Gianni Cook was falling.
And falling.
And falling.
Missouri –The University City senior pole vaulter had just cleared 14 feet, 3 inches. And it felt like an eternity before gravity crashed him into the waiting mat. “You fall for a while,” Cook, 18, said with a smile. “You fall for a long time.” Cook’s performance landed him the new meet record at U. City’s Charlie Beck Invitational on Saturday. It is also is the second-best vault in U. City’s incredibly rich track history. Not bad considering Cook entered the meet without registering a single jump in competition this season. Both of U. City’s previous two meets were washed out. But the 5-foot-10, 160-pound Cook promised to put on a show at the Charlie Beck meet – and he delivered. “I’m comfortable. This is my track,” he said. “My goal was 14-6. I cleared 13-9 at practice. I wanted 14 today bad. I got 14-3 today so I’m happy.” Cook began pole vaulting as a freshman. His coach was his middle school gym teacher and convinced him he would love the pole vault. Not that there was much convincing needed. Cook has always been a bit of a daredevil and the idea of sprinting down the runway, planting the pole and propelling himself so high he needs a parachute sounded like a blast. “I did used to jump off of high things as a kid,” Cook said. “I’d jump off the slides at the playground.” His vault puts him atop the area leader board. No one else on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River has cleared 14. The closest is Herculaneum’s Nathan Stamps who went 13-9 Friday at the Ste. Genevieve Invitational. Carlinville’s Jack Denby is the area leader after he went 16 feet at the Greenville CoEd Invitational on April 5. Cook’s goal is to find his way over 15-3 this spring. If he does that, he’ll have a chance at a state championship and possibly the school record which is 15-4. “With the strides I’m making now, I think I can get there in a month,” he said. more
