Pole Vault

Jeff Tully BURBANK -- An athlete streaks down the runway, plants his pole, soars through the air and over the crossbar, landing safely on the mat below. Ideally, that is how a successful pole vault is accomplished. However, not all attempts go as smoothly, and critical injuries can occur when athletes make mistakes and equipment is not up to par. Some recent injuries and deaths in the track and field event have some wondering if the pole vault is a dangerous sport, and if modifications are needed to further protect the participants.

TRACK AND FIELD Burbank in Santa Barbara Relays: Bulldog girls' standout Ginny English had a record-breaking performance Saturday in the event at UC Santa Barbara. English, a senior, won the pole vault with an 11-foot effort to set a new Burbank mark. Carolyn Chrzan just missed the medal stand with a 16-7 effort in the girls' long jump, as she finished sixth. In the boys' varsity competition, Varaz Markarady placed fifth with a 5-10 mark and Sean Magner took fifth in the frosh-soph pole vault at 9-6. Burroughs in Pasadena Games: The Indians turned in some fine results Saturday in the meet at Pasadena City College.

SOFTBALL Burroughs 9, Arroyo Valley 3 : The Indians received a three-hit, complete-game effort from pitcher Brice Edrington on Tuesday to earn a CIF Southern Section Division III wild-card win on the road. "This was just a great effort by our girls and I'm just so proud of them," said Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol, whose team is the No. 4 seed from the Pacific League. "We started the game with three runs in the first inning and we never looked back. " Edrington also did well at the plate, as she was one of four Burroughs (18-8)

BASEBALL Burbank 7, Pasadena 0 : Behind a one-hitter by Ben Levitt, the Bulldogs remained in the hunt for a playoff spot with a Pacific League win Tuesday on the road. Burbank (11-11-1, 6-5 in league) exploded for four runs in the sixth inning and three runs in the seventh to secure the victory. Levitt (5-5) gave up just a single and struck out six in six innings. Justin Rivas pitched one inning of relief. R.J. Mott was two for four with two runs scored and a run batted in, Chris Montgomery was two for four with a run and an RBI and McCauley Taylor was two for three with a run scored for the Bulldogs.

GLENDALE — Motivation isn’t something lacking for Burroughs High boys’ track and field athlete Dustin Blankenship. Blankenship proved that during Burroughs’ Pacific League dual-meet opener Thursday against host Glendale by winning two distance events and the pole vault event to spark the Indians to a convincing 115-12 victory at Moyse Field. Not many distance runners would find the time to take part in the pole vault, but Blankenship, a junior he is the exception.

Jeff Tully Karina Passi has been successful at a very rare combination. The Burroughs High junior has not only showed her prowess as a hurdler for the Indian girls' track and field team, but she has excelled in the pole vault. In a nonleague meet Thursday against Glendale at Memorial Field, Passi won both hurdle events and took first in the pole vault to lead Burroughs to a 75-42 victory. The Burroughs boys were able to make it a clean sweep, as they earned a 62-55 win. So which is it?

BOYS' TENNIS Burroughs 12, Burbank 6 : The Bulldogs won the Pacific League match Thursday against the rival Bulldogs but had to do so without standout senior singles player Garrett Auproux. Auproux, the two time defending Pacific League singles champion and two-time reigning All-Area Singles Player of the Year, suffered a broken leg in a junior tournament last weekend. "It was a pretty bad injury from what I'm told," Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said. "He broke his tibia and fibula and he had to have surgery that lasted two hours.

SOFTBALL Providence 12, Oakwood 0 (six innings): The win Tuesday at Olive Park gave the Pioneers their second straight Liberty League championship. Pitcher Sarah Biggs threw a one-hitter, striking out 10 and walking one for Providence (12-4, 9-0 in league). The Pioneers have won 19 straight league games the past two seasons. Lauren Suedkamp was three for four with a home run, double and five runs batted in and Danielle Austin was one for two with a double and three RBI. Providence 10, Avalon 7: The Pioneers secured at least a share of the league championship Saturday with a Liberty League win at Olive Park.

SOFTBALL Burroughs 9, Arroyo Valley 3 : The Indians received a three-hit, complete-game effort from pitcher Brice Edrington on Tuesday to earn a CIF Southern Section Division III wild-card win on the road. "This was just a great effort by our girls and I'm just so proud of them," said Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol, whose team is the No. 4 seed from the Pacific League. "We started the game with three runs in the first inning and we never looked back. " Edrington also did well at the plate, as she was one of four Burroughs (18-8)

ARCADIA - Winning and advancing were the two most important elements for the Burbank and Burroughs high track and field programs at Friday evening's Pacific League Finals at Arcadia's Salter Stadium. The Bulldogs and Indians produced six overall winners and 14 qualifiers to next week's CIF Southern Section Division I preliminaries at Trabuco Hills High. Perhaps the athlete who stood out most was Bulldogs junior Andy Hurtado. While the thrower didn't match his personal-best mark of 151 feet in the discus hit at the recent city meet, Hurtado was still thrilled in winning the discus with a toss of 143 feet, 10 inches.

BOYS' TENNIS Burroughs 12, Burbank 6 : The Bulldogs won the Pacific League match Thursday against the rival Bulldogs but had to do so without standout senior singles player Garrett Auproux. Auproux, the two time defending Pacific League singles champion and two-time reigning All-Area Singles Player of the Year, suffered a broken leg in a junior tournament last weekend. "It was a pretty bad injury from what I'm told," Burroughs Coach Roy Bernhardt said. "He broke his tibia and fibula and he had to have surgery that lasted two hours.

BURBANK - While it came down to the very end, the Pasadena and Burroughs high girls' track and field teams simply didn't have enough to outdo Glendale's Leana Setian and Lauren Hansen in Thursday's tri-Pacific League meet. The Nitros' duo combined for five victories in a narrow 68-60 win over host Burroughs. Setian and Hansen saved their best and most dramatic finish for last, as they teamed with Kenya Gaskin and Vard Sargsyan to take first in the 4x400-meter relay - the final race of the day - in four minutes 24.50 seconds to just edge Pasadena's team, which clocked in at 4:25.44.

SOFTBALL Burroughs 2, Arcadia 0 : The Indians opened Pacific League play with a shutout win Thursday against the Apaches on the road. Pitcher Brice Edrington went the distance, giving up four hits and striking out three. One of those strikeouts came in the bottom of the seventh inning with the bases loaded. "Brice pitched the best game of her career," Burroughs Coach Doug Nicol said. "She just pitched her butt off. " Burroughs (5-4 overall) received two hits each from Kaitlin Okimoto and Sidney Ortega.

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Claremont d. Burroughs 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22 : The Indians were forced to share the Pacific League championship with a loss Tuesday at home. It is the second time in three years Burroughs (18-4, 11-1 in league) — ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division III — has shared the title with the Woldpack (11-1 in league) — No. 4 in the division. It is the third straight season the Indians have won or shared the league crown. Ike Nwache had 14 kills and Daniel Jacobs added 13 for the Indians.

SOFTBALL Burroughs 12, Pasadena 1 : The Indians remained in a tie for first place in the Pacific League with a win Thursday at Olive Park. The game was called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule. Burroughs (12-1, 4-0 in league) is tied with rival Burbank (11-1, 4-0) for the league lead. Burroughs had 15 hits and received solid pitching in the win Thursday. Sophomore first baseman Aimee Rodriguez went three for four with three runs batted in. Rodriguez is batting .416 on the season.

BOYS' VOLLEYBALL Burroughs 3, Hoover 0: Daniel Marbach finished with seven kills and seven aces Tuesday to lead the visiting Indians to a 25-6, 25-13, 25-12 Pacific League victory. Burroughs (12-2, 6-0 in league) got 17 assists from BJ Lagmay. On Friday, visiting Burroughs posted a 25-17, 13-25, 25-18, 25-16 league win over Claremont. Daniel Jacobs led the Indians with 13 kills, while Ike Nwachie collected 12 kills and Robby Rutecki added 11 kills and 11 digs. Lagmay chipped in with 36 assists.

TRACK AND FIELD Burbank in Camarillo Relays : The Bulldogs had some impressive results in the event Saturday at Camarillo High. The Burbank boys, paced by Sergio Fraire, Normando Cornejo, Arsen Mkrtchyan, Isaiah Amos won the varsity distance medley relay in 10 minutes 47 seconds. A team of Mkrtchyan, Bernie Corea, Fraire and Amos placed second in varsity boys' 4x1,600-meter relay in 18:31. In the girls' varsity 4x1,600 relay, Christina Shamirian, Griselda Pereyra, Victoria Sanchez and Arlette Movsesyan ran to a first-place finish in 23:11.

GLENDALE — Greg Dotson expelled a great deal of energy competing in the boys’ 1,600-meter race at the Pacific League track and field finals. Despite a superb effort, the Burbank High senior finished second. Dotson would not depart the meet without winning a league championship, however, as he came back to breeze to a title in the 800, winning his second straight crown in the event. Dotson was one of five athletes from Burbank and Burroughs to capture league titles at the event at Glendale High.