A heartbreaking end to vaulter’s Aragon career

Among the closest of onlookers was Aragon senior Jarod Nunnemaker, whose hopes to contend for the pole vault title were crushed earlier in the event after whacking his elbow on the crossbar. With his day done, Nunnemaker seemed happy to clap along with the crowd as Lehnert made his captivating final approach.

“That’s my dawg,” Nunnemaker said. “I’m so proud of him. … I’m really happy for him. It’s upsetting for me.”

Then he started to cry.

Nunnemaker and Lehnert are as good of friends as they are competitive rivals. The two are usually the last men standing in pole vault competitions. While Lehnert’s vault of 16 feet Saturday is the best in CCS this season, Nunnemaker ranks second in the section with a vault of 15-7 1/2, his PR, executed March 9 at the Willow Glen Track and Field Invitational.

On that landmark day in San Jose, in what now stands as the 30th best vault in CCS history, it was Lehnert who was lavishing praise on Nunnemaker.

“Basically, they were happy for each other at different times,” Aragon pole vault coach Norm Bennett said.

What seemed to prompt Nunnemaker’s tears in Gilroy was the realization he and Lehnert won’t get the chance to vault together at the CIF State Track & Field Championships, beginning Friday at Buchanan High School in Clovis. The top three finishers earn bids to the state meet. Nunnemaker just missed the cut Saturday, finishing fourth.

“So, I was one away from state, which is upsetting,” Nunnemaker said.

There was also an at-large standard of 14-6 to qualify for the state meet. That was the height Nunnemaker was attempting when he injured his elbow, not while clearing the bar, which he did, but while starting his descent too close to it.

“He must have cleared it by a foot or a foot and a half, but he came down shallow … and his right arm hit the crossbar,” Bennett said.

Nunnemaker fell to the mat in immediate pain, rolling to his back and realizing in real time that his state meet hopes were in real jeopardy.

“It completely just took all the energy out of my arm,” Nunnemaker said. “My whole right arm was numb. It was like a corpse. It was limp. I couldn’t do anything.”

Once Nunnemaker’s spot came up in the remaining field of six vaulters at that time, he was on the clock. On his second attempt at 14-6, Nunnemaker made the approach but never got off the runway, simply dropping his pole near the planting box and running straight through to the mat.

There are no injury timeouts in pole vault, but there are deferrals. This means if a vaulter still has an attempt remaining at a given height, they can take a break, and attempt that vault later in the competition. The catch is that attempt later in the competition must be taken at whatever height to which the bar has been raised. There is no lowering the bar in a pole vault competition.

Nunnemaker opted to defer his third attempt at 14-6 to rest his elbow. This meant his back was against the wall once the bar was raised to 15-0, as he had just one attempt to clear that height.

“The thinking was it would give him a little more time to rest up his arm.” Bennett said. “And he gave it a valiant effort. He’s quite an athlete. It just didn’t work out.”

Nunnemaker got airborne on his final attempt but contacted the crossbar. It stands as the final vault of his varsity pole vaulting career.

“The third jump, I had the height for sure, I just didn’t land deep enough in the pit,” Nunnemaker said. “It was an unfortunate day.”

Nunnemaker’s graduation marks the end of a grand era of Aragon pole vaulting. Erik Dodge, who graduated from Aragon in 2023, is now competing in the NCAA Division III ranks at UC Santa Cruz. Nunnemaker signed a National Letter of Intent in March to compete at UC Santa Barbara.

Bennett has cultivated quite a culture of pole vaulting at Aragon. There were 19 vaulters in the program this season. Calvin Hong is an up-and-comer who cleared 13 feet this season when he took second place at the Peninsula Athletic League championships. On the girls’ team, Elaina Shao set an Aragon program record of 10-2 at an April 16 tri-meet at Westmoor.

However, it might be a while before there’s another vaulter in a class with Nunnemaker.

“That’s going to be tough,” Bennett said. “He and Erik Dodge … they were exceptional.”

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