New Nebraska record

[seasoned]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=528 ... id=2151132

Published Friday
April 14, 2006

Beatrice's Burney sets standard in pole vault

BY STU POSPISIL




WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER




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Plenty of paperwork resulted Thursday night from Beatrice senior Seth Burney tacking on another inch to his all-time best in the pole vault.


Beatrice's Seth Burney points at the bar after clearing 16 feet, 7 inches in the pole vault Thursday to extend his state-record mark.

There was the state-record verification to sign after Burney cleared 16 feet, 7 inches at Elkhorn's Gene Kruger Invitational. And there was going to be a return-to-sender form, too, for a new pole that was the wrong specification.

Burney was in no-man's land the one time he tried the new pole, on his first attempt at 17 feet - "I was looking down to find a soft landing."

He went back to the pole that had carried him to 16-7 and nearly made his final attempt. His hips brushed off the bar on the way up.

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Jim Weeks, Beatrice's vaulting coach, said he ordered a new pole after Burney cleared 16-6 at Saturday's Aurora Invitational. Burney topped the 16-4 by Grand Island Central Catholic's Gable Baldwin in 2003. They will be teammates next year at Nebraska.

The new pole had the desired 185-pound rating for Burney, but the flex number was 15 instead of 15.5.

"That turns a 185 into like a 188, which is too stiff for me to get on," Burney said.

Burney has his sights set on clearing more than 17 feet, a height he's made in practice. He's quick to point out that's with a bungee cord across the standards, not a bar.

"Seventeen-four is my final frontier for high school," he said. "That's the one I want. I hope I'm able to get it on a 180 pole."

Before he vaulted Thursday, Burney won the 110 high hurdles and took second in the long jump.

"I didn't think I'd get much warm-up in the pit because the long jump took so long," he said. "but they gave me a few run-throughs."

When he cleared 16-7, he pointed up at the bar. He had brushed it, but it stayed on. Then he found his dad, Ray, on the side hill.

"That's $150," the younger Burney yelled. He explained later that his father had bet him before the season that he couldn't go higher than 16-6.

Omaha Northwest repeated as boys champion. The girls winner was Lincoln Southwest.