CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – Eureka junior pole vaulter Tanner Scholin just keeps clearing new heights.
Scholin was the last vaulter left at 13 feet, and he cleared 13-3 on his second attempt to cement his Class 4 District 2 title. It bettered his PR, which was sitting at 13-0 from earlier this spring.
Scholin made three unsuccessful attempts at 13-6, but he was trying to switch to a bigger pole. It’s a pole he plans to get very acquainted with this week in preparation for the Sectional 1 meet at Summit.
“I was on a pole that’s 14-6, but I was holding it at 13-6,” Scholin said. “It’s three inches lower than what I should be getting holding at that height. I should actually be a foot higher than that, but being in high school you just have to grip and rip it and get ready to go. Now I’ve got to jump to a 15-footer, and hopefully I’ll get on a true 15-footer and walk away from sectionals being at least 14-6.”
Scholin made sure he was aware of his sectional competition coming from District 1, where Jackson sophomore Dakota Maddox won with a 14-0 jump and Dylan Rush of Jackson and Joey Schlote of Northwest each cleared 13-6.
“My PR right now is not going to cut it. It’s going to have to jump up more,” Scholin said. “That 15-footer (pole) is my best option, and I’ve just got to get it done.
“That last attempt at 13-6 I used that (15-foot) pole and was holding it a foot down. I got a good bend out of it; I just didn’t get the penetration I needed. I personally believe I’m ready for it and so do my coaches.”
Scholin said he thought he would have enough time this week to get accustomed to the bigger pole.
“It’s still the basics. You’ve still got your same drive and you’ve still got your same invert. The only difference is getting used to being that high up,” Scholin said. “Right now I’m used to being 13-3. I need to jump up and I need to get used to being at 14, 15 feet. That’s more psychological. It’s a bigger pole and it’s going to take a little bit more of an umph to get it to bend right.”
Scholin took up pole vault as a freshman when a football teammate talked him into it. He started that year clearing 9-6 and improved to 10-6 last year. That’s when Scholin said he became serious about the event and started focusing on the event year-round. He also gained a lot from coach Gary Marshall.
“He’s pretty much the reason I am where I am. I spent all summer vaulting with him, and a lot in the fall,” Scholin said. “Really if there is one sport where offseason does help, it would be this because if you think you’re going to pick up a 15-foot pole and vault for two or three months and come back and do it again, you’re crazy.”
There was a twist in the final qualifying group advancing to sectionals. Ladue’s Brian Mayfield cleared 12-9 and would’ve secured the second qualifying spot out. However, Mayfield’s family is leaving for Hawaii at the end of the week, and to be fair to the fifth-place finisher, Summit’s Joseph McIntosh, Ladue coach Keith Harder opted to have his vaulter DQ’d so that Mayfield was not occupying one of the four qualifying spots. Harder discussed it with Mayfield before the event, and after Mayfield cleared his new PR height, Harder showed him a video on his phone to have him bumped out of the competition.