Old Tappan’s Hrbek, Kricheff dominate pole vault by Paul Schwartz of The Record
TOMS RIVER — It might be a little daunting to look up at your high school’s record board and realize that in order to take down a school record you have to break a Bergen County record. And it might even be more daunting for your classmate in the same event to realize that he might be a state medalist but never be the top athlete on your team.
That doesn’t seem to faze juniors Seth Kricheff and Tyler Hrbek of Northern Valley/Old Tappan, who finished 1-2 in the Group 3 boys pole vault Saturday at the Bennett Center.
“I think it’s motivating,” said Kricheff, who earned his first group title by clearing 14 feet, six inches better than his classmate, “I know my best is 14-6 and the school [and Bergen] record is 15-6 and it gives me something to shoot at.”
Hrbek agrees. “I just cleared 11-6 last spring and I decided I wanted to get better,” he said. “So I trained with Seth all summer and started to go to the Barn [training facility] with him to get better. Trying to stay with him motivates me and I’m going to try and clear 15 feet myself this spring.”
“It feels great to finally win a group title,” said Kricheff, who was tied for fifth in Group 3 last winter and second outdoors last spring. “I had been doing well but when I took third in the state Meet of Champions last spring, it brought me to another level.”
The duo was almost joined by a third OT junior, Jona Kim, who cleared 12 feet, the same height as the sixth-place finisher. But he lost out on a medal by misses.
“Hopefully we can vault well in the same meet this spring and set a County Relay record in the pole vault,” said Kricheff. “That would be great.”
Northern Highlands senior Tim DeLorenzo finished second in the Group 3 high jump, clearing 6-2 on his first attempt and leading until Ryan Tompkins of Colts Neck cleared 6-4 and DeLorenzo couldn’t.
“Last week at sectionals I was tentative and knew today I had to go all-in,” said DeLorenzo, who tied for sixth in the event last winter. “Making the Meet of Champions this time felt more real and I felt like I had a chance to do well today.”