The decision went to the scorecard after neither Anthony Amodio nor Jordan Romecki cleared 14’6″. I’m not sure if either of the athletes knew who was ahead at that time, but the fans and coaches from Archbishop McCarthy in the stands certainly knew. Anthony Amodio had just won the FHSAA 2A statepole vault crown at Showalter Field in Winter Park.
This was truly inspiration as earlier in the competition, Amodio’s teammate, Lee Milam, hopped up to the pit and placed his pole in the pit for what appeared to be an intentional miss. It turns out that Milam had injured his heel during the week leading up to the state championships and wanted to take his last high school attempt on one leg. The crowd applauded Milam’s gesture and he was able to hold his head high after such a disappointing finish, after all, the Archbishop McCarthy pole vaulters were eyeing a 1-2-3 sweep of the pole vault competition prior to Milam’s injury. By the way, a 1-2-3 sweep hasn’t been done since 2000 when South Lake vaulters Dan Shaffer, Brooks Weber, and Garrett Penton went 15′, 15′, and 14’6″ for the sweep. Archbishop did claim 1st and 3rd which is remarkable in itself.
The official boys results were:
- Anthony Amodio, 11th Grade, Archbishop McCarthy, 14′
- Jordan Romecki, 12th Grade, Cardinal Mooney, 14′
- Kyle Mailoux, 12th Grade, Archbisiop McCarthy 13’6″
- Ryan Gilroy, 11th Grade, West Shore, 13′
- Aaron Plotz, 11th Grade, Bishop Kenny, 13′
- Garrett Scantling, 10th Grade, Episcopal, 12’6″
- Pat Beane, 11th Grade, Tampa Jesuit, 12’6″
- Allen Starke, Godby, 12’6″
