Scarborough's Rusak breaks New England freshman pole vault record
At last Sunday's USATF-MAINE Open & Masters Championship held at Maranacook High School, Scarborough freshman Sam Rusak jumped a life-time best 13-2 1/2, the mark broke the New England freshman record held by former Brunswick standout and current New England record holder David Slovenski. Slovesnki's record mark was 13-0 set at the the 2005 Class A Outdoor State Championship meet at Windham High School.
Rusak who had a strong indoor season that saw the freshman jump 12-11 just shy of the 13-0 height. He would finish 3rd in the Class A State meet with a 12-6 clearance. After the succesful indoor campaign, he eyed taking a shot at Slovenski's 13-0 mark. "I'm still pretty disappointed because the injury set me back to basically nothing. Now that I'm vaulting where I wish I was vaulting at the state meet, it shows that I'm healthy again and ready to bring it full force my sophomore year." During the high school outdoor season, Sam jumped a best 12-6 before he had a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the championship meets, he did return to jump from 6 steps at the Outdoor Class A Championship clearing 10-9.
Now healthy Rusak who is an aspiring decathlete has been working to regain his top form. It all came together last Sunday at Maranacook as he cleared the 13ft barrier for the first time. "I think breaking a NE record, proves that my hard work an dedication has paid off, and I set a benchmark of where I want to be for the next 3 years."
The future looks bright for Sam as he gets ready to enter his sophomore year. "My goal for the upcoming year is to get on some big poles, and to be well above 14ft." If his freshman year was any indictation of his success he'll be chasing more records, and more records of the Slovenski's. The current New England Outdoor sophomore record in 14-9, set by Mike Slovenski back in 2009, while the all-time Maine best is held by Mike's brother David at 16-9.
NEW ENGLAND CLASS RECORDS POLE VAULT – OUTDOORS Click for complete history
Fr. 13-2 1/2 4.03 Sam Rusak (Scarborough, ME) @ Readfield, ME 07/20/2014
So. 14-09 4.50 Mike Slovenski (Brunswick, ME) @ Burlington, VT 06/13/2009
Jr. 15-07 4.75 Brendan Sullivan (Westford Academy, MA) @ Sudbury, MA 05/11/2011
Sr. 16-09 5.10 David Slovenski (Brunswick, ME) @ Saco, ME 06/14/2008
