Cardinals' Ball, Farmer sweep 3A pole vaults

Josiah Ball competes 3A pole vault. - photo by Hugo Gonzalez

Josiah Ball competes 3A pole vault.jpg — Josiah Ball competes 3A pole vault. - photo by Hugo Gonzalez

WICHITA – State champions Josiah Ball and Shellamae Farmer have officially crowned Hoisington the state capital of 3A pole vaulting.

Ball matched Farmer’s state championship feat by clearing 14 feet. Ball's older brothers Brandon Ball and Jonathan Ball (15-61/2) both captured state pole vault titles.

"My brothers have always been with me. I wouldn't be anywhere without their help," Ball said.

He passed until the bar reached 13-feet and cleared 13-0, 13-6 and 14-0 on his first attempt to win a tiebreaker with Scott City's Camden Vulgamore (14-0) and Cheney's Caleb Wehrman (14-0). Ball figures he's usually good for five quality jumps.

"Once I made 14 feet on my first attempt, I knew they'd have to clear 14-6 to beat me," Ball said. "I might not have won if I didn't make 14 feet on my first jump."

Ball placed third in the 110-meter hurdles with a season-best time (15.11). He placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles (41.52).

Defending 3A state champion Shellamae Farmer cleared 11-6 on her final attempt to defend her 3A state pole vault championship with the best jump of her career.

Farmer said running on the Cardinals' 400-meter relay was a fortunate break before she cleared the bar at 11-6.

"I was lucky to run a leg on our relay between my second and third jump," Farmer said. "It was good that it forced me to think about something else other than the vault for a few minutes. I got everything right in my head. I knew what I needed to do. Our coach (Dan) Schmidt is an amazing pole vault coach with a great eye."

"How she did that was as dramatic as anyone could imagine," said Hoisington coach Dan Schmidt. "She ran the relay and came back to the pole vault runway with one jump left. She knocked it out of the ballpark to win the event."

Farmer's pole vault started at 8 a.m. Friday.

"The weather was great, so it was a perfect time to vault," Farmer said. "I liked the conditions."

Schmidt said his seniors went out with their best effort.

"My hat goes off to our seniors for their leadership," he said. They'll be missed. Kynlie Crowdis, Kyler Czarnek, Karter Wolf and Deryk Yott showed grit and determination at state. They were unbelievable to do their best."

Schmidt liked how the Cardinals competed.

"Nothing is more exciting than getting it done at the highest level," he said. "It was a very solid performance from the Hoisington boys and girls. To bring home a medal was a tough task. Anyone getting to state had to be a winner to get there. There were no losers, just those who out-performed others."