Canyon pole vaulter to miss out on state finals

Jeremiah Chow loses in jump off to finish 13th; Justin Gallegos finishes sixth

It became a waiting game at the CIF Track and Field State Championships Friday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium at Buchanan High in Clovis.

With the heat rising, and the start times getting pushed back, the two Santa Clarita Valley representatives — Canyon pole vaulter Jeremiah Chow and Hart runner Justin Gallegos — did their best to weather the heat.

Chow, whose start time moved from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., cleared his first attempt at the opening height of 14 feet, 8 inches.

“My coach’s motto is get over the bar the first time and it’ll make that second attempt easier,” Chow said prior to state. “It’s just all my technique and form to the best of my ability to have the best chance of getting over that.”

But after missing all three attempts at 15-02, a six-inch increment and two inches above his personal record at 15-00, it came down to a jump off.

Chow narrowly missed advancing to state after losing the jump off at 15-02, and finishing 13th overall in the state of California.

The senior vaulter ends his high school career tying the valley’s top mark at 15-0, after clearing it twice at the Foothill League track and field finals and at the 2016 CIF-Southern Section Masters Meet in Norwalk to automatically qualify for the state meet.

The clearance at Masters made Chow the first vaulter from the SCV to advance to state in 44 years.

“We’re so proud of him for getting this far,” said Canyon vault coach Frank Rock, who competed in state in 1968.

Gallegos, on the other hand, didn’t have to wait too long to see if he placed in the 400meter dash in the first-ever Paralympic Division at the state meet.

Although his start time was also pushed back, the Hart senior took sixth place in a time of 1 minutes, 27.36 seconds.

Gallegos is also scheduled to compete in the 200-meter dash Saturday evening.