St. Anthony's Nicholas Lourenco soars to capture state pole vault title
St. Anthony's Nicholas Lourenco during the pole vault event at the state outdoor track and field championships on Friday, June 10, 2022. Credit: Mark McGauley
CICERO, N.Y — What’s most striking about Nicholas Lourenco’s day is just how long it is. But such are the perils of being the best pole vaulter around.
The St. Anthony’s senior waited nearly all day for his event to start on the first day of the state track and field championships Friday. Once it began he had to wait another few hours before he started jumping.
While other jumpers attempt lesser heights, Lourenco is given the luxury of waiting until the bar reaches a point that would be competitive for him, given his past success. Friday, that began at 15 feet, which was nine heights after the first competitors started jumping…and missing.
“Honestly, the wait’s really not as bad,” said Lourenco, who lives in Bay Shore. “Today was nice because the weather was really nice. It’s not as fun when it’s beaming hot. But, I just like watching everybody else jump. It gets me excited for when I’m supposed to jump….When I’m waiting, I’m not really thinking. I’m just watching everyone else jump. If they can do that, I can do it too.”
Yes, he can do it too —and much better than everyone. Lourenco’s day peaked at 16 feet, 7 ½ inches at Cicero – North Syracuse High School. It was almost a foot more than he needed to clinch the state championship, his second of the school year. His day ended nearly three-and-a-half hours after it started when Lourenco missed at 17 feet, 1 ½ inches, a mark that would have been the state record.
No worries though. He’s still state champ, and clearly the best pole vaulter New York has seen in a long, long time. Lourenco broke the state championship meet record of 16-7 set by Arlington’s Jordan Yamoah in 2011.
“Everything was just really good today,” said Lourenco, who won the state indoor championship in March.
Ward Melville’s Julian Smith came out of the second-fastest heat to take second place in the 800 meters in one minute, 53.86 seconds. LaSalle Institute’s Gitch Hayes won in 1:53.69 and Chaminade’s Liam Going was third in 1:54.04.
“This was my last race and, up until this point, I’ve just been trying to win. I’ve been stressing out about winning,” Smith said. “Today, I just said ‘it’s my last open race, I’m a senior, I’m going to go have fun. I don’t want to have any regrets.’…I wanted to come through [run the first lap] in 55 [seconds], I came through in 54. I wanted to come through the 600 [meters] in 1:23 and I came through in around 1:23. I was just really happy with that.”
On the girls' side, Glenn’s Sofia Condron was third in the 800 in 2:11.08. Allegheny – Limestone’s Angelina Napoleon won in 2:08.58.
