Sakioka reaching new heights

Running full speed toward a metal bar with a pole in his hands fulfilled Sakioka's need to go airborne. Sakioka has taken off ever since, becoming one of the top track and field pole vaulters in the state.

Credit goes to Sakioka, his coach Fritz Howser, and that device with the coiled springs Sakioka's parents bought 10 years ago.

"The trampoline definitely helped my pole vaulting, just with body control in the air," said Sakioka, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week.

Not many pole vaulters are talented as Sakioka when he bends that pole and launches himself above the bar. He ranks seventh in the state with a Newport Harbor outdoor record of 15 feet, nine inches.

There is only one other athlete in Orange County with a better mark this year. Sakioka faced him last week at the Orange County Championships.

Sakioka and Adam Bragg of El Toro have trained together since their freshmen year. In their final year of high school, they have battled each other for the top spot at three invitational meets.

Sakioka got the better of Bragg at the Trabuco Hills Invitational and San Clemente Invitational. At the OC Championships, the two were dead even.

Then both said no more after they were unable to clear a height they leaped over earlier in the competition. The heat at Mission Viejo High got to Sakioka and Bragg and they finished tied for first place.

"We jumped I think they counted 17 times," Sakioka said. "We jumped 15-9 and then we both made it, so then the bar went to 16-3. By that time, we were so out of gas. We jumped once at 16-3 [and missed], and then they lowered it to 16, and then we both missed both of those, even at 15-9 we missed those.