Pole Vault

Mount Hebron's Liz McCarter and Katie Hursey of North Carroll waged another battle in a state championship race yesterday. The teammates-to-be at Syracuse met in the Class 3A 3,200-meter final, and McCarter pulled away for an impressive victory at Morgan State. McCarter had beaten Hursey in a mild upset in the Class 3A state championship cross country race last fall, using a kick that the North Carroll senior couldn't answer. Hursey then topped McCarter in this past winter's Class 3A-2A 1,600 state title run. The two were close throughout the first half of yesterday's race before McCarter made her move on the fifth of the eight laps.

To say that North Carroll's Erik Adami posted a career day at Wednesday's Carroll County track and field championships at Century would be an understatement. The multi-talented senior scored 36 individual points, taking gold medals in the pole vault, high jump and discus, to lead the Panthers to their first-ever boys outdoor championship. Along the way, Adami achieved personal bests in the pole vault (14 feet) and discus (133 feet, 7.25 inches). The winning height in the pole vault, in fact, was 18 inches higher than his winning height the week before at the Monocacy Valley Athletic League Chesapeake Conference meet, and just 6 inches off the county record.

Sure, the hour grew late and everyone wanted to board the buses and return to their homes, but K.C. Allen was having none of it. The Calvert High of Prince Frederick product polished off the Region 4A-3A State Indoor Track Championships last night at the 5th Regiment Armory with a Maryland girls' record 11-foot leap in the pole vault.It capped an evening of spectacular races, especially in the distance events, while once again schools from Prince George's County proved they are tough to beat.

Since the start of this weekend's state track and field championships at UMBC, South Carroll's Pun Chittchang has sported a small Superman emblem on her right thigh -- a temporary tattoo she recently bought for 50 cents.Yesterday, the Maryland-bound senior lived up to her adornment.Chittchang won the long jump with a state-record 20 feet, 1 1/2 inches, becoming the first girl in meet history to surpass 20 feet. The accomplishment came just two days after Chittchang became the first girl to eclipse 40 feet in the discus in two years.

Led by Tee Carter, Rolanda Howard and Cynthia Nicholls, the Long Reach girls won their second straight Class 2A South region track championship yesterday at River Hill, and the Long Reach boys finished second to Charles County's McDonough.The Lightning girls out-distanced runner-up River Hill, 135-85, as Carter won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events and helped the 1,600-relay team finish third. Carter set a personal best in the 400 at 55.9 seconds.Howard's girls won the triple jump, long jump and finished second in the 100 hurdles and fifth in the 300 hurdles.

Halfway through the 15th Westminster Invitational meet yesterday, Dulaney's girls held an eight-point lead over the host team, 40-32.No other team was in the picture.As soon as the second half of the meet got under way, the Owls made their move, picking up 16 points in the discus. Katie Selby led the way with a meet record heave of 118 feet, 9 1/2 inches, and teammate Jessica Hester finished third with a 101-5 effort.Suddenly, the score was Westminster 48, Dulaney 40. The home team pressed its advantage with five points in the 800-meter relay.

The North Carroll girls team didn't figure to wring many points out of the relay events at the Central Region 3A-2A qualifying meet for next week's state championships yesterday at the 5th Regiment Armory.It didn't, scoring just 12 points out of a possible 93. So the pressure was on the competitors in the individual events and they responded well as North Carroll took the measure of Woodlawn, 75-68, and three other Baltimore County contenders: Parkville (65), Catonsville and Franklin (45 apiece.

Defending Class 1A state champion Oakland Mills is favored to win the boys county track title over defending county champ Wilde Lake.Defending Class 2A state and county champion Long Reach is favored over River Hill and Wilde Lake to win the girls title.The Mount Hebron boys and girls teams are both expected to show major improvement.Five boys teams have different head coaches this season: Adrian Valdez and Chad Boothe (Atholton), Roger Volrath (Glenelg), Ken Smith (Mount Hebron), Eric Henlon (Long Reach)

After its run of six straight county championships ended two years ago, Old Mill's boys came back with a vengeance last season, reclaiming the title by a substantial margin over its conqueror, Arundel. And with such as Victor Thillet (distances), Dan Liden (pole vault) and others back, it doesn't appear as if the Patriots will be eased back out of their dominance again this time around.Imagine the joy Old Mill coach Bill Hickey feels when it comes time to fill out his entry card for a meet.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Rules and injuries made this a national meet without a prime-time showdown, but yesterday's finale of the USA Track and Field Championships was a compelling show for the brunch-hour crowd of 8,913 at Hayward Field.From the 9: 50 a.m. start of the pole vault, which included a U.S. record of 19 feet, 9 inches by Jeff Hartwig, to the 1: 20 p.m. finish of the women's 5,000 meters, in which Regina Jacobs became the meet's only double winner, this was the sport at its up-tempo best.

Atholton track standout Graham Bazell battled a mysterious illness for part of the spring season that caused him to experience pain in his legs and suffer from fatigue. He was told by doctors that he had a low level of potassium. The solution? Eat bananas. He began eating three a day and found himself getting better. Rounding back into form, Bazell didn't slip on any banana peels at the state track and field championships Friday night at Morgan State. He ran away from the field to win the 3,200 meters in a Class 3A-record time of 9 minutes, 13.27 seconds.

When Gilman track and field head coach Johnnie Foreman began his coaching career at Northern in Baltimore in 1976, he had just one coach assisting him. That's the way most track teams were run for years. The era of specialization in sports, however, has changed the approach to high school track and field coaching. Instead of using one or two coaches, public and private school teams now routinely employ a group of coaches to specialize their teaching. "The sports have become so specialized that you've got to have those coaches who can spend time with youngsters in those events," Foreman said.

The No.10 Aberdeen girls used a bunch of first-place finishes to edge out C. Milton Wright for the top spot in last weekend's Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference track and field championship meet at Bohemia Manor. The Eagles came away with seven firsts in the event and finished with 127 points, barely beating the Mustangs (126). Fallston finished third with 103 points. Aberdeen's Stephanie Johnson won the 100-meter dash in 12.13 seconds. She also took second in the 200. Delmarshae Walker captured the 300 hurdles in 48.24, and Vanessa Whiteford and Amanda Deller gave the Eagles wins in field events.

LANDOVER -- Jess Huber spent much of the pole vault competition relaxing on the long bench adjacent to the runway. The North Carroll senior sat in her sweat suit, laughing and giggling while chatting with other girls during the Class 4A state championship meet. She remained relaxed when her chance finally came. Huber had little trouble winning her third consecutive state championship last night at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex. "I vault better when I'm relaxed," Huber said.

The Hereford girls made quite a statement at last night's Baltimore County indoor track championships at the Fifth Regiment Armory. Top distance runner Kristen Malloy had her final day at the school earlier this week, leaving because her family is moving out of state. But the Bulls did just fine without her, repeating as county champions with 67 points, easily beating Loch Raven (51), Catonsville (50) and Dulaney (49). Dulaney captured the boys title with 55 points, edging Western Tech (49)

Mount Hebron's Liz McCarter and Katie Hursey of North Carroll waged another battle in a state championship race yesterday. The teammates-to-be at Syracuse met in the Class 3A 3,200-meter final, and McCarter pulled away for an impressive victory at Morgan State. McCarter had beaten Hursey in a mild upset in the Class 3A state championship cross country race last fall, using a kick that the North Carroll senior couldn't answer. Hursey then topped McCarter in this past winter's Class 3A-2A 1,600 state title run. The two were close throughout the first half of yesterday's race before McCarter made her move on the fifth of the eight laps.

Another year, another record for Howard's Joey Thompson. Thompson used a late kick to win the 3,200 meters in a Class 2A-record time of 9 minutes, 19.90 seconds yesterday during the first day of competition in the state track and field championships at Morgan State. The junior also set a Class 2A record when he won the 1,600 in last spring's state meet. Thompson battled Howard County rival Graham Bazell of Atholton throughout the 3,200 yesterday. Bazell led for much of the race until Thompson came on just before the final lap and pulled away to win by a surprisingly easy 18.12 seconds.

While North Carroll senior Erik Adami flew through the air with a school-record pole vault of 14 feet to win the Carroll County championship recently, his parents watched nervously from below in fear that something would go wrong. It's not unusual that parents would have such concerns. Except in this case, Dad is also the assistant coach. Henry Adami coaches his son in the pole vault and other field events. "My dad doesn't like watching me," Erik Adami said. "He gets nervous sometimes about me getting hurt and that I'm not going to clear it [bar]

To say that North Carroll's Erik Adami posted a career day at Wednesday's Carroll County track and field championships at Century would be an understatement. The multi-talented senior scored 36 individual points, taking gold medals in the pole vault, high jump and discus, to lead the Panthers to their first-ever boys outdoor championship. Along the way, Adami achieved personal bests in the pole vault (14 feet) and discus (133 feet, 7.25 inches). The winning height in the pole vault, in fact, was 18 inches higher than his winning height the week before at the Monocacy Valley Athletic League Chesapeake Conference meet, and just 6 inches off the county record.

In an event that dares competitors to reach new heights, Marriotts Ridge pole-vaulter Jocelyn Henline continues to raise the bar on her expectations. After finishing seventh at the Howard County indoor track and field championships last winter with a height of 6 feet, Henline dedicated herself to the sport, attending pole-vaulting clinics and seeking guidance from a coach at the University of Maryland. After adding 2 feet to her vaults by the end of the outdoor track season last spring, Henline pushed herself to clear 9 feet, which she did in a matter of weeks.