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The Pirate pole vaulting program captured six places on the podium, along with Sidney Bales's championship performance. From left, Levi Bowen, eighth place; Tyler Slaybaugh, sixth place; Tyler Bagby, fourth place; Bales, first place; Braxton McKeirnan, fifth place; and Braedon Fruh, seventh.
Pirate pole vaulters and sprinters Tyler Slaybaugh, left, and Sidney Bales, right, hoist the second-place team trophy while proudly wearing their medals.
Pirate pole vaulter Sidney Bales cleared 12-9 for a 1B State Championship, leading the Pirate Track and Field team to a near sweep of the event. Bales finished second in the 200m. and fourth in the 100m.
YAKIMA–State championships in the pole vault and the 100m. dash, and a plethora of top eight finishes from members of the Pirate boys team counted for 52 points, just a smidgeon behind the top two teams, Evergreen Lutheran and Mary Walker, which tied for the state championship with 56 points, making the Pirates second in state at the 1B-2B-1A State Championships here last week.
"When adding up the points scored by everyone else who placed, Pomeroy finished with 52 points at the meet and a second-place finish at state," beamed Head Coach Adam Van Vogt. "This is our highest team placing at the state meet since our state champion team in 2014. We have had five teams finish in the top five since 2014 but none as high at the state meet as this group."
Sidney Bales and Tyler Slaybaugh both finished with championships, Bales in the pole vault and Slaybaugh in the 100m. dash. Bales cleared 12-9 and Slaybaugh sprinted the 100 in 11:50. Bales was fourth in the 100 in 11.79 and second in the 200m in 23.57 while Slaybaugh finished seventh in the 200 in 24.04 and sixth in the pole vault at 11-6.
"Pomeroy accomplished something I've never seen before," Van Vogt said. "When the [pole vault] event ended, we took six of the eight podium spots.
"It was so cool to see the awards stand have so many Pomeroy kids on it at the same time and also great to see all of these athletes who work together and help each other all be up there together," Van Vogt said.
Pomeroy pole vaulters took eighth (Levi Bowen at 10'6"), seventh (Braedon Fruh at 11'6"), sixth (Tyler Slaybaugh at 11'6"), fifth (Braxton McKeirnan at a personal best 12'), fourth (Tyler Bagby at 12'), and first place was new state champion Sidney Bales (at 12'9").
"Sidney is Pomeroy's eighth pole vault champion coached by Fred Knebel and with the eight vaulters placing this year, he has coached 59 state placers since 2012," Van Vogt said. "What an unbelievable number."
Pirate Katie Boyer pole vaulted 9-0 for a second-place medal, and Carmen Fruh's 8-0 effort scored a fifth-place medal for her. "Katie tied her personal best with a nine-foot vault," Van Vogt said. The Pirate girls' team finished in a three-way tie for 17th place with 12 points. Boyer's 100m. dash prelim time was a personal best at 13.64 but she didn't advance to the finals.
Kyzer Herres (55.74 in the 400), Bales (23.81 in the 200) and Slaybaugh (24.26 in the 200) all advanced to finals while the 4x400 team missed finals by two seconds but still ran a season-best time of 3:48.29. Trevin Walton, Kyzer Herres, Levi Bowen, and Braedon Fruh ended the season 10th in the state. Herres scored in seventh place in the 400m. finals with a PR of 55.00.
The 100 finals took place during the pole vault, Van Vogt noted, and Pomeroy saw another state champion crowned as Slaybaugh won the 100 with a time of 11.50. Bales took fourth with a time of 11.79. "Tyler joins his brother Colton (pole vault in 2022) and father Corey (400, 4x1, 4x4) as state champions," Van Vogt said.
"What an amazing accomplishment for Tyler this year and the Slaybaughs as a family," the coach said.
Trevin Walton triple jumped 36'2", good enough to finish 13th in state.
"They really performed their best at the toughest meet of the year and these kids accomplished a lot this weekend and this season," Van Vogt said.
