EUGENE – It was probably only fitting that Joseph Pelley had to work a little bit harder for his third 3A boys pole vault title. Rogue River’s Seth Gretz didn’t hand it over easily, making the Santiam Christian senior beat Gretz in a jump-off Thursday at the OSAA track and field state meet at Hayward Field. “It made it more interesting. It made it fun having someone to jump with,” said Pelley, who came in as the favorite and the only competitor this season to have cleared 14 feet, which was six inches better than anyone else in the field. Friday, Gretz and Pelley both cleared 13-3 with the same number of misses to that point in the competition. Both then failed on three attempts at 13-6, sending it into a jump-off. Both cleared an attempt at 13-3, moving the bar back to 13-6. Gretz, going first, scratched on his attempt and Pelley followed with a clearance for the win. “Me and Seth were cheering each other on and having a good time. It was a lot of fun,” Pelley said, adding that he used some “tunnel vision” to focus once it went to a jump-off. Harrisburg’s Hunter Jelden was ninth at 10-6. more
