State record holder still helping his sport 30 years later –Though he lives in California, Todd Verbick still answers questions like a born-and-bred Midwesterner. When asked about his pole vault jump of 16 feet, 7 inches — still a record for a Wisconsin high-school athlete 30 years later — Verbick replied graciously. “I’m just glad someone cared enough to ask,” he said. “I don’t get many chances to talk about my brief athletic career.” For the former Waukesha North standout Verbick, the memory of his record-setting jump in 1984 remains clear three decades later. “I consider it still the highlight of my pole-vaulting career,” he said, “even though I went to the University of Wisconsin and competed at the Division 1 collegiate level.” It almost never happened – for two reasons. Verbick said he barely made the cut to be included in the Golden West Invitational, a highly exclusive and prestigious nationwide competition, and while warming up, he said he noticed a strong headwind blowing toward the jumpers as they practiced their approaches. Success in pole vaulting is highly weather-dependent, so not only would Verbick’s performance suffer, but the athletes could have been in harm’s way. “I spoke up to the officials and said, ‘Hey this doesn’t make any sense, jumping into a headwind. I think we should turn it around.’” After some deliberation, the officials listened, and Verbick went on to make his record-setting jump and take second place, besting six other athletes, including one with a scholarship offer from Stanford. “It was the pinnacle of what I achieved as a pole vaulter on a national scale,” he said. Although Verbick enjoyed plenty of success during his time at Madison – he placed second in the Big Ten conference tournament twice, qualified for the national tournament and recorded his best-ever jump of 17-5 while in college – nothing outshines the jump in Sacramento, California. more
