Success is breeding success for Class B pole vaulters this spring.

A group of vaulters from the area see each other on a regular basis and continue to push and motivate each other to keep improving.

In the girls’ division seven of the top eight vaulters in the state are from the Lake Region Conference, and on the boys’ side five of the top eight are from the LRC.

“It’s a competition thing. We have good competition around us and that drives us to want to be better,” said North Central coach Brian Wherry. “You compete against the same people all the time, you see them all the time. You just keep working to prepare yourself for the competition, who you’re going to face and try to match them.”

North Central has three vaulters among the leaders and one just outside of the top eight.

Peyton Schnabel is third and Alaina Dosch is eighth in girls, while Kobe Wherry is eighth, and Jared Wherry is ninth in boys.

Brian Wherry is not only the head coach at North Central, he is also the pole vault coach, despite not having any prior experience.

“I’ve never put the pole in a box in my life. It happened because of a need. We needed someone to do it,” Wherry said. “We needed someone to coach it, and I was the coach at the time and I didn’t have anybody, so I took it upon myself just to go and do it.”

Wherry has gained vault knowledge in a variety of ways.

“I’ve been to a couple of track clinics. I’ve watched quite a few videos,” Coach Wherry said. “I worked with Wade Royer at Northern a little bit. You’re constantly picking up new ideas, new things along the way.”

To make matters a bit more challenging, Wherry said the school is lacking for equipment because not all poles are the same size and weight. The goal is to find the right fit for each athlete.

“The big thing is making sure we have the poles, the inventory,” Wherry said. “We don’t have a whole lot of poles, we don’t have a whole lot of inventory, so the hard part is finding what we need to match each athlete for their weight and their skill level.”

For instance, Schnabel cleared 10-feet at Tuesday’s LRC meet, a personal record and a meet tying record with three other vaulters. However, that was as high as she could go.

“We maxed her out on her pole (Tuesday), so she couldn’t go any higher,” Wherry said, “so I was scrambling looking for a pole.”

Wherry said the vaulting coaches and athletes share a common bond that includes sharing advice and equipment.

“When we go to these meets the pole vault coaches, we’re talking to one another, helping one another out, borrowing poles,” Wherry said. “It gets to be a pretty tight-knit community amongst us.”

While Wherry worked with a few accomplished vaulters when he coached at Selby, he said he’s always trying to find a better way, especially with his limited experience in the event.

“So many times I’m second-guessing myself. I’m digging deeper and trying to figure it out,” Wherry said. “There’s a wealth of knowledge out there on different social media platforms and YouTube, where all kind of coaches around the country are putting stuff out there for people to learn, and that’s where I pick up a lot of that stuff.”

Wherry said that North Central, which competed in Class A last year, would have done well had the Thunder been in Class B like they are this season.

“I had two vaulters last year that would have placed in Class B, but we were in Class A,” Wherry said.
“The competition is a lot tougher now this year in Class B. It’s going to be tough to place now this year.”

Wherry and the vaulters have gotten a real feel of what the competition will be like at state this season. All they have to do is take a look around when they go to weekly meets and see the normal competitors.

“It just keeps getting better and better,” Wherry said. “(Tuesday) was practically the state meet, almost.”

LEADING THE WAY

There are currently three athletes who lead three open events in this week’s leaders.

Elliot Maddox of Sioux Falls Christan leads the 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run, and 3,200-meter run in Class A girls. Silas Holdeman of Mitchell Christian tops the same three events in Class B boys, and Payson O’Neill of Bennett County, sets the pace in the 100-meter hurdles, 300-meter intermediate hurdles, and the high jump in Class B girls.

There are 15 other athletes who lead two open events, including Deuel’s Oliver Fieber in the Class A 100 and 200, Ipswich’s Kyle Hettich in the Class B 100 and 200, Spencer Melius of Faulkton in the Class B 110-meter high hurdles and javelin, and Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern in the Class B 1,600 and 3,200.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Sioux Falls Christian girls continue to lead the most events among team leaders topping eight event events in Class A.

Other team leaders include Sioux Falls Lincoln in Class AA boys (five events), Sioux Falls Lincoln and Brandon Valley in Class AA girls (three events each), Custer and Sioux Falls Christian in Class A boys (four events each), Colman-Egan in Class B boys (four events), and Bennett County in Class B girls (five events).