Arnold clears 16 feet in the pole vault

Mike Arnold was hoping to make his history making effort on Saturday and he did it. Arnold became one of only a handful of high school pole vaulters in Nevada history to clear 16 feet and broke the school record in the process at the Thunder Invitational in Rocklin, Calif.

Arnold won the event to lead a sold day for the Carson High boys and girls track teams. Despite not having two of its top performers - Kayla Sanchez and Gloria Sosa - the CHS girls were able to finish third in the 24-team event.

Reno High won the meet with 94 points while Manogue edged out Carson for second 59.5-58. Along with Arnold, other Senators who turned in outstanding efforts included Christy Works, Julianne King and Jenny Mital.

When Arnold cleared 16-0, he also broke the school record of 15-10. As of mid-week last week, Arnold's 16-0 clearance would rank sixth in the nation.

Arnold and two Rocklin vaulters cleared 15-0 and then Arnold won the meet when he was able to clear 15-6. He went on to clear 16-0 before bowing out after not being able to clear 16-3.

"Absolutely amazing," said Arnold about how he felt when he cleared 16-0. "It was a big relief. I was hoping it wasn't another repeat of Vegas."

At the Las Vegas Invitational last week, Arnold thought he had cleard 16-0, but the bar fell off after he left the pit area.

"I was super stoked when I broke the school record," he said. "I was really happy I could do it today."

Arnold will compete in two high profile meets in the next two weeks in Southern California where he should have the chance to impress numerous college coaches. He'll compete at Arcadia next weekend and then the following weekend at the Mt. SAC Relays.

The ultimate goal for Arnold is to become the second high school athlete ever to clear 17-0, joining Reno's Cameron Kroll.

The rest of Carson's teams will compete at the Reed Invitational and Sanchez is expected back and it's hope that Sosa will return. Sanchez missed the meet on Saturday with tonsilitis and Sosa was kept out with an injury as a precautionary measure.

Works won the 400 meters in 59.60 seconds while King was third in 1:01.36. Kendra Krupp was 13th.

King also took second in the 200 in 27.13. Mital won the girls 3,000 in 11:54.44. The girls 4x400 team of King, Chelsea Chicuarra won in 4:20.38. Works also took second in the 800 in 2:27.18. In addition, Christy Tom had a solid effort in the shot put, taking sixth at 33-1.

For the boys, Caleb Carter set a personal best of 20-3 in taking third in the long jump and a personal best of 40-6 1/2 in taking fourth in the triple jump. In the junior varsit boys long jump, Evan Pearson was third at 18-7 and Robbie Barlow was fourth at 18-5. In the JV triple jump, Pearson took first with a personal best of 38-8.

Other top performances included: Boys medley relay (400, 800, 1,200, 1,600) - David McMasters, Logan Philippi, Richard Shroy, Barlow, third, 11:21.49; boys 4x100 relay - Mike McSweeney, Carter, Floyd Hernandez, Ean Witter, seventh, 45.31; boys 400 Ð Hernandez, ninth, 53.09, Barlow, 20th, Steven Fowzer, 25th.

Girls 1,500 - Kat vonRumpf 17th, Mital, 19th; boys 1,500 - Shroy, 11th, 4:21.50, Philippi, 17th; girls 100 - King, sixth, Works, 11th; boys 100 - Hernandez, 17th, Richard Stokes, 25th. Boys 300 hurdles - Eric Smith, sixth, 42.75; boys 3,000 - Shroy, fourth, 9:26.89.

Boys 4x400 - Barlow, McMasters, Luke Carter, Caleb Carter, fourth, 3:37.38; girls discus - Tom, eighth, Meagan Craig, 18th; boys shot put - Jeremy Hack, 35th, Matt Cooper, 36th; boys long jump - Nick Peternell, 15th; girls high jump - Stephanie Adamson, 10th; girls 100 hurdles - Sara Anderson, 10th.

"The girls did really well," Carson coach Robert Maw said. "The boys had some real good events. We're happy with it."