Date: Fri 25-Apr-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: KIMH

Quick Words:

Reid-Warner-Jenner-vault

Full Text:

with cut: NHS Junior Vaults Over Jenner's 29-Year Record

B Y K IM J. H ARMON

Reid Warner knew the opportunity to break Bruce Jenner's 29-year-old pole

vault record at Newtown High School would come along at some point, but when

it did - Monday afternoon at Masuk - he almost wasn't ready for it.

"I wasn't really prepared to go for the record," said Reid. "It was my first

meet and I was hoping for 12-6 . . . maybe 13. When I made 13, I had to ask

coach Carl (Paternoster) what to do."

What to do? Coach Carl said go for the record.

Back in 1968, Jenner, who became one of the world's most recognized track

athletes, set the vault record at 13-feet-3-inches and it stood until Monday

afternoon... when Reid did 13-3«.

"I was confident," said Reid. "I wasn't nervous. I felt if I didn't make it, I

really had nothing to lose."

He didn't have anything lose, and Reid had told coach Carl, after he cleared

13 feet, that he had one good jump left. With the meet itself essentially over

and most of the athletes gathered around the pit to watch a little bit of

history, Reid then went over the bar as cleanly and as smoothly as if he had

done it a dozen times before. Even though he brushed the bar with his chest,

it didn't matter.

He had broken the record.

Coach Paternoster said, "When (Reid) saw the record down on paper, he wanted

it and he told me he was going to do it."

And head coach Ed Obloj, leading just his third meet as head coach at Newtown

High, added, "When you see something so smooth, you know you're looking at

greatness."

It Happened So Quickly

It isn't quite a shock seeing Reid Warner break a 29-year-old record set by

the world's greatest track athlete. But it is a shock that Reid, still a

junior, broke it so quickly.

Reid had broken his wrist prior to the indoor track season this past winter

and didn't even get on the pole until the last couple of weeks of the season.

Even so, his best vault was 11-6.

Then the outdoor track season was here, and Reid wasn't even allowed to

perform at the opener at Pomperaug High School in Southbury because high winds

made the event dangerous. And less than a week later, even though Newtown was

back on the track in a dual meet with New Milford and Foran, Reid was on

vacation and did not compete.

His first chance to vault outdoors came Monday.

And he didn't waste it.

"I don't think his mindset was even there," said coach Paternoster. "He wasn't

even thinking about heights because he had to wait so long to vault."

The vault generally starts at eight feet, but Reid wasn't going to start

jumping until the pole was at 11 feet. Because of the level of competition,

though, it took a long time for the pole to get there.

"I really didn't know how well I was going to do," Reid admitted. "It was

tough to stay in it because I had to wait so long."

Maybe that was why, in his first jump at 11 feet, his pole knocked off the

bar. He quickly made 11 feet the next time around, and then moved to 12, where

he also missed on the first try. The second time around, though, he cleared

the bar.

Then he made 12-6 on the first try.

And 13-0 on the first try.

With the record just three and a half inches away, he told coach Paternoster

he had one good jump left. At first Reid wanted to do 13-3, but coach

Paternoster urged him to go up the extra half-inch.

Why tie the record, when you can break it?

Even though Reid would get three chances - three misses - at 13-3«, he was

determined to do it the first time.

And now that he has broken a 29-year-old record, what's left? Reid still has

the rest of this season, the next indoor track season in 1998, and all of his

senior outdoor track season to go.

So, what's next?

"I'll just keep doing what I've been doing," Reid said. "Just because I broke

the record doesn't mean I'm going to work any less hard than I have been."