County had produced in 2008, joining Pasco wrestler Eric Stroud and the Land O' Lakes cheer team.