By JENNIFER JAVIER
Staff reporter
03/31/2002

CHRISTIANA -- As Kim Rusk put it, flying through the air is her thing.

The A.I. du Pont High junior is used to tumbling through the air as a diver (she's the two-time state diving champion) and as a gymnast (which she was for 10 years).

So bending a fiberglass pole and flinging herself over a bar through the air seemed natural to her. Natural enough that she set a state record in the girls pole vault at Saturday's Christiana Relays.

Rusk, in her first year of spring track, cleared 9 feet, 8 inches, breaking the previous record by a quarter of an inch. Seaford's Reagan Hastings set the standard last year.

"It's so amazing, since I've been pole vaulting for about a month," she said. "But I've been working hard. I can't explain it."

Rusk wasn't the only one with a strong showing at the first big spring meet of the year. Defending boys champion Salesianum dominated the distance events to edge out a strong Cape Henlopen team for the team title.

The Caesar Rodney girls team took second place behind Harrisburg (Pa.) High.

Salesianum scored 56 points, while Cape had 52.5. William Penn finished in third with 50.5 points. For the girls, Harrisburg had 68 points, followed by the Riders (61) and Christiana (40).

The Sals' team of Tom Lord, Mike Zeberkiwiecz, P.J. Meany and Ryan Hamill dominated the distance medley relay, finishing 15 seconds ahead of the second-place team to give the Sals their only relay victory. They were also buoyed by a second-place finish in the 3,200 relay.

But Cape stayed close with a victory in the 3,200 relay. Antonio Alford and Mike Blankenship also finished second and third for the Vikings in the long jump, and Alford and Larry Miller racked up more points in the triple jump by finishing 2-3.

The Vikings needed a first-place finish in the final event, the 1,600 relay, to stay with Salesianum but finished third behind Woodlawn (Md.) and Harrisburg.

On the girls side, Caesar Rodney won the 6,400 relay and the 800 relay, and finished second in three events to boost them.

But the biggest surprise of the day might have been Rusk, who spent the last two spring seasons playing lacrosse for the Tigers.

Her grandfather, who got her into gymnastics and diving in the first place, was also a pole vaulter and told her that her skills in the air would translate well to vaulting. Finally, at the urging of friends, she decided to give it a try.

"They kept bugging me for two years," Rusk said. "This year, I said, 'Fine. I'll try it.' I just wanted them to stop bugging me."

Her record came in her second attempt at 9-8. The next nearest competitors were unable to clear anything above 8 feet.

Needless to say, Rusk is enjoying the new sport.

"It's a fun sport," she said. "I love the whole thing. It's a neat atmosphere, real relaxing. I'm having a great time."