Deakin Volz, Paulo Benavides push toward 18

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Deakin Volz didn’t really go to the indoor track at Indiana University on Saturday looking to break the high school national record in the pole vault.

The fact is, even when Volz did break it by clearing the bar at 17 feet, 10.50 inches on his third attempt, he celebrated on the mats with his brother – jumping up and down – because he had qualified for the USATF Indoor Championships in Boston, Feb. 27-March 1.

In the 20-30 minutes that it took to get his mark measured precisely by officials to document and record it, someone ran over and gave him the news. He had broken Devin King’s national high school record, set in 2014, by a quarter inch.

“There was a lot of sitting around and waiting,” Volz said. “So I called it a day. I think I could have cleared another bar if I hadn’t sat around so long.”

Word of Volz’ clearance at the Indiana Track Club High School Open spread beyond Bloomington through texts and social postings.

Paul Benavides got a text message and he passed the info along to his son, Paulo, who was warming up to compete in the Cherry & Silver All-Comers meet in Albuquerque, N.M.

“I jumped around 7 (p.m.),” Paulo Benavides said. “Someone had texted my dad that Deakin had jumped 5.45. So I put it one centimeter higher.”

Unlike Volz, Benavides had already taken attempts at the national high school record. A week prior, Benavides concluded his competition by taking three shots at 18 feet – attempts that felt pretty good.

“I felt pretty confident,” Benavides said.

In the span of a few hours, the high school record in the pole vault fell twice. Deakin had it at 17-10.50 and then Benavides got it with 17-11.

Both of them are now qualified to compete against the best men in the country at U.S. Indoors, where they will also go head to head for the first time. Both also say they will be at The Armory in New York for New Balance Nationals, March 13-15.

Benavides is also coming to New York this week for the Millrose Games, which has a Junior boys pole vault scheduled at 2:50 p.m. Eastern. That event also includes Tommy Dial freshman phenom Mondo Duplantis.

The high school record could still change hands. Benavides (Franklin of El Paso TX) and Volz (Bloomington South IN), friends who shared time on a recruiting visit to the University of Kansas, both expect to top 18 feet soon. (Benavides committed to Kansas, Volz to Virginia Tech).

Volz went to bed last Saturday night unaware of what Benavides had done. Sunday morning he got up to go have breakfast with his grandfather and someone told him that the record was no longer his.

It was all more than Volz had bargained for anyway. He went into last Saturday’s meet with a 16-9 PR indoors, 17-3 outdoors.

The stair steps that Volz made were impressive enough. 17 feet for an indoor best. 17-4 for an overall PR. Then 17-7 to take over as US#1. He switched his pole, from 16-foot/16.9 flex to 16-foot/16.2 to take on the 5.45 bar.

Volz is competing at a meet at SPIRE in Ohio this weekend.

“I still think we’re going to both PR,” said Volz, thinking ahead to the final month of the indoor season. “Whichever one of us it is, we are definitely going to up that (record) past 18 feet.”