Senior vaulter being wooed by several college scouts
He’s the No. 1 high school pole-vaulter in the state of
California and he’s a senior at San Benito High School.
Senior vaulter being wooed by several college scouts
He’s the No. 1 high school pole-vaulter in the state of California and he’s a senior at San Benito High School.
“When my coach first found out that I was ranked No. 1, he text-messaged me in the morning with a note that said, ‘you’ll never believe what I just found out, but believe it. You’re No. 1 in the state,” said San Benito High’s Josh Schroder. “It was exciting.”
While Schroder was shocked to see that he was at the top of the state’s most current rankings list, his coach knew that it was just a matter of time.
“We tell everybody that in order for this event to work, you’ve got to give your life to it, and that’s what Josh has done. He dreams about it. Draws himself doing it and he pretty much lives and breathes it,” said Julio Trinidad, the Baler track and field coach.
A year ago, Schroder wasn’t getting the recognition in the event that he deserved because he was being overlooked, according to his coach. At the time, Schroder was a junior competing behind Baler senior Todd Merigan, who set the school pole-vaulting record at 15 feet, 6-1/4 inches.
No one seemed to notice Schroder.
“While everyone was paying attention to Todd, what people don’t realize is that Schroder was putting up numbers that were just right below him,” Trinidad said.
Schroder’s success this year has caused the comparisons of the two to magnify.
According to Trinidad, Merigan was faster and stronger physically, but Schroder’s “technique is unmatchable and his work ethic is through the roof.”
“I’m not fast and I can’t jump. But put a pole in my hand, and put me on the runway and I can do it. I love it,” Schroder said.
Schroder first became interested in the sport during his freshman year. He had just finished up the winter basketball season and was considering taking a break when his mother Karen encouraged him to give pole-vaulting a try.
“She thought I’d be good at this,” he said. “So I came out and showed up a little late for tryouts the first day. I almost got cut.”
He wound up making the team and by the end of the season he cleared the bar at 12 feet, 6 inches to become the freshman Tri County Athletic League Champion in the event.
His sophomore year he set the school record with a mark of 14 feet, 1 inch and cleared the bar last season at 14 feet, 11 inches which was good for a third-place finish in the section meet.
This year, his goal is to break Merigan’s school record of 15’6.”
In his only official meet this year Schroder cleared the bar at 15 feet, 3-1/4 inches, which is the number that the current state figures are based on.
“It’s just a matter of time before he does it (breaks the school record),” Trinidad said.
To clear the bar at such heights takes the perfect combination of speed, strength and jumping ability once the bar is planted into the box.
For his jumps, Schroder counts one step for each time that his left foot hits the ground. He uses an eight-step count for all of his jumps.
“I usually start about a 100 feet back,” Schroder said. “I take off and try to stay as high up as I can. Then I drive to make a perfect plant and drive my knees (to get a good jump).”
Although Schroder is ranked first in the state, there are two other pole vaulters in the Central Coast Section, who had been ranked higher than him in the past. Fortunately for Schroder, they have struggled this season in their attempts to make high vaults.
One of them is a German foreign exchange student from Los Gatos, who cleared the bar last season at 16 feet, 4 inches. The other is St. Francis’ Casey Rocah, the No. 2 ranked vaulter in CCS, who cleared the bar at 16 feet, 6 inches in previous meets, but has struggled recently.
“Casey is one of the elite guys but he fell recently and was hurt,” said Schroder, who will go head to head with Rocah this Saturday in the St. Francis Mountain View Invitational. “I’m finally closing the margin with those guys. I’d really like to take it to him this weekend and beat him.”
To reach higher heights Schroder is going to need a bigger pole. The one that he uses now is 15 feet, weighs five pounds and has a weight limit of 180 pounds. Schroder’s weight is between 170-175. Regardless of his talent level, he can only vault so high with the pole that he uses.
“We are looking for taller poles that I can use right now,” said Schroder, who has several colleges interested in offering him a scholarship. “To compete in the NCAA meets I need to clear 16 feet, 4 inches.”
For now, it’s all about going as high as he can with the equipment that he’s got.
“I’m best right now on my takeoff and plant. I need to work more on my trail leg (holding the plant),” he said.
So far he has avoided major injury in a sport where injuries are so common that fear often prevents vaulters from excelling in the sport.
“If you don’t know what you’re doing it can be dangerous,” Schroder said. “I’ve seen people let go of the pole. That’s the most dangerous. I always try and hang onto it.”
Although a number of colleges are interested in him and he has already been accepted to California State University, Northridge, ideally he would like to go to California Polytechnic in San Luis Obispo.
“They’ve got a great program down there,” Trinidad said. “Jan Johnson, the 1976 Silver Medallist in Olympic pole vaulting, is down there helping out. It would be great if he could go there.”
