RAINIER — When the pole vault competition is over, the spectacle that is Luke Barrick begins.
Barrick starts warming up when all of the other competitors put their warmups back on to gather around and watch one of the greatest pole vaulters the area has ever seen. As Barrick steps onto the track, the bar is raised four feet, moving from 11 feet where the second- and third-place finishers left off to 15 feet.
Supplied by pure adrenaline, an abiding motivation to break records and a small bag of Albanese gummy bears, Barrick rewrote the 2B state pole vault record books at the Rainier Icebreaker Saturday.
The Onalaska senior pole vaulter and reigning state champion shattered his own 2B state record of 15 feet, 7 inches, not once, but twice. After nailing 15-0 on his second attempt, Barrick cleared 15-8 on his first try to top his record.
Last year, Barrick would’ve sprinted around the track in jubilation at the accomplishment, basking in the crowd’s applause. But after months of offseason work and national success, the cinematic novelty has worn off for Barrick, an Idaho State University commit.
There was no grand reaction after the 15-8 leap. Just back to business.
“Let’s go 16-1,” Barrick told the coaches.
No 2B pole vaulter had ever cleared 16 feet, and Barrick proved metaphorically and literally that he is levels higher than any 2B pole vaulter, sticking the landing at 16-1 on his third and final try.
Still, no final bow to the crowd, because the curtains hadn’t closed yet in his mind. Barrick wanted more.
Why not 16-9?
Barrick took three cracks at 16-9 but came up insignificantly short on every attempt. If he surpassed 16-9, there were talks from the coaches and event organizers about whether Rainier’s bar setup could even match his next goal.
Barrick didn’t come into the Rainier Icebreaker meet expecting to attempt 16-9, but he’s now more than certain of his chances of success at his next event.
“I was thinking 16-1 was going to be a really solid goal. My body felt really good. I tried for 16-9, and it felt pretty good. Really close attempts,” Barrick said.
Barrick believes the version of himself that broke the state record in Yakima last May is nowhere near the version he is now. He’s put on 10 pounds, he’s using poles that are two feet longer than what he used in Yakima, and his confidence has never been higher through working with Onalaska coach Carla Hoppie and coach Rick Baggett. Barrick works with Baggett as part of the Willamette Striders Track Club, and in every indoor meet from November 2025 to early March 2026, Barrick never failed to reach 16 feet, even hitting 17 feet on Jan. 10.
During the vast majority of his prep track meets, Barrick is on his own competition-wise. No one dares attempt the height at which he starts to warm up. He jumps, takes a five-minute break, and then is right back at it again, watching video of his vaults and making self-adjustments during that short span.
It would be easy to say Barrick has to take on a “me-versus-me” mentality when no one is directly in front of him. But that’s not how he’s wired.
“I think about it more as me versus the people in the nation,” Barrick said. “I’ll go on Athletic Net and see where I stand in the national rankings. Right now, I’m seventh in the nation for all 12th-grade boys. I just kind of think, ‘OK, so that guy jumped this, so now there’s some motivation to jump higher.’”
His ultimate goal for this season is to beat Chase McGee’s 2025 Washington state record of 17-5. Better yet, 18 feet. Soon enough, low-flying aircraft are going to be warned every time Barrick attempts a new record.
“Pressure equals adrenaline. Adrenaline equals X amount of inches more forward on each step of the run, and it gives you the power to get on the big poles and get the big heights,” Barrick said.
Barrick helped Onalaska finish second in the boys team scores with 43 points, behind Elma’s 58. Reigning 2B state discus champion Ethan Thayer also destroyed his own school record in his first meet of his senior campaign, throwing 186-1, up nearly 11 feet from his previous mark set in Yakima last May.
Sophomore Brodey Triana impressed in javelin, finishing in second with a new personal best of 144-8, placing him in ninth place in school history. Sophomore Nolan Hornsby also took third in discus at 134-11. Junior Morgan Allen set personal records in 300-meter hurdles (46.76 seconds) and 110-meter hurdles (17.72 seconds) to place in the top 10 for both events.
Tenino junior Jeremiah McKague put on a throwing clinic in his second track meet of his career, winning the shot put with a top throw of 47-8.5. He also ranked seventh in discus with a new personal best of 118-3. Both of his marks were over 10 feet better than his previous.
Junior Parker Minerich earned second in discus at 139-9 and third in shot put at 41-5.5. Sophomore Tucker Matheson won the high jump, becoming just the fourth Beaver to ever clear 6 feet.
Pe Ell senior Eli Mason shined in the hurdles, setting a new PR in the 110-meter hurdles at 16.98 seconds for his first career sub-17 time and a first-place finish.
“I’ve been lifting through the summer and working on my form. My form wasn’t the best last year,” Mason said of his 110-meter hurdle performance. “I’ve slowly gotten better and better every time, and I had a lot of reps throughout the summer.”
Mason also took third in the 300-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line in 45.35 seconds.
Morton-White Pass junior Mathew Parvin, a top-10 finisher in the 100-meter dash at state last spring, topped his previous best time Saturday with a first-place mark of 11.21 seconds. He now ranks third in school history.
“I just felt so good. I knew it was gonna be a PR today,” Parvin said. “My form is starting to look more pro. I’ve improved so much in training this year that I feel like last year was nothing.”
Rainier’s 4x100 relay team of Matheus McKitrick, Jacob Hanson, Jordan Pringle and Alex Salinas won in 45.97 seconds.
Rochester senior Le’Shawn Hines easily won the long jump, triumphing with a 19-11 jump.
Toledo senior Adam Kruger earned first place in the triple jump, finishing as the only athlete to exceed 40 feet at 40-8.
