Some fantastic pole vaulting Wednesday night at the Delsea Crusader Field Meet, with Clearview junior Daniel Couse, Haddonfield senior Alexander Hurly and Cinnaminson sophomore Ed Frey all clearing 14-0 – the first time for Couse and Frey.
Couse got the win on fewer misses – he actually had no misses through 14-0. Hurly cleared 14-0 on his 2nd attempt and placed 2nd and Frey cleared on his 3rd try and took 3rd.
Most importantly, they are now tied for the No. 2 spot in South Jersey, behind Oakcrest junior Ryan Merlino, who cleared 15-0 at the Atlantic County Championships and won the Cape-Atlantic Meet at Bridgeton Wednesday at 14-0.
Last time three South Jersey vaulters cleared 14-0 in the same meet was the 2019 South Jersey Invitational at Delsea, when five did it – Marco Morales of Delsea [15-6], James Lynch of Deptford [15-0], Nico Morales [15-0], Josh Cohen of Egg Harbor [14-6] and Ryan Jilliard of Delsea [14-0].
In all, the top six placers all PR’d. In addition to Couse, Hurly and Frey, Willingboro junior Jackson Murry cleared 13-6 for 4th, Delsea junior Carlos Reyes 13-0 for 5th and Delsea junior Carlos Reyes 12-6 for 6th. In all, Delsea had five underclassmen over at least 11-6.
One other note about Murry: He’s the first Willingboro vaulter over 13-6 since Marv Forchion cleared 14-6 in 1986. Forchion was a unique athlete – at 1986 state Group 3 meet, he won the pole vault [14-6] and placed 3rd in the long jump [21-8] and he also took 4th at sectionals in the 110 hurdles [14.9h].
Let’s take a look at each vaulter:
Daniel Couse: Tied a 51-year-old Clearview pole vault record and moved into the No. 2 spot among New Jersey juniors with his first lifetime 14-0 clearance.
Couse now shares the school record with Ed Cundey, who cleared 14-0 at the 1972 Easterns on Randall’s Island. Cundey placed 3rd on more misses than 2nd-place Mark MacCracken of Tenafly, who also cleared 14-0.
Couse’s improvement has been remarkable. His best jump last spring was 11-6 and then he cleared 12-0 for the first time at Group 3 sectionals at the Bubble in February – just three months ago.
But he PR’d at 13-0 earlier this month when he won the Gloucester County meet at Deptford two weeks ago and then improved to 13-6 in his next meet, the Tri-County Championships at Delsea last week.
Couse passed until 12-0 Wednesday night, cleared that on his first try, then passed 12-6 before clearing 13-0, 13-6 and 14-0 on his first attempts.
Alexander Hurly: Another one who’s made very quick improvement. Hurly cleared 12-0 once last spring in his first year of track, didn’t compete indoors, then PR’d at 12-6 in late April before suddenly clearing 14-0 when he won the Camden County meet at Haddon Township two weeks ago.
Haddonfield has a rich pole vaulting history, with four 15-footers – Mike Davis [15-5 in 2004], Devon Purves [15-5 in 2006], Mark Murphy [15-0 in 1985] and Mike Rivard [15-0 in 2010]. But Hurly is Haddonfield’s first 14-footer since Rivard 13 years ago.
Hurly passed to 12-6 Wednesday, cleared that on his 2nd attempt, then was clean at 13-0 and 13-6 before clearing 14-0 on his 2nd try.
Ed Frey: Another monster PR, Frey’s previous best was a 13-0 earlier this month at the South Jersey Elite meet at Delsea.
Frey cleared 12-6 as a freshman last spring at South Jersey Group 2 sectionals at Delsea, like Hurly he didn’t compete indoors, and he’s now the No. 2 sophomore in New Jersey, a quarter of an inch behind Cade Zeolla of West Morris Central, who cleared 14-0 ¼ earlier this month at a meet in Rockaway Borough.
Frey is only the 3rd South Jersey sophomore I could find who’s cleared 14-0. Eddie Zubryzcki of Highland went 14-0 at the 2007 Meet of Champions at South Plainfield, and Nico Morales of Delsea hit 14-10 at the 2018 Tri-County Conference meet at Delsea. There may have been a few others back in the day.
(One thing you’ll notice reading this post is that almost all big-time vaults in South Jersey occur at Delsea!)
Cinnaminson’s school record is 15-0 by Matt Mancini from the 2006 South Jersey Group 2 meet at Buena. Frey is the first Burlington County vaulter to clear 14-0 since 2017, when Mitchell Casey of Shawnee cleared 14-6 at the Meet of Champions at Northern Burlington.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 