Burbank, California –Earning Male Athlete of the Year honors, Indians’ senior placed seventh in state in pole vault, put together wildly successful season. Prior to the 2014 track and field season, Matthew Schwartz accumulated a list of goals he hoped to accomplish before his senior campaign was over.
One of those goals was an almost Herculean aspiration of breaking the Burroughs High school record in the pole vault.
“That was what I was shooting for, even though I knew it was going to be tough,” said Schwartz, who graduated in May. “Just with the history of pole vaulting at Burroughs, I knew that was something that was going to be hard to get.”
That coveted school record is a 16-feet-4 3/4-inch standard set by Finnish transfer student Esa Sallinen, who set the mark at a Foothill League meet at Birmingham High in 1994.
Schwartz was able to accomplish a great deal during a wildly successful senior season with the Indians, but he was never able to set the record. A fiercely competitive athlete who can be hard on himself, it is because of that drive that Schwartz looks back on his year and is disappointed.
“I really can’t complain, because I was able to do a lot of good things and I really did give it my best,” said Schwartz, who is headed to UC Berkeley. “But I put these high expectations on myself that really nobody else puts on me. I really wanted to set the school record and, if not that, at least get up into the 16s, and 16-6 was my real goal.
“It’s a little sad when you don’t reach your ultimate goal, but looking back, I really can’t complain.”
Rightfully so. Schwartz soared to new personal heights this past season, reaching a best of 15-9 to put him at No. 2 on the all-time Burroughs list. In addition, he won Pacific League championships in the pole vault and long jump, qualified in the pole vault for the Masters Meet and state competition, ultimately finishing seventh in California. more
