Opening The Vault

Here's a riddle: If records are broken but the record player won't stop playing, what should you do?A) Go buy an I-Pod?B) Form a band and make your own music?C) Quit player hatin' and go watch Granite Bay High's Scott Roth rip it up at this week's CIF State Track and Field meet?The answer, of course, is "C" Roth - the record player when it comes to the boys pole vault - will be one of the main attractions when the high school track and field season's grand finale takes place Friday and Saturday at Hughes Stadium. The Grizzlies' junior set a national record for 16-year-olds at Hughes last week during the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters Meet by clearing 17 feet, 2 inches, and could have something even bigger in store when California's best try to wrestle the state crown away from him this week.Roth won't be alone at the CIF meet; his Grizzlies running mate Ryan Shuler, the 2003 pole vault state champion, will compete as well after finishing second to Roth at the Masters Meet. But they are the only local athletes in the competition, which begins with the boys pole vault qualifying Friday at 2 p.m. The boys pole vault final also kicks off Saturday's proceedings at 3 p.m.Other than Shuler, who handed Roth his only loss of the season two weeks ago at the Division I Section Meet, the main competition appears to come from Southern California. Jeff Cover of La Jolla Country Day in the San Diego Section qualified with a best of 16-4, a height equal to Roth's winning state-meet vault of a year ago. And junior Gregory Woepse of Mater Dei in Santa Ana qualified at 16-0.No one else in the meet, however, has come close to topping 17 feet, which Roth has done twice this year."There are five guys in the state over 16-0, including (Roth) and Ryan," said Curtis Roth, Scott's father and main coach. "One guy (Derek Scott of El Camino-Oceanside) went 16-8, but he tore his (anterior cruciate ligament)."Translation: If Roth vaults to his capabilities and no one else has a career day, he could defend his crown easily. But that's a big if; as Roth learned at the section meet, the pole vault is a notoriously fickle event that can stymie the best of them. The most famous example is that of world record holder Sergey Bubka of the Ukraine, who won gold at the 1988 Olympics but failed to clear a height as the favorite four years later.Roth will share center stage with West High of Tracy's Brittany Daniels, a senior who set the girls national high school record a year ago of 44-11¾ in the triple jump. The USC commit will also be the favorite in the girls long jump.All other local athletes had their state-meet dreams end at the Masters Meet, though a few came close to qualifying. With only the top three finishers in each event moving on, Granite Bay's Erin Schuyler was seventh in the girls 1,600-meter run and her teammate Stephanie Bagan was fifth in the girls pole vault. Teresa Luke of Oakmont was ninth in the girls triple jump, Jessica Larkin of Granite Bay was sixth in the girls discus, and David Houghton of Granite Bay sixth in the boys long jump.A name to keep in mind for the future is Cameron Mitchell of Woodcreek. The freshman finished eighth in the boys 1,600 in a time of 4:29.40, making him the highest local finisher in an event that included Oakmont's Garrett Infausto (15th) and Eric Arreygue (18th) and Granite Bay's Jason Engler (16th).