ORLAND — As just a freshman, Orland High School track and field competitor Logan Meredith has notched his name in the school’s athletic department history book.
On Friday, the 14-year old Meredith set a new school record with a jump of 13 feet 1 inch in the pole vault event at the Black Butte Invitational hosted by Orland High School. The previous record was 13 feet flat, set by Steve Hanks in 1969.
The Black Butte Invitational was Meredith’s first home track and field meet of his high school career, and a meet he had circled on his calendar.
Meredith has competed in just _ events thus far in 2022, after recovering from a broken leg in football in fall 2021 and a knee injury in wrestling in spring 2022. Meredith’s previous best was 12 feet 6 inches, set at Roy Crabtree Pirate Classic on March 11 in Wheatland.
With Meredith’s new personal best of 13′ 1″, he is now No. 1 in the Northern Section in the pole vault and ranked fifth nationally amongst all freshmen. The No. 2 in the Northern Section, Owen Reynolds of West Valley, has a PR of 10′ 7″.
For Meredith, overcoming the injuries he has sustained prior to the start of the track and field season has been challenging. He said the physical aspect has not been the struggle, but rather the mental aspect.
“I would say having to sit out because I love sports. Sports is a big part of my life,” Meredith said about the most challenging part. “It sucked having to sit out.”
Meredith injured his knee in the Joe Rios and his mind quickly moved on to hoping he wouldn’t miss too much of the track season.
For Meredith, the hardest of the pole vault event itself is the mental aspect.
“I like it because it’s probably the hardest event in track mentally. You have to put your trust in a pole and you’re 13 feet in the air,” Meredith said. “The hardest part is having confidence in yourself. You got to believe you’re going to get in the pits and you’ve just got to go for it.”
The physical aspect is challenging as well, as he is just 5-foot-3 competing in an event where many successful vaulters are near the 6-foot height.
Andrew Meredith, his father and coach, said he makes up for that with his speed, strength, fearlessness and gymnastic ability.
“I know my opponents overlook me so I just have confidence in myself,” Meredith said about being undersized and how it motivates him. “I know what I can do and they just think they know what I can do.”
Meredith’s start in pole vaulting began as a kid. His first memory was clearing 9 feet at the Golden West Invitational in sixth grade.
Meredith’s sister Lauryn Meredith was a pole vaulter for Corning High School, and his father Andrew Meredith has coached vaulting off and on since 2000. Andrew Meredith coached at his alma mater Galt High School, as well as in both Corning and Orland.
“He’s helped me with all of it. He’s been my coach since day one since I started,” Logan Meredith said of his father.
At Meredith’s home, they have had a pole vault set up in their backyard since 2010 when Logan Meredith was 2 years old. Logan said he attributes this strongly to his success as well.
“It’s helped a lot because I can train year-round now, so it’s a lot easier to just go in the backyard and start jumping rather than having to come to the track at school,” Logan Meredith added.
Meredith also competes in the 100-meter sprint and runs the third leg of the 4×100 meter relay, both on the varsity level, but pole vaulting is his main event.
“Logan Meredith has been competing in sports at a high level for many years, so he is no stranger to success, especially in pole vaulting,” said Orland track and field coach Lisa Reimers.
Reimers met Meredith four years ago when she first saw him compete at the Glenn County Office of Education track meet at OHS and watched him run the short distance events. She was immediately impressed.
“Even as a freshman at Orland High School, Logan is a leader among his peers. He has great respect for his teammates and coaches. Although he is ranked No. 1 in the Section in pole vault right now, he is very humble about it and doesn’t take that status for granted. He wants to continue to get faster, stronger, and better in all of his events,” Reimers added.
With still three and a half years left of competing in track and field, Logan Meredith is not settling on just breaking a school record at Orland High School. His goal is to be near the 16 or 17 foot mark his senior year, but as for his freshman year, his goal is to win the Northern Section with whatever height is needed and said he will be proud of that.
In order to get to his senior year goal, Meredith said he still needs to perfect more things at the takeoff and fix things at the top of the pole, which he feels he can accomplish.
“Logan has used the start of the season to get his confidence back after his injuries this year. This is such a physically demanding event. When you combine the inherent danger of the sport, lacking confidence can be very dangerous,” Andrew Meredith said. (Logan’s) really starting to come into form and has hopes of continuing to improve his performance.”
