Berry Sets New High School Pole Vault Record (PA) 16-3.25

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm ... 6361&rfi=6

Berry Sets New High School Pole Vault Record
By: Seth Goldstein, The Bulletin
04/30/2007
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Philadelphia - He injured his quad on his very first pole vault. Never did he think he would be at this level now.
Hatboro-Horsham senior Joe Berry, who four years ago, "dragged his leg" back up the runway, was now buried in the arms of his coach, Peter Hischmann, on Saturday, in celebration of setting a new Penn Relays and stadium high school record with a height of 16-feet-1¼. Only he wasn't done yet.
Never mind the fact that he had already won the gold as the No. 5 seed by beating Daniel Boone's Justin Germani at a height of 15-8. And forget about him already surpassing his personal best (15-6), which he set at the Great Valley dual meet last week, two jumps ago. Berry wanted more.
"I told them to raise it to the record," said Berry, who broke the old mark of 16-0½ , which was set by Braxton Davenport in 1991. "I was just sucked up in the moment. My body, everything, was tingling."
The bar was raised another two inches, now standing at 16-3¼. He went up, the bar came down. He went up again, the bar came down again. He took a little more time before his third attempt, taking in the moment, hoping to get enough adrenaline pumping to put him over the top.
On his third attempt, Berry cleared it - the bar wobbled but stayed up - setting yet again, a new Penn Relays record, stadium high school record and personal record. He tried for 16-4¾, but couldn't make it happen. Still, not bad for someone who at the start of the season, told his coaches he was going to set the Penn Relays record this year.
"He had his sights set on this from the get-go," Hischmann said. "He's always had the potential to go higher. He just hasn't been able to do it."
And he almost didn't do it, either. He almost didn't even have the opportunity as he was stuck trying to clear 15-5.
Germani had already cleared the height on his second vault as Berry was on his third try. If he didn't make it, he would settle for third or fourth place as a result of having more missed attempts. He had switched to a heavier pole the jump before and was battling a large cut on his hand that he got from hitting his hand on the spikes of his shoes on an earlier try.
It didn't matter. He was up and over. And when the bar was raised to 15-8, he was up and over on his first attempt, clinching the title.
"After 15-5, that's when it started clicking," said Berry, who finished in 12th place last year, clearing a height of only 13-9. "My adrenaline was going crazy and I kept feeding off the crowd."
And as if the day couldn't get any better, who presented him with his award: none other than 1976 Olympic decathlon gold medalist Bruce Jenner.
All that's left now is to decide where to go to college. Berry has been in talks with only two schools - Rutgers and Clemson - and only the Scarlet Knights have offered him any kind of scholarship. Maybe now, that will all change.
"I can't afford to go out of state unless I get a scholarship," Berry said. "Maybe I can track down Pitt now."

[uconnvaulta]

it was great to watch him vault, real inspiring for an older college vaulter like myself

really got me thinking about how fun vaulting really is and how it is such an uniquely awesome event that i will probably be vaulting forever

this guy was jumping on a pacer carbon from probably 1990 it was great


looked great at 5 meters as well

[ec1vaulter]

Joe looked great a Penn, and it's good to see his progression over the last few years. Hatboro-Horsham's former school recorder holder, NCAA DIII Champion Kevin Clark, was on the infield waiting for the College Championship pole vault to start when Joe was competing. It was incredible to watch the two generations of HH vaulters compete in the same day, and have a new Penn Relays record set in the process.

Joe changed poles part way through the competition and that is what gave him the big push over the bar to set a new PR (a few times) he definetly has the capability to jump 5m by the end of the season.

[rlk11792]

Hatboro-Horsham also has a great female vaulter. I think she got 7th place or something at Penn Relays.

[sooch90]

Where did he practice to get his PR up so much from the year before?

[bel142]

I saw it... It was good vault.. Big PR good show...

Keep in mind that WHERE is not as important as HOW he trained. Sort of like a home gym, 3 times a week for 20 min a day.... Or you could just work out 3 times a week for 20 min.... you don't need the home gym....

[sooch90]

I saw it... It was good vault.. Big PR good show...

Keep in mind that WHERE is not as important as HOW he trained. Sort of like a home gym, 3 times a week for 20 min a day.... Or you could just work out 3 times a week for 20 min.... you don't need the home gym....

well what I meant by where did he practice is where did he pole vault? He must've pole vaulted in order to go from 13' 9" to 16' 10" in 1 year!

[vault3rb0y]

i think it was 13'10 to 16'3.25, but still thats a very very good year! almost 2 1/2 feet!

[sooch90]

i think it was 13'10 to 16'3.25, but still thats a very very good year! almost 2 1/2 feet!

I'm pretty sure he cleared 16' 10" some time during outdoor later on. But I could be wrong

[Haverford123]

Joe berry did jump 16'10,,,at a dual meet, and barely missed 17
I remember seeing him jump like 14
in winter track and then 15, and so on and so on,,, this dude is one inspirational vaulter in our area

[bel142]

Damn talented kids.... I remember PRing and taking 3rd place at a meet, all excited to see my name in the paper the next day, but awoke to see Sarafian's picture plastered up everywhere when he jumped 17' 4" that same weekend... Damn those amazingly talented kids….

[rainbowgirl28]

Joe berry did jump 16'10,,,at a dual meet, and barely missed 17
I remember seeing him jump like 14
in winter track and then 15, and so on and so on,,, this dude is one inspirational vaulter in our area

Does anyone know why his 16-10 never made it on any lists? I have seen it reported several places, but it never appeared on the PennTrackXC site or Dyestat.