Fedor Garin 15-6 (CA)

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http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_p ... ?id=109101

Garin soars to PR
By Nathan Mollat

Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal
Carlmont pole vaulter Fedor Garin works on his technique in practice Monday. Saturday, he won the Serra Top 7 pole vault title, setting a meet and personal record with a mark of 15-6.


Fedor Garin knows what it takes to be a champion.
As a 10-year-old, the Carlmont senior won a state championship in gymnastics. As a 13-year-old, he won a state title in judo — eventually finishing third nationally. He hopes to translate that kind of success to his new passion — pole vault.
Garin appears on his way. At the Serra Top 7 meet Saturday, Garin set a personal record in his specialty not once but twice, setting a meet record in the process. After clearing his first two heights of 13 feet, 6 inches and 14-6, which tied the meet mark, he blew by the previous meet record and he effectively won the meet when he vaulted 15-1/4, breaking his PR of 14-10. He then moved the bar to 15-6 and cleared it on his third try, setting another PR and again setting the meet record.
For his efforts, Garin is this week’s Daily Journal Athlete of the Week.
“15-6 is a big jump,” said Garin’s vault coach Brent Cottong. “But what’s more amazing is that it was achieved from his short-approach run. … Once we get his longer run dialed in, look out.”
It wasn’t completely smooth sailing. Garin grazed the bar on his 15-6 jump — but the bar stayed precariously on the edge of the rack.
“It was pretty close,” Garin said. “It was a pretty lenient bar.”
That’s about as close as Garin has come to missing a goal this season. His two jumps over 15 feet give him the best marks in the Central Coast Section this season — by far. Cottong estimates Garin’s bettered the second-best mark by a foot.
“I knew it was coming,” Garin said of his PR. “I’ve been getting close to that (15-6) in practice.”
Garin’s next goal is to go 16 feet. He attempted the height twice Saturday, but was gassed. It was the first time he’s ever attempted that height and, despite being exhausted, gave it his best effort.
Garin’s had a pretty quick learning curve. When he came out for track and field his sophomore year, he figured he’d be a jumper — long jump and high jump. When Cottong asked him to try pole vaulting, he found out he was pretty good at it. He started clearing eight feet when he started pole vaulting midway through the season and was clearing 11 feet by the end of the season.
“By the end of my sophomore year, I won the PAL frosh-soph championship,” Garin said. “At that point, I’d only vaulted for about five months.”
Last year as a junior, he was clearing 13 feet but his season ended with Garin wanting more. He had an off-day at the PAL championships, finishing second. It was the CCS championships that he suffered an even more cruel fate. He finished in a tie for third but since only three vaulters could advance to the state meet, Garin had a to compete in a jump-off to determine the third and final state entrant. Garin came up short, fueling his fire for this season.
This year, Garin is concentrating solely on pole vault. That single-mindedness appears to be paying off. At an indoor meet in January, he cleared 14-10. Both Cottong and Garin himself say his competitive nature is paying off.
“He had two of his arch-rivals in that (Serra) meet,” Cottong said.
Garin said having those two other vaulters pushing him helped propel him to new heights — literally.
“I’m a very competitive person. I like competition,” Garin said. “In practice, I’m pretty much competing with myself.”
When he gets to the meets and his competitive juices start flowing, Garin said he does a pretty good job of tuning everything else out and focusing on just the vault at hand.
“That’s one of the things I’m good at, getting in the zone,” Garin said.
With the regular season winding down, Garin is ramping up for the post season. The PAL championships are in about a month with CCS about two weeks after that. If all goes well, a place in the state meet will wrap up his high school career.
Is a state championship in Garin’s future? He’s going to give it his best shot.
“We have a lot of good vaulters in the state. I just need to work on my technique. If I can get that down, I think I have a shot (at winning a state title),” Garin said. “Even a podium finish would be nice, but I’m going for No. 1.”