NEW REACHING HEIGHTS
Monarch’s Barlow soars, slingshotting himself into the sky
louisville» As a freshman, Andrew Barlow had a ravenous appetite for all sports. He satisfied it by playing football in the fall and basketball in the winter and participating in track and field in the spring at Monarch High School. He was a rarity, a three-sport athlete at a big school.
But when he expanded his track prowess by literally jumping into multiple events, a 27-second performance in the 200 meters told him something, as did his coaches.
“They told me I should just stick to pole vaulting,” Barlow said. Good advice. Barlow, now a senior, shed other sports as he moved through high school to concentrate on slingshotting himself into the sky. The defending Class 5A state champion, who cleared 16 feet a year ago, has new goals, including breaking one of the state’s oldest outdoor track and field records: 17 feet, 3 inches, set by Aurora Central’s Pat Manson in 1986.
“My feel for the season right now, my initial goal, is 17 feet, then 17-7 after that,” said Barlow, whose best vault this season is a state-leading 16-6½ at the Longmont Invitational. “It could be attainable in the next five weeks.”
Seventeen feet is recognized as a magical height by any prep vaulter. Going beyond 17-3 would be next, and 17-7 would better Manson’s 17-6½ that he cleared indoors.
“It should be fun,” said Barlow, whose upward
climb began with a best of 12-1 as a freshman.
Helping him in his pursuit of the record book is Mike Tully, the Coyotes’ pole vault coach, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and former American record holder. Barlow has also worked with Manson, who starred at Kansas and as a professional, and now runs the Above The Bar pole vault club in Boulder. Both Tully and Manson topped out at 19-2¼.
Legendarily laid back and still sporting the classic California tan, the 58-year-old Tully called most of his athletes at Monarch “just teenagers, just out here goofing around” but views Barlow as having exceptional promise.
“I think the (next Olympic) Trials (in 2016) are too soon for him, but definitely the next time,” Tully said. “I feel he’ll be a worldclass pole vaulter. He’s stronger than he’s ever been, and he’s more mature.”
Said Barlow: “With Mike, I got really lucky. He knows things that no one else knows.”
The usually glib Tully, who’s also learning a thing or two about communication with his pupils, said “this pole vaulting thing, you can make it complicated, but you should make it simple. I did things naturally, I just did it. I’m learning how to say things and get the right words for them to do what I did pretty easily.”
Barlow is listening, said Monarch head track coach Kent Rieder.
“The good thing is, Mike’s tying to teach (Barlow) stuff that will help him two to three years down the road,” Rieder said. “And he has most of the speed, strength and incredible body awareness.”
Barlow, a 6-foot-2, 175-pounder, views pole vaulting as perhaps the most difficult single event in sports because of the need for speed, hand-eye coordination, strength and gymnastics ability. But the goal is easy to identify.
“There’s always something to make you jump higher,” Barlow said. “It’s not like other sports where you’re at the peak and nowhere to go.”
Currently, Barlow is within a half inch of the top 10 nationally this spring with his 16-6½ vault.
Manson, whose national indoor mark stood for 25 years, said he has been watching Andrew for years.
“He’s doing all of the right stuff,” Manson said. “And his invert is the best in the country right now. … But the high school season is so short. He only has a couple more chances (this spring).”
Barlow values all of his opportunities. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. As a reminder of that date, as well as motivation, he has a tattoo on his right wrist “2-25-2013” as well as a medical symbol that he customized. But, no, he’s not complaining.
“I try to keep it as a positive thing,” he said. “Typically, it doesn’t affect my pole vaulting. But it gets annoying.”
Manson, whose son, Max, an eighth-grader, has cleared 12 feet and will be at Monarch next school year, won’t mind if his record falls.
Bound for Cornell, which Tully said has the best of the Ivy League track and field programs, Barlow appears primed to reach new heights.