‘I have to do this.’ Harrisburg’s Terek Logan delivers in crunch time, wins 3A pole vault state title on his final attempt

By René Ferrán  

A week ago at the Class 3A Special District 4 meet, Harrisburg sophomore pole vaulter Terek Logan got over 12 feet for the first time in his career.

He then successfully cleared 12-6 but neglected one important step.

“I forgot to flick the pole back, and it hit back,” he said, ruefully recalling the miss. 

On Thursday at the OSAA track and field championships in Eugene, Logan found himself again staring at the bar 12 feet, 6 inches, above the Hayward Field runway, facing a do-or-die final attempt.

Make it, and he was a state champion. Miss it, and he would lose to La Pine freshman Devon Kerr on a tiebreaker.

“I was like, this is it, the end of my season,” Logan said. “I have to do this.”

This time, he made sure to emphasize throwing the pole back, which almost cost him as he grazed the bar on the way by. However, the bar swayed but never fell, giving Logan his personal record and a state title.

“I got over 11 (feet) three meets in a row, so I hopped on a new pole, a 14-footer, and things started going well for me,” Logan said. “I came into the meet confident. I wanted to get over 12 feet, and when that happened, then I was like, all right, let’s see what we can do from here. I’m happy with that, and I’m ready to improve for next year.”