Chase Berry of Seward cleared the bar at 14-4 to win the Class B boys' pole vault May 20.
Chase Berry is on top of the world. Or at least he vaults over it.
The Seward High sophomore brought home the Class B pole vault gold medal May 20, winning the event with a height of 14-4.
“It’s pretty exciting,” he said. “I knew it would be fun to be back this year and have a shot, get to jump against my friends. The competition is so much fun.”
And having his dad Jason as his coach is icing on the cake,
“It makes it that much better,” he said. “He’s always so proud of me.”
Jason has coached national pole vault qualifiers, state champions and All Americans both at Seward High and Concordia University.
“Today was very special,” he said. “It was literally a once in a lifetime moment, both as a coach and a dad. God blessed me with the opportunity to coach my boys.”
He said to have both Chase and Dalton qualify for state was exciting. He said he was praying Dalton would clear a height, which he did and finished the competition in seventh place.
“To have both boys make it to state and medal and the bonus of Chase winning,” Jason said. “I didn’t know whether to scream for joy or cry.
“I screamed for joy.”
Both boys came up to him and were not shy about “giving dad a big hug,” Jason said.
“I’ve coached a lot of people,” he said. “Today will be remembered for a long time.”
Chase already has a display site chosen for the gold medal. He has a cut-off piece of a pole vault pole in his room, and he hangs all his medals on it.
Chase finished third in the state last year, so he knew what the atmosphere was like on the field at Omaha Burke High School. This year, though, his brother Dalton also qualified for state in the pole vault.
“I was really excited he made it,” Chase said.
Dalton graduated from Seward High this year, and Chase said there is a little rivalry between the brothers.
“Dalton’s always smack-talking me,” he said with a smile.
Although he knew what the atmosphere would be like at Burke, Chase didn’t know what the weather would do. As it turned out, rain and cool temperatures were the order of the day.
“At practice you won’t jump in the rain. You wait for a nicer day,” he said. “You have to make the best out of it. It’s rough when it’s cold, but you have to push through.”
He said vaulting in the rain took some getting used to, even with the same poles and the same steps.
Preparation was the same for the state meet as it was for any other meet, he said.
“I take it easy the last few days before and don’t do anything crazy,” he said.
Chase has big goals for the future. This summer he’ll compete in some street vaults like the one in Seward on July 4, as well as the Junior Olympics, regionals and nationals. And then there’s next year’s state track meet.
“The goal is all class. It’s something I’ll strive for,” Chase said.
