Tri-City pole vaulter is best ever WA high schooler. He can clear a 2-story house

Sometimes you can see an athletic achievement and know what you’re witnessing is brilliance.

That happened last Saturday when Hanford High sophomore Jonathan Allen won the Class 4A boys’ pole vault title at the WIAA state track and field championships at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma.

Allen cleared 17 feet, 6 inches, to not only win the Class 4A state title, but he became the best in the state of Washington to ever go that high.

Just how high is 17 feet, 6 inches?

AI tells us that that’s the height of an adult giraffe, or two stacked African elephants. Or as tall as a two-story building.

Last year, as a freshman, Allen cleared 15 feet, 6 inches at state. That’s the height clearance of this year’s second place finisher, Kayden Andre-Van Lith of Eastmont.

Now think about that. That’s an improvement of 2 feet in a year’s time.

“What Jonathan did at state was not only historic, especially for a sophomore, but it is what can happen when someone commits to a dream and does all of the right things to make it happen,” said Hanford High head track and field coach Darren Crow. “The way he is progressing, I would not be shocked if he hit 18 feet by the end of summer.”

What does it take to be a pole vaulter?

I mean, you run with a pole in your hand at full speed, put the end of the pole into a box, then go upwards while upside down, before trying to clear a bar. If you get that far, you then free fall into a pit and hope you land safely.

“Personally, one thing that it takes to be a pole vaulter is to have no fear!” said Crow. “And then to hone your craft to be technically sound, so not only clear the height, but to also make sure that you don’t get hurt.”

Allen, 15, comes from a family of pole vaulters. Father Mark is a Montana State grad who is also a certified pole-vaulting coach.

Allen’s older sisters are pole vaulters — including Landry Allen, who graduated high school in 2025 and has just completed her freshman season pole vaulting for the University of Illinois women’s track and field team.

Jonathan now ranks tied for 7th among all high schoolers in the nation. The national leader is Jaxon Jerabek of IMG Elite (Florida), who cleared 18 feet, 2.75 inches at the Under Armour Track and Field Nationals on May 30 — the same day Allen hit his 17-6.

This wasn’t the first time Jonathan Allen has cleared 17 feet. On May 1st, at the Hermiston Kiwanis Twilight meet, he cleared 17 feet, 0.5 inches.

So what’s next for him? How about a summer that includes some national competition?

He’ll compete in the USA Under-20 Nationals in Eugene on June 18-19.

He’s also eligible to compete in the USATF Nationals, set for New York, July 23-26.

Allen wasn’t the only local athlete who did well at the high school state meets. Here are some others:

Class 4A boys

Chiawana junior Gavin Naef tossed the javelin 179 feet, 10 inches, to finish second in that event. … Naef’s Chiawana teammate, senior Angel Colon, placed fourth in the long jump with a leap of 22-0 feet. … Allen’s Hanford teammate, junior Kaleb Cunningham, finished fourth in the discus with a distance of 160 feet, 3 inches. That’s a personal best for Cunningham. … Kamiakin’s 4x400 relay team — juniors Forrest McRoberts, Mason Severson and Gunner Smith; as well as senior Austen Florence — crossed the finish line in 3 minutes, 22.38 seconds to earn fourth-place medals. … Mead took the team title with 55 points.

Class 4A girls

Chiawana’s Sawyer Chubb and Kamiakin’s Emaunii Smith earned state titles last weekend. Chubb, a junior, ran away with the 400 meters crown with a personal-best time of 54.76 seconds. Smith, a senior, has been ranked atop the state almost all season in the high jump, and she won the championship with a leap of 5-6. … Chubb also helped score points in the 4x400 relay, as the Riverhawks (with sophomores Baylie Anderson and Addison Bunger; and senior Mylie Anderson) placed eighth with a time his 4:06.29. … Kamiakin freshman Jaycee Jenkins announced her presence by placing second in the 1600 meters (4:51.47) and taking third in the 800 meters (2:13.0). … Richland senior Naly Khamlue-Pratt finished third in the 100 meters in 12.16 seconds. She also grabbed a seventh-place finish in the 200 with a time of 25.07 seconds. Khamlue-Pratt will compete at the University of Nevada this fall. … Kamiakin finished 11th in the team standings with 24 points. Mount Si took the team title with 60 points.

Class 3A boys

Hermiston, aided by first-place points from senior Angel Ordaz Garcia in the discus, placed fourth as a team with 36 points. Garcia tossed the discus 165 feet, 1 inch. … Hermiston teammate Maxim Shilhanek placed second in the shot put with a mark of 55 feet, 7 inches. … Kennewick, which placed 11th in the team standings with 22 points, got a second-place finish in the javelin from sophomore Carter Bendewald. He hit 182 feet, 2 inches, on his last throw of the finals. … Lions teammate Peter Smith, a junior, earned third-place finishes in both the discus (164-5) and the shot put (55-1.75). … Shorewood of Seattle won the team title with 68 points.

Class 3A girls

Kennewick senior Tessa Lewis and Hermiston junior Ava Courtney finished second and third, respectively, in the girls’ high jump finals. … Lewis cleared 5 feet, 6 inches; while Courtney jumped 5-2. … Mercer Island ran away with the team title, scoring 101 points.

Class 2A boys

Prosser senior Gavin Case had the area’s best finish at the state meet in Tacoma. Case placed third in the discus with a toss of 169 feet, 3 inches. … Grandview junior Brendan Kramer placed fourth in the 800 meters with a time of 1:54.57. He also finished sixth in the 400 meters with a time of 49.91 seconds. Both times were personal-best marks for Kramer. … Anacortes ran away with the meet with 81 points.

Class 2A girls

Prosser senior Katharine Hudak earned a seventh-place finish in the 400 meters final, crossing the finish line in 1 minute and 0.01 seconds. … Hudak and her 4x400 teammates — sophomore Elena Gonzalez, and juniors Alexa Halfmoon and Jenna Grace Tolman — finished with a sixth-place medal. The Mustangs clocked in at 4:05.28. … Othello senior Abigail Douglas took seventh in the 200 meters final, getting a time of 25.76 seconds. … Sehome won the team title with 101 points.

Class 1A boys

In Yakima, Connell sophomore Benjamin Naef placed second in the javelin with a throw of 169 feet, 3 inches. … College Place sophomore Joel Hutchison hit 52 feet, 6 inches, in the shot put for a third-place finish in the event. … Connell junior Parker Price and Royal junior Manny Ruvalcaba both tied for fourth in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 10 inches. … Lakeside of Nine Mile Falls won the team title with 74 points. Connell finished 11th with 19.5 points.

Class 1A girls

Emma Niemeyer, a sophomore from College Place, had the area’s best finish in Yakima last weekend when she placed third in the javelin. Niemeyer tossed the javelin 123 feet and 4 inches. It was a personal best for her. … Connell sophomore Raegan Strong scored points for the Eagles, placing fifth in the 200 meters (25.78 seconds), and finishing 8th in the 400 meters (1:00.85). … Meanwhile, Kiona-Benton junior Elijah Garberg placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 10.75 inches. … King’s earned the team title with 65.5 points.

Class 2B boys

River View tied for sixth as a team, scoring 36 points at the state meet in Yakima. … Panthers junior Chris Espinosa won the javelin title with a throw of 168 feet, 11 inches. … River View senior Miguel Cruz, headed to the University of Idaho, placed second in both the discus (158-2) and shot put (58-6). … Afton Thelander, a senior at Columbia-Burbank, finished second in the triple jump with a mark of 43 feet, 3.5 inches — a personal best. … Freeman won the team title with 75 points.

Class 2B girls

Mia Leahy finished her high school career by earning podium finishes in Yakima. Leahy, from Columbia-Burbank, placed second in the javelin throw with a distance of 127 feet, 2 inches. She also placed fifth in the 100-meter finals with a time of 12.97 seconds. … River View junior Anastasia Tyutyunnik placed eighth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.94 seconds. … LaConner won the team title with 60 points.

Class 1B boys

Senior Jason Guest finished first in the 110 high hurdles (15.5 seconds), second in the 300 hurdles (40.62 seconds), and helped lead two relay teams to high-podium finishes as DeSales finished fourth in the team standings with 42 points. Guest teamed with sophomore Dominic Fazzari, senior Uriah Raymond, and freshman Matthew Scott to help the Irish’s 4x400 relay team place second with a time of 3:32.52. That same lineup placed third in the 4x100 relay with a time of 45.50 seconds. … Waitsburg senior Teegan Kenney placed fourth in the triple jump with a personal best of 40 feet, 8 inches. Kenney also finished seventh in the long jump at 19-3.75. … DeSales’ Scott placed fifth in the 400 meters (52.95 seconds), while teammate Fazzari was sixth in the 800 (2:06.76). … Garden City Academy of Wenatchee won the team title with 63 points.

Class 1B girls

In Yakima, Dayton’s girls finished eighth as a team with 27 points. … The Bulldogs were led by sophomore Rosemary Yutzy. She finished third in the 400 meters with a time of 1:01.64, and then she helped lead the 4x100 relay team — which also included freshmen McKenna McCowen, Ellie Sabin and Rilee Steinhoff — to a third-place finish with a time of 52.06 seconds. Yutzy also placed fourth in the 300 hurdles at 48.07 seconds, and she grabbed fifth place in the 100 meters final (12.92 seconds). … Steinhoff snared a third-place finish in the triple jump, with a mark of 33 feet, 6.75 inches. … Sophomore Natalie Pearson of Walla Walla Valley Academy earned a fourth-place finish in the long jump. She had a final distance of 15 feet, 9.5 inches.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Herald.