Hawaii vaulter’s pole snaps on attempt at state championship meet
Ever seen a vaulter’s pole snap in mid-attempt? Well, now you have.
As first dug up by MaxPreps, Honolulu (Hi.) Punahou star Quinn Cassidy was in the midst of an attempt at the Island Movers State Track and Field Championships when he ran the lane, planted his pole, got two-thirds up and … fell directly back down to earth.
As one can see, Cassidy’s pole inexplicably snapped just as he was nearing the bar. Naturally, that’s just about the single worst moment for a pole vaulter’s primary accessory to fail. That send Cassidy into a full flip, with the vaulter eventually landing on his back on the safety mat.
Amazingly, Cassidy came back to finish second in the pole vault with a top height of 14-foot-0. That was actually just as high as the eventual champion, Honolulu (Hi.) Roosevelt High’s Devin Furuta-Harada, but Furuta-Harada emerged victorious on a tiebreaker.
Given what he had just gone through, second place was a heck of an accomplishment in itself, particularly because of its contribution to Punahou’s larger goal; the school won the combined boys and girls title, with the Punahou boys finishing just 0.25 points shy of Honolulu (Hi.) Baldwin High for the boys title.
The Punahou girls won their fifth straight state title.
Of course, none of those accomplishments were as daring as Cassidy’s vault just after his pole broke underneath him.
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