By Rich Winter

605 Sports

Platte-Geddes senior Camden DuFrain did something extraordinary at the Southeast South Dakota Conference track and field meet on Tuesday, May 9. 

Entering the meet, DuFrain, a pole-vaulter, had a personal best of 12-0. He left the meet with a 14-0 personal best, a Platte school record and into the conversation as a contender in the Class A state pole-vaulting conversation. 

“I normally warm up with a 12-6 pole,” DuFrain said. “I recently switched to a bigger pole, a 14-6 pole and that helped a lot because the pole gives me a little more throw.” 

A little?

Pole vault personal bests normally come in small increments, an inch here, three inches there and in some rare cases, six inches.

DuFrain improved by two feet on a single day.

There had been some indications that a personal best was coming. 

“The day before the SESD meet in Parkston I made it over 13-6 with a rubber-band,” he said. “I normally don’t go near as high in practice but my goal coming into that meet was to make 13-6.”

As the pole vault competition got underway last Tuesday, DuFrain said he felt good early.. 

“At this meet 12-0 came pretty easy so we moved the bar up to 13-4 and I made that on my first attempt,” he said. “I had always looked at Parker Boyden’s school record (13-3 set in 2013) and hoped I could get that but it always seemed out of reach.” 

DuFrain said he made a concerted effort that day to limit his jumps so he could save himself for the higher heights. After making 13-4, DuFrain consulted his coach, volunteer assistant Todd Strand, who told DuFrain he could go to whatever height he wanted. 

After missing his first two attempts, DuFrain put together a complete effort and just scraped over the bar at 14-0. 

“I yelled and pumped my arms on the 13-4 clearance,” he said. “At 14-0 the bar was wobbling and I got off the mat as quickly as I could and watched the bar stay on.” 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3gN1oQWLGQg

Even more remarkable than joining the 14-0 club, DuFrain is a relative novice in the pole vault, only picking up the event midway through his junior year. Prior to becoming a pole vaulter, DuFrain normally competed in the high jump and triple jump.

“My coaches needed a couple kids to volunteer for the pole vault who could score some points by making it over the opening height,” he said. “I made 9-6 at that first meet and the sport really caught my attention as something new and something I enjoyed.” 

DuFrain improved his personal best to 10-7 last year, qualified for the state meet and made the opening height at the state meet. 

He said that experience of making the state meet gave him plenty of offseason motivation.

“I saw those guys flying over 14-0 and I thought that was motivational and I wanted to be like them,” he said. 

DuFrain opened his season with a 10-6 vault achieved at one of two indoor meets. At the next meet he made 11-6 and at the next meet, after upgrading to a bigger pole he made 12-0 and came close to making 12-6.

Can the Platte-Geddes senior do it again?

“I feel like I just need to warm up more and stay loose and feel confident in what I’m doing,” he said. 

For now DuFrain is planning on attending Southeast Tech in Sioux Falls next fall to study Civil Engineering. He did leave the collegiate pole-vaulting option open saying, “Unless I get a scholarship to go somewhere.”