After recent move from Montana, pole vaulter Taylor Searle makes state history at ALA Queen Creek
When his family decided to uproot their entire lives in Montana and trade in the snow for the heat, Taylor Searle wasn’t sure what to expect.
The 1,165-mile move is a lot for anybody entering their senior year of high school, but when you consider the context — the decision was partly based on Searle’s potential in the pole vault — the weight is even heavier.
But, just three weeks into the outdoor track and field season at American Leadership Academy Queen Creek, Searle has already proved that the move was well worth it, and more, as he has vaulted himself into state history. At the Aztec Invitational held at Tempe Corona del Sol, Searle went 17 feet 3 inches in his second meet of the spring. That mark places Searle in the top five on the all-time list in state history.
He’s only behind names like Cole Riddle, who went 17-7 at Surprise Valley Vista in 2017, and Nick Hysong, the 1990 Tolleson alum and the previous state record holder at 17-4.75.
Last year, Gilbert Highland’s Zach Bingham — now competing at BYU — went 17-4 and 17-3 at back-to-back meets, but he’s not on the top five list since the Arizona Interscholastic Association only counts performances at the state meet.
No matter what, it’s a remarkable showing for Searle.
Hysong, who attended ASU after Tolleson and was the NCAA champion his senior year, famously went on to win the gold medal at the 2000 Olympics. Now, Searle’s name is associated with the state’s greats, all in less than in a year since arriving Arizona.
“It’s amazing,” Searle said. “A bunch of the winter meets I went to, Nick Hysong was there, and Dean Starkey, my coach, is of course there. It’s so fun to be able to be jumping with them there and be at meets that elite guys are at and jump right alongside with them. It’s amazing. I’ve talked to him a bunch, he’s a really nice guy.”
He’s been competing in the pole vault since his freshman year, following in the footsteps of his father, Jeremy, who did the same event in high school. Searle left Montana after his junior season, where he was a state champion with Hamilton. He went 15-0 to win the Class A title.
That’s certainly a good mark, but far off from what he just achieved. ALA Queen Creek track and field coach Chris Bishop was still ecstatic to get someone of Searle’s caliber, who was already projected to destroy the school record of 14-1.
“When the school year started, we had a coaches meeting,” Bishop said. “Our AD (athletic director) came to me all giddy and said, ‘Dude. We got this kid that pole vaults,’ and told me about him and what he can do. All the coaches were talking, ‘This kid goes 15 feet.’ And to us, 15 feet is to the moon.”
He played on the ALA Queen Creek football team as a wide receiver in the fall when he first arrived before switching to focus on track and field in the winter, participating in a few indoor meets.
That’s when Bishop began to realize the spring could be special.
“I saw and watched him keep going higher and higher, and was like man, this kid is going to go crazy,” Bishop said. “And here we are. He’s already blown my mind completely.”
A two-week span in January broke everything wide open when Searle went 16-0 at the UCS Spirit National Pole Vault Summit in Reno on Jan. 13 and followed that up with a 17-0.75 on Jan. 27 at the Paradise Valley Community College Indoor meet.
He started the outdoor season with a 15-6 at the Richard Thompson South Mountain Classic in Phoenix near the end of February. Then came last weekend’s performance at the Aztec Invite, where he moved himself into history.
It was a surreal moment for Searle, and it changes the trajectory for the senior.
“I was so happy,” Searle said. “They had to pull out the extenders just to make the standard go higher for 17-3. I got it on my third attempt. I was thinking, ‘Oh boy. They better have not pulled these out for no reason.’ I was happy to hit it. I’ve known what I’ve been capable of.”
Taylor and Jeremy both credit the coaching at Arizona Pole Vault Academy — which is headed by Starkey, a former two-time NCAA champion at Illinois and a bronze medalist at the 1997 World Championships; and his son, Garrett, who competed at ASU and has a lifetime best of 18-5 — as a key turning point in the jump in performance.
There’s also one stark difference between Hamilton, Montana, and Queen Creek, Arizona: the weather. Searle could only jump a couple of months out of the year in Montana. Here, he can do it nearly year-round.
“Coaching has been a big part of it,” Jeremy said, who also helps coach his son. “The Starkey club has been instrumental. The other thing is just time doing it. We always felt like he was big enough, fast enough and strong enough to do it, but it takes a lot of time and effort to perfect the technique of pole vaulting. It’s not one of those sports where you can pick up and do it well immediately."
After high school, he’ll compete at BYU, joining Bingham, the person who is just above him in state history. But first, before that, he’ll try to do what his future teammate was unable to do —take down Riddle’s vaunted state record. It could happen at the Chandler Rotary Invitational in a few weeks, the state’s most competitive meet in the regular season. It could happen at state, either at the Divisional championships or Open championships. Or it could happen sooner. Searle is in that kind of form right now.
Searle will have to hit 17-8 to get there, a height that few high schoolers have ever reached. But his eyes are on it, and higher.
“My goal is 18 feet, so I still think I’ll be able to hit that,” Searle said. “First is 17-8 for the state record. Then 18 feet on the season.”
But Searle's impact goes deeper than just record books. He's only been at the school since the beginning of the fall, yet he's starting to leave a legacy.
"We've announced him as student-coach because when he's out here, he's coaching other kids in the pole vault and they've come around him," Bishop said. "Just the fact of how good he does, it inspires the rest of the team. He's so good, he is bringing the whole team up."
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pole vaulter Taylor Searle aims for great heights with ALA Queen Creek
