Prep’s Venerable Vaulter Has High-Flying Ambition

Ryan Turner is going lower to get higher.

The Gonzaga Prep senior, the state leader in the pole vault for two days last week, has his sights set on a state championship and a 15-foot vault, not necessarily in that order or even at the same time.

“Obviously I want to try to get a state championship, that’s my first goal,” he said Thursday afternoon. “My height goal, I don’t really know. I want to get at least 15.”

His big breakthrough came last week, when he used a 16-foot pole to clear 14-9, beating his friend and rival Sean Gumke of Mead.

“Today, I was on a 15-foot, 170-pound pole,” said Turner, after his 14-foot vault won the Greater Spokane League triple-dual with Shadle Park and Central Valley at Shadle. “I’m trying to get on a 16-foot pole. I did that at Mead and that’s why I went 14-9. But I had a tail wind, so I could go a little faster. Once I get on that thing and I get a good rock-back and turn, the sky’s the limit.”

A little motivation helps, too. He was fired up for last week’s competition with Gumke, who was tied for the state best at 14-6.

“We’re good friends,” Turner said. “We help each other a lot. There is also a lot of competition between us. We’ve been going against each other since our freshman year. I was looking forward to (the showdown) when he was state leader. I practiced real hard all week.”

To get above 14 consistently, he’s working at lower heights.

“The biggest key in vault, overall, is mindset,” Turner said. “You have to be strong upstairs; mentally is the most important part. My strengths are decent speed and I’ve worked on my plant for a very long time. Those are my two biggest strengths.

“My weaknesses are definitely on the top, the top part of the vault, the ‘rock back’ they call it. What I just started doing now is getting on shorter runs for practice. Getting on light poles you don’t have to worry about coming in really hard, and you can work on getting back and doing some top stuff. Then you can transfer that to bigger poles.”

Last weekend at Pasco, Turner cleared 13-6 before switching poles. However, he struggled and failed to clear 14, a definite disappointment. In that meet, Jeromy Hudson of Willapa Valley went 15 feet.

“I’ve been going 14 on a 15-foot pole,” he said. “When I got on a 16-foot pole, that’s when I started to go higher and, hopefully, I’ll top 15 at least. So yeah, there’s a great deal of pressure now, 14 was huge before, but now it’s not as big.”

Turner began vaulting as a freshman.

“My dad did it in high school. Maybe I just wanted to follow in his footsteps, I don’t know,” he said. “It looked really fun. I’m glad I did it.”

His progression has been steady, winning the district freshman meet with a personal record of 11-3.

“That’s what really got my interest, I PR’d in a big way that day,” he said. “I finished my season strong, and it started the love.”

As a sophomore, he went 13 feet at district and last year cleared 14 at regional.

Turner’s progress has led to a scholarship at Wake Forest, a school he hadn’t considered much more than a month ago. Through several sources, the coach contacted Turner and eventually an offer followed.

“He’s a really great coach,” Turner said. “He’s had numerous guys coming in from 14 feet in high school and turned them into 17-and 18-foot pole vaulters.”

Turner, who also throws the discus, hopes to try the decathlon.

“I’ve never done a decathlon but I dabbled around in all the events,” he said. “I’ll try one the week after state and go from there.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: Two sidebars appeared with the story: 1. TURNER’S VAULT MARKS Freshman season: 11 feet, 3 inches Sophomore season: 13-0 Junior season: 14-0 Senior season: 14-6

2. THURSDAY’S BESTS Girls Jennifer Smith, Ferris, 10:40.2 3,200 (GSL meet record) Theresa Brooks, LC, 12.4 100; 26.1 200; 1:01.1 400; and anchors 1,600 relay to give team 71-70 win over U-Hi. Allie Bailey, Mead, 15.7 100 hurdles Shadle Park 1:46.9 800 relay

Boys Jason Berger, U-Hi, 22.0 200 Ty Asterino, 14.9 110 hurdles Ryan Wiser, Mead, 1:55.6 800