On a cold, breezy, rainy afternoon at Franklin Field, Oakcrest junior Ryan Merlino recorded the best performance by a South Jersey pole vaulter at the Penn Relays in 19 years.
Merlino cleared an outdoor PR 14-8 and placed 6th at the 127th annual Penn Relays.
Merlino cleared 14-9 indoors at Boston Nationals, but his outdoor PR is the best mark by an Atlantic County vaulter outdoors since Absegami’s Brandon Kurtz cleared 15-7 at the 1991 South Jersey Group 3 meet at Bridgeton.
Merlino entered the competition with an outdoor PR of 14-6 from earlier this spring at Fast Times at Cherokee.
At Penn Thursday, he cleared opening height 14-2 on his first attempt and 14-8 on his second.
Merlino is the first South Jersey vaulter to finish in the top six at Penn since Jarrod Brovero took 3rd at 13-11 ¼ in 2016. He’s the first South Jersey vaulter to clear 14-8 or higher at Penn since Haddonfield’s Mike Davis tied for 3rd in 2004 with a 15-1 clearance. Kurtz placed 5th in the 1991 Relays with a 14-3 ¼ clearance.
All-Time South Jersey Outdoor Pole Vault List
16-0 … Bob Green [Haddon Heights], 1992
15-7 … Brandon Kurtz [Absegami], 1991
15-7 … Nico Morales [Delsea Reg.], 2019
15-6 … Dylan Altland [Kingsway], 2014
15-6 … Marco Morales [Delsea Reg.], 2019
15-5 … Mike Davis [Haddonfield], 2004
15-5 … Devon Purves [Haddonfield], 2006
15-4 … Jason King [Lenape], 1993
15-3 ¼ … Dan Lamp [Willingboro], 1977
15-2 … Dan Batdorf [West Deptford], 2008
15-0 ¼ … Mike Hulme [Eastern], 2003
15-0 … Mark Murphy [Haddonfield], 1985
15-0 … Ricky Clemons [Willingboro], 1989
15-0 … Dave Murname [West Deptford], 2000
15-0 … Josh Moline [Gateway], 2000
15-0 … Mike Maira [Seneca], 2010
15-0 … Mike Rivard [Haddonfield], 2010
15-0 … James Lynch [Deptford], 2019
15-0 … Matt Mancini [Cinnaminson], 2006
15-0 … Noah Kriesman [Cherry Hill East], 2022
14-9 … Tony DeFeo [Oakcrest], 2004
14-9 … Ed Zubrzycki [Highland], 2009
14-8 … Ryan Merlino [Oakcrest], 2023
14-7 ¼ … Bob Stumm [Kingsway], 1987
14-7 … Jarrod Brovero [Delsea Reg.], 2016
14-7 … Tony Ferrari [Delran], 1982
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 