These are our next four bios on the final 16 boys who made it past round 1. Voting has already begun, so don't forget to cast your vote before the June 12th deadline tonight.
Gut Check Time Bracket
#5 Seed Cole Riddle vs. #8 Seed Garrett Starkey
Cole graduated in 2017 from Valley Vista and is literally 6 inches ahead of the #2 ranked pole vaulter in AZ boys' high school history. Cole vaulted an impressive 17-7 at Meet of Champions in 2017.
Cole's progression was impressive over his four years in high school. Freshman year he had a best of 11-8 and then exploded onto the AZ pole vaulting radar with a best vault of 16-6 at the Meet of Champions in 2015. And it appears the Meet of Champions is where Cole feels most comfortable because all of his best vaults, other than in his freshman season, occurred at Meet of Champions. 2016, he vaulted 16-6 there and then in 2017 got over the bar at 17-7.
In his junior year, Cole took 4th at Rotary, 2nd at Sun Angel, 2nd at Division 1 State, 1st at Meet of Champions, and 8th at the USATF Junior National Outdoor Championships.
Senior year, Cole was still in the 16-foot range winning most of the meets he was registered for until late April where he popped a 17-5 at the Desert Vista Last Chance Meet. He later bettered that height by 2 inches at Meet of Champions and also took 2nd in the nation at the USATF Junior National Outdoor Championships with a height of 17-2.75.
Cole winning Meet of Champions in 2016 (16-6).
Garrett is another impressive pole vaulter from AZ, who is tied for #3 all-time. He got over 17-0 at the Chandler City Meet. Garrett graduated in 2012 from Basha High School. Like Cole, Garret had a nice trajectory to his best high school height of 17-0. Freshman year, his best was 12-7, but then in 2010 (soph) he took first at the 5A Central Regional Championship with a vault of 15-0. In his junior season he got over 16-1.25 at the Southeast Valley Championship and then finally in 2017 he broke through to the 17-foot barrier at the Chandler City Meet.
#2 Tyson Jones vs. #8 Jaheim Brown-Taylor
Tyson JonesTyson is the #1 and #4 shot put (71-8.25) and discus (195-6) all-time in Arizona. He went to Desert Edge High School and graduated in 2018. In his senior year he only came in 2nd once in the 14 meets he competed in the shot put, while winning the rest of them. These meets include New Balance Nationals Inddor, Ironwood Throws Classic, Meet of Champions, AIA State Meet, Chandler Rotary, Willie Williams.
In Tyson's senior season he took 3rd only once in the discus(Ironwood Throws classic), while at the other 10 meets he competed in he took home the gold. Big meets like Rotary, Meet of Champions, Sun Angel Classic, and State, Tyson tossed the discus farther than anyone else on the field. And at the Agua Fria District Meet, he threw his PR of 195-6.
In his junior year Tyson was also a state champion in the shot put and took home the bronze in the discus that year at State. Again, Tyson showed his dominance in the shot put only taking a medal other than gold two times all season (New Balance Nationals and Great Southwest Classic)
Jaheim graduated this year from Chandler, so didn't get to show much of what he had left in the tank for his senior year but what he had accomplished from freshman to junior year was pretty impressive. Jaheim is the #7 and #11 all-time fastest AZ boy in the 100M (10.49w) and 200M (21.25), respectively.