Park Hill’s Chris Nilsen breaks pole vault record

This summer, Chris Nilsen could be standing on the same track as the top American athletes, trying to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics at the U.S. trials in Eugene, Ore.

For now, he’s just trying to finish up his high school career with some state championships.

Nilsen, a Park Hill senior, showed that he is among the nation’s elite pole vaulters Saturday when he broke the American high school record with a vault of 18 feet, 4  3/4 inches during a Class 5 sectional meet at Staley High School.

The Track and Field News website said the previous record was 18-3  1/2 set by Shawn Barber of Kingwood, Texas, in 2012.

The bar wobbled during Nilsen’s last attempt as he grazed past it, but it held. After that, it was nothing but excitement. Nilsen’s girlfriend ran into his arms as he knelt on the pads below the pole.

“At first, I was like ‘oh man’ I didn’t make it because I hit it on the way up and on the way down,” Nilsen said. “I just kind of contorted my body over it and flung my arms back and almost broke my back.”

The real drama came after that as the officials took more than 20 minutes to measure the record on a very long pole of their own. After that, Nilsen let a huge sigh of relief.

“I would have done it again if it wasn’t a national record, but now I’m too tired, and I still have to go do the high jump.

Nilsen won the high jump later in the meet with a mark of 6-6.

Class 5 boys

Raymore-Peculiar’s Micah Beaver was the speedster of Class 5 and put up some impressive times.

He beat out Liberty North junior Jon Redmond with a time of 10.87 seconds in the 100-meter dash. They competed again in the 200 meters and Beaver pulled away down the stretch to win in 21.69.

“He’s really fun to race against, and he’s always pushing me,” Beaver said of Redmond.

Beaver said his graduation was Friday, so he wasn't on his A-game, but he will be ready to go for next weekend’s state championships.

Redmond and the Eagles managed to grab some team victories. Liberty North took home the hardware in the 400 (42.03) and 800 (1:27.45) relays.

Class 5 girls

Ray-Pec got some solid performances from their long-distance girls runners.

In the 1,600 meters, Kami Tabor just got past Staley’s Katelin Fiornio with a time of 5:17.

Kiley Deain crushed the competition in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:19.

Class 4 boys

Striding along the track with a powerful front lean, Kearney junior Clayton Adams looked poised to make some noise at the Class 4 state meet.

He had wins Saturday in the 800 (1:59.53), 1,600 (4:31.60) and 3,200 (10:07.77) and was on the winning 3,200 relay team.

After cruising to the 3,200-meter win, he talked about his strategy to take home his fourth victory.

“3,200 is about hitting your splits and hitting your pace and where you need to be each lap, so it’s more about pacing than racing,” he said.

Since January, Adams has put hundreds of miles on his body trying to prepare for this run at a state championship. Now he wants to take home as many as possible next week along with his teammates.

“Just to win some state titles next week," he said with confidence. “Get as many as I can and bring the team along with me and see if we can rack up enough points for a team state title.”

In short track events, Grandview dominated. Senior Caulin Graves won the 100 (11.08) and 200 (22.06) meters and the Bulldogs won the 400 (42.25 seconds) and 800 relays (1:28.08).

Class 4 girls

Showing some serious speed throughout, junior Nia Lunn and the Raytown South girls dominated the short track events.

Lunn ended up with a 100-meter time of 12.37 and had a powerful kick in her last race of the day with the 200 meters (24.59).

“I really wanted to get first place,” Lunn said of the 200-meter race. “Since I got first place in everything else there’s no reason why I can’t get first place in the 200. So I just pushed myself.”

In the relays, Lunn teamed up with Kyla Davis, Sunni Sellers, Chance Truss and Skylar Paige to win the 400 (47.49 seconds) and 800 (1:41.78). She hopes more success is to come down at the Class 4 state meet.

“I figure we should place like we did here and win like we did here because all the wins have lead up to state,” she said.

This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 9:20 PM with the headline "Park Hill’s Chris Nilsen breaks pole vault record."