| |
Kevin Jackson just can’t win.
Literally.
That’s because the Eastern junior, for practically the entire month of May, has been stuck behind either of Western’s senior vaulters, Dean Shepherd or Chris Harter.
Jackson cleared 14 feet at both the Howard County and Mid-Indiana Conference meets May 7 and 12, only to finish second behind Shepherd each time.
Jackson came back with a personal-outdoors-best 14-6 at the Kokomo Sectional but fell short of beating Harter, who cleared a personal-best 15 feet.
Undeterred, though, and not disheartened by his placings, Jackson is headed to the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals on Friday with a positive outlook on things.
“If I jump a personal-best, 15 feet on [the first attempt], that could get me a top-nine medal, but it’s just going to be a learning experience this year,” Jackson said after he finished fifth at the Kokomo Regional but qualified for state by clearing another personal-best of 14 feet, 9 inches.
“I’m not going to be too frustrated if I don’t place real high. I still have one more year left.”
The state finals take place at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington. Field events begin at 3 p.m.
Harter, who also cleared 14-9 at regional to finish fourth, is headed downstate as well, along with teammate Corey Scott, the 3,200-meter regional champion, and Peru’s Aaron Garretson in the 800 meters.
On Saturday, the girls take center stage at IU, and participating from the area are Kokomo’s Ashley DeWitt, Eastern’s Zoe Wolfe, Western’s Nikki McCracken and Cass’ Emily Beckley.
Pole vaulting — a local tradition
Jackson and Harter both have their work cut out for them as 11 vaulters come into the competition having cleared regional heights of 15 feet or higher.
That group includes state-record holder Corey Shank of Northrop, the top seed at 16-7. He set the mark of 17 feet in 2007 as a sophomore.
“We get to jump against great vaulters every night, so [Jackson] knows he has to bring his best vaults to the meet,” said Michael Goodspeed, one of the Comets’ jump coaches who also leads the girls team.
“He has had such tough competition with the Western vaulters that he’s not gotten first in any of those [meets], but he’s one of the best vaulters in the area.”
Harter and McCracken, who placed third in pole vault at the Bremen Regional last week, will add to the legacy of state-caliber vaulters at Western.
It began with Blayne Burkholder, who qualified for three consecutive state finals from 2003 to 2005; and was passed along to Kyle Gann, who holds the school record and was fourth in the state in 2007.
Panthers coach Marvin Boswell gives all the credit to volunteer coaches Bill Burkholder, Randy Everetts and Joe Harter.
“They’ve done a nice job building the program to be, I believe, one of the best pole-vaulting programs in the state,” Boswell said. “They enjoy just being around pole vault and working with the kids. They do such an excellent job and I am so appreciative of what they bring. That allows me to be able to concentrate on other things with the team.”
McCracken, a state-level gymnast as well, has been at the top of the area-best charts for two years, clearing an all-time best 11 feet this year.
McCracken cleared 10-3 at Bremen while top seed Ellie McCardwell of Pendleton Heights comes in with a mark of 13-1.
“If [McCracken] can go 11 feet or even above that, she could find herself in one of the top nine positions,” said Boswell. “That’s what the state meet is all about — trying to make sure the kids perform at their highest level. Hopefully they’ll have the best performances of their careers at the state meet.”
On the track
Also a senior, Scott’s best would be somewhere in the neighborhood of the time of 9 minutes, 22.93 seconds he ran indoors in March.
Scott won the regional race in 9:32.11 and is seeded 13th. Top seed Andrew Buzzelli of Bloomington North ran a 9:17.31 last week.
“Looking at times and where his conditioning is right now, he could have a real shot at being able to place fairly high,” Boswell said of Scott. “He has a great attitude going into this. He’s looking forward to it and I think will make a strong showing for Western.”
Garretson, who made a state appearance as a freshman on the Tigers’ 4x800 relay team, has a huge task ahead of him. His third-place regional time of 1:58.06 has him seeded only ninth-best in the slower of the two 800 heats.
In the field
DeWitt is the only repeat state performer. A senior, she has aspirations of improving on 2008, when she made the finals of the shot put but failed to place.
DeWitt finished second at Bremen last week in both the shot and the discus. Her distances of 40 feet, 8 inches and 120-9 have her seeded ninth in the former and 12th in the latter.
Wolfe lost a regional duel of faults to Beckley as both cleared 5 feet, 4 inches at Bremen, with Beckley first on misses and Wolfe second.
Defending state champion Ellie Tidman of Batesville owns the No. 1 seed at 5-7. Wolfe has cleared an area-best jump of 5-6 this season.
“She’s in a great position,” Goodspeed said of Wolfe. “She has the fourth-best jump in the state in 2009. If she’s able to do what she normally does in practice and in meets this year, she will be in the top eight.
“She is a very mature, level-headed sophomore, doesn’t get too upset about what may not go her way and is able to do some really clutch jumping. That’s what it will take at the state meet.”
• Also from the area, Tipton senior Taylor Maxey and Tri-Central sophomore Kelly Walter will participate at the state finals this weekend.
Maxey captured the 110-meter high hurdles at the Lafayette Jeff Regional last week and is seeded No. 8 with a time of 14.52 seconds. He’s also running in the slowest of three heats of the 300 hurdles after placing second at the Jeff Regional.
Walter was second at the West Lafayette Regional with a high jump of 5 feet 3 1/2 inches and is seeded 23rd on Saturday.
|
