From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank

When Cherry Hill East’s Noah Kriesman cleared 17-3 1/2 Saturday in Columbia, S.C., it got us thinking about the best pole vaulters New Jersey has ever produced.

I have all-time South Jersey top-10 lists (and much deeper for most events) for every other event, but there haven’t been enough national-class vaulters from South Jersey to put together a list. Kriesman is the first 17-footer from South Jersey, and there have only been a handful of 16-footers.

With strategic assistance from legendary Jim Lambert of MileSplit, I came up with what I think is a pretty close approximation of an all-time New Jersey alumni 17-foot list.

Interestingly, three of the top 10 vaulters are current Rutgers freshmen – school record holder Brian Sullivan of Hillsborough [17-3 3/4], Kriesman [17-3 1/2] and Kevin Sullivan, Brian’s twin brother [17-1 3/4].

South Jersey did produce a world record holder, but he never even cleared 16 feet. Penns Grove’s Don Bragg, a Carneys Point native, set his first world record of 15-9 1/4 at the 1960 Olympic Trials at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., then won the Olympic gold medal in Rome at 15-5. He set his 2nd world record at 15-9 1/2 indoors at the 1959 Philadelphia Inquirer Games before over 10,000 people at Convention Hall in West Philly.

A few blocks away from where Convention Hall once stood, the Penn Relays will be held starting tomorrow. And Bragg’s world-record 15-9 1/2 might be good enough to get 5th or 6th in the college vault.

Here’s our best attempt at an all-time New Jersey 17-foot list. If you see anybody missing let me know in the comment section!

18-6 ¼ … Bradley Jelmert [Watchung Hills], March 8, 2024, Boston
17-10 ½ … Craig Hunter [Robbinsville], June 8, 2016, Eugene, Ore.
17-9 … Kevin McGuire [Lawrenceville], May 26, 1993, Fairfax, Va.
17-8 ½ … Steve Keating [Pompton Lakes], June 12, 1993, Los Gatos, Calif.
17-6 ½ … Adam Sarafian [Ocean Township], Jan. 28, 2006, Reno, Nev.
17-4 ½ … Ed Keefe [St. John Vianney], Feb. 17, 2002, Syracuse
17-3 ¾ … Brian Sullivan [Hillsborough], 2024, March 22, 2024, Orlando
17-3 ½ … Noah Kriesman [Cherry Hill East], April 20, 2024, Columbia, S.C.
17-2 ½ … Christian Mazza [Toms River East], Feb. 23, 2024, Syracuse
17-1 ¾ … Kevin Sullivan [Hillsborough], Feb. 23, 2024, Geneva, Ohio
17-0 ¾ … Chris Wykoff [Toms River East], May 25, 2013, Greensboro, N.C.
17-0 … Bill Lange [Bridgewater East], 1980, Hanover, N.H.