Former NCAA Division 2 champion at Northwest Nazarene enjoys victory more than a year after his last outdoor competition, prevailing in men’s elite matchup against Colella; USC record holder Stately secures win in women’s elite section

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

The latest edition of the Vaulter Club Vaulter Magazine Grand Prix series was designed to highlight high school seniors, but the men’s elite competition Saturday turned into a showdown involving a former NCAA Division 2 outdoor winner and past California state champion, with the women’s elite section won by another former state champ and four-time USC All-American Brysun Stately.

Northwest Nazarene graduate Payton Lewis, representing Vertical Elite, won his first outdoor meet in more than a year and only his fourth pole vaulting competition in the past three years with a second-attempt clearance at 17 feet, 5 inches (5.31m) at the Big Red Barn facility in Sun City, Calif.

Lewis, who still resides in Idaho, outlasted Italian athlete Luigi Colella, representing Riccardo Milano, after the former California state winner matched his first-attempt clearance at 17-1 (5.21m), only to miss three opportunities at 17-5, including the final try where the bar didn’t fall to the pit, but was knocked down to a lower peg.

INTERVIEWS

Lewis, who cleared 17-3.75 (5.28m) to win the Beach Opener at Long Beach State on March 7 last year before the pandemic shut down any remaining competitions on his schedule, achieved his highest height since clearing a personal-best 17-7 (5.36m) to win the Division 2 outdoor crown in 2017 in Florida.

He needed three tries to clear his opening height of 16-7.25 (5.06m), after the competition had been reduced to only Lewis and Colella, with Tyler Burns – a recent graduate of Oak Ridge High in California who has committed to University of California at Berkeley, but deferred his enrollment to later this fall to train during a gap year – placing third with a third-attempt clearance of 16-1.25 (4.91m).

Colella, who won the state title in 2013 for Thousand Oaks High, was clean on his first four heights to achieve his highest clearance of the year and a new Riccardo Milano club record.

Kai Miller, a junior at Carson High in Nevada representing Raise the Bar, was the top high school athlete in the men’s elite section after placing sixth overall with a 14-7.50 (4.46m) clearance.

Stately, 34, didn’t encounter the same competition as Lewis and Colella, but the 2005 state champion at Bella Vista did improve on her performance from March 6 at the Grand Prix spring event at the Big Red Barn.

The USC program record holder only cleared 12-11.50 (3.95m) in her outdoor opener, but began her series Saturday by clearing a higher height, on her way to a 13-7.25 (4.15m) performance.

Stately then attempted to match her personal-best 14-5.25 (4.40m) from 2012, but was unsuccessful on three opportunities.

The next three spots all belonged to prep athletes, with Maya Grudman of Sage Creek High in California, competing unattached, earning top honors among the high school competitors with a first-attempt clearance at 12-2.50 (3.72m).

Quincy Hansen of San Dieguito Academy, also competing unattached, achieved three personal bests on her way to clearing 12-2.50, but was edged by Grudman based on total misses during their respective series.

Avery Hilliard of Poway High, another unattached athlete, also cleared 12-2.50 to achieve a personal best, but needed three attempts to successfully make the height.

Top California high school athletes and frequent competitors at the Vaulter Club Vaulter Magazine Grand Prix series Garrett Brown of La Costa Canyon and Gabrielle Pack of Peninsula instead participated Saturday at the Don Green Invitational at Moorpark High.

Brown, a Stanford signee, won the boys junior/senior competition by clearing 16-5 (5.00m). Pack prevailed in the girls junior/senior classification with a 12-foot clearance (3.65m).