NEW YORK – Luke Annichiarico varied his routine a little Sunday night at the Big North National division meet and as a result there’s a new Bergen County record holder in the pole vault. The Old Tappan senior took fourth in the 55 hurdles and ran a trial in the 55 dash to help his team compete for the division title and then turned his attention to his specialty, clearing 13 feet, 6 inches on his first attempt to win the event. Then instead of going to 14-9 in an attempt to qualify for the Indoor Nationals in March, he asked that the bar be set at 15-1, which would establish a Bergen indoor record. He missed once, then aborted a second try that was erased by an equipment malfunction and then soared over the bar on the retry to break the record jointly held by Gabe Knutson of Ridgewood (2004), Greg Hoffman of Park Ridge (2009), and by former rival Eric Geider of Demarest last year. “I jumped at 14-9 last Wednesday [at the first FDU Field Event Meet] and just missed it,” Annichiarico said. “I felt really good tonight and I’d looked at the height before, so I decided to go for it.” He had great height over the bar on the record-setting attempt but brushed it on the way down. It rattled for a few moments, but stayed secure and the record was his. The required official re-measurement (for record purposes) was 15 1/2, but that was still enough to put Annichiarico into the record books. “I think hurdling and sprinting took my mind off of what I hoped to do,” Annichiarico said. “My legs were a little tired, but I’ve been looking at this for a long time.” Clearing the 15-foot barrier changes things for the future, Annichiarico hopes. “It’s hard to explain because I’ve been confident in myself all along, but 15 feet puts me in a new realm,” Annichiarico said. – See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/sports/241179911_H_S__indoor_track__Annichiarico_sets_Bergen_mark_in_pole_vault_to_set_mark_in_pole_vault.html#sthash.ZMzpZerG.dpuf
