SHASTA BUILDING A POWERHOUSE POLE VAULTING PROGRAM

Shasta College has had three top-five finishers at the California Community College Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships since 2016. In 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic canceled all spring sports, Knights' coach Taylor Duncan thinks a fourth and fifth was on the way.

Freshmen Matteya Ruiz (Palo Cedro/Foothill HS) and Katherine Martinez (Crescent City/Del Norte HS) were both on their way of continuing the successful tradition this past spring. Ruiz was ranked No. 1 in the state after setting the school pole vault record at 11 feet, 8 inches at the Cody Beaumont Invitational at Shasta College, passing the previous mark of 11-6 set by Crystal Marks (2001) and Kelsey Monahan (2012). Martinez was ranked fourth in state with a jump of 11-0 at the Butte Invite.

"The goal is for them to go one-two at the state meet in any order," Duncan said. "They push each other and are great about picking each other up during practices; we keep it light but also very competitive."

Jade Permenter-Barnes (Yreka HS) got the recent trend started for the Knights in 2016 when she vaulted 11-0 for a fourth-place finish at state. She eventually went on to compete at Chico State for two years. Permenter-Barnes was fourth at the 2019 CCAA Track and Field Championships as a senior with a mark of 11-6.25, which was 10th best in school history.

Following Permenter-Barnes was Cassie Young (Palo Cedro/Foothill HS), who vaulted a career-best 11-1 for a second-place finish at the CCCAA State Championships in 2017. She followed it up with a fifth-place finish at the state championships in 2018, clearing 10-6. Young won the Golden Valley Conference pole vault title in 2018 and was the conference runner-up in 2017. Young had multiple offers to continue her track career, Duncan said, but chose to follow her career path and is completing her education at Oregon Institute of Technology while focusing on becoming a radiology technician.

That pair laid the groundwork for the next crop of athletes ready to take the Knights' program to the  next level.

"They all have the same drive of wanting to become not just better pole vaulters but better athletes in general," Duncan said. "Putting in a full offseason of training and fully committing has yielded results for each of them."

With Ruiz and Martinez returning next spring combined with incoming recruits Allayah Macgee and Sydney Perkins, both of which have already cleared 10-6, Duncan said, the Knights look to strengthen their case as one of the best group of women pole vaulters in the state.

"The type of atmosphere that has evolved over the last few years for women's pole vault especially has become special to see," Duncan said. "Next year we should have four women who will have a legitimate shot at finding the podium at the state meet and that is something that has never been done at Shasta in any event."