SOAR: Riverside Poly athlete Zachary Green establishes himself as one of Southern California’s premier high school pole vaulters.
By Timothy Chen, Sports Editor
Zachary Green (11) began pole vaulting his freshmen year. “I thought it looked cool, and the people treated me like a family,” Green expressed. Averaging around 9’6” on his first vaults, Green’s performance was standard for a freshman. However, drastic improvement occurred by the end of track season his freshman year, when Green vaulted to 13 feet, earning him a spot on varsity. Entering his sophomore year, Green was ranked an impressive 10th place in the entirety of Southern California’s high-school pole vaulters. As a sophomore, Green consistently placed among the top three in all of his meets and was one of the select few on his team who qualified to compete at CIF last year.
Green credits his improvement to continuous training alongside coaches and total dedication to the sport. “Basically it’s just learning and applying what you learn into your sport, except it takes a long time to learn,” Green admitted. It took him a long time indeed; Green spent the entire summer of his freshman year going to pole vaulting camps, practicing and drilling for up to four days in a row with little rest in between. Not only was physical technique and form important for Green to improve but also personal motivation. In watching Olympic pole vaulters and regularly attending pole vaulting competitions, Green expanded his interest for the sport. In the process, inspired by professional pole vaulters, Green also began filming and uploading pole vaulting videos and tutorials to a blog he created in order to help other high schoolers develop their skills.
Green’s talent is not only recognized at Poly High School. Eligible for numerous scholarships from National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and III schools, Green is only two feet away from becoming a walk-on at schools in the Division I category. Regularly attending random meets, Green is known by a majority of Southern California’s pole vaulters. “I remember at the UCS National Pole Vault Summit, I had people stop me in elevators. I show up to random meets and they all know me, which is very strange,” Green recalled. Unfortunately, a disc injury has forced Green to take a break from pole vaulting; however, after recovery he hopes to make a strong comeback and soar over 13 feet, becoming one of Poly’s and Southern California’s greatest.