Post-Tribune

 

By John O'Malley, Post-Tribune correspondent

 

CROWN POINT -- Nate Malone seemed to thrive on the pressure.

Not once, or twice, but three times, the Valparaiso pole-vaulter wasn't sure if he'd clear the bar after missing his first two times at 14 feet, 14-6 and 15-1.

Yet at each height, the Vikings' senior cleared the bar and achieved two of his goals at Thursday night's Duneland Athletic Conference meet.

By clearing 15-1 -- he missed on three attempts from 15-6 -- Malone captured the conference title and broke the school record of 15 feet, which had been shared by Keith Kline and Frank Wilson.

"It was a great night for us and it was fun," said Malone after helping the Vikings win their first DAC title since 2006.

Valparaiso chalked up 154.5 points to outdistance Merrillville, which finished with 120 points and had won the DAC title the past two years.

"I almost had a heart attack when I missed my first two attempts at 14," Malone said. "That was scary. I was on a new pole -- I just got it Monday -- and had only jumped on it twice, I think, before tonight. It's the biggest pole I've ever jumped on. The runways here are beautiful and the pits are real nice, too."

Teammate Matt Hills, who was named Most Valuable Performer in the field events, won the long jump (22-1) by coming behind from sixth place prior to his final jump.

"It's pretty close to my (personal record), so I'm happy," said Hills, who has gone 22-13/4 and has already automatically qualified in the event for the state meet.

Hills also placed sixth in the high jump and ran the third leg on the Vikings' 400 relay team, which placed second.

Nick Thompson helped Valparaiso finish first and set a DAC record in the 1,600 relay, even though he lost his shoe during the final 200 meters.

"Romeo Harper (Merrillville) stepped on it," Thompson laughed.

LaPorte's Matt Miller won the 1,600 and 3,200 races, setting a DAC record in the latter with a time of 9:23.18, which broke the old mark of 9:23.20, set by Portage's Jason Casiano in 1991.

"It felt good," Miller said. "I just wanted to come out here and get at least one title, because I didn't get one in cross country."

Miller, who had the best seed time coming into the meet in the 1,600 and won the event, overtook Chesterton's David Osborn and Andrew Morris over the last 400 meters to win.

"Osborn is an awesome runner," Miller said. "He led all the way, but I felt the pace slowing during the sixth and seventh laps. I just tried to run as hard as I could those last 400 meters."

Crown Point's Denzell Miller won the 300 intermediate hurdles in a personal-best 38.92 and also helped the Bulldogs take first in the 400 relay (43.10) and finish second in the 1,600 relay (3:22.95) in school record times.

"I felt tonight like I had an obligation to get them back to state," Miller said. "I was sick (stomach virus) last year and I couldn't compete. That was a painful week for me, but tonight was an absolutely great night for me, and our whole team did well and competed well."