Pali Vaulters Raise the Bar

Greenberg, Liberatore Win City Titles

It is no coincidence that Palisades High seniors Brian Greenberg and Angela Liberatore both won the pole vault at last Thursday’s City Track & Field Championships. After all, they share the same private coach–former state record holder Anthony Curran. And they both gravitated to the pole vault from other sports. After qualifying at 10-3 along with five others, Greenberg cleared 14 feet in the finals at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa to win his second consecutive City title. Greenberg, who studied martial arts prior to trying the pole vault, separated himself from the pack after the bar was raised from 12-9 and vaulters from Marshall, Verdugo Hills and Chatsworth all failed on their attempts above that height. Having vaulted 15 feet at an invitational this season, Greenberg not only sought to repeat as City champion, he also wanted to break the section record of 16-7 set in 1969 by Los Angeles High’s Bob Pullard. Although he didn’t quite reach that goal, he did better his winning mark of 12-6 last spring. Liberatore began the girls’ varsity, the last field event of the evening, among four athletes to clear 8-0 at the prelims. Staying relaxed physically and mentally despite the long wait, she easily cleared nine feet on her first attempt. She made 10-6 on her first try to take the lead and was the only girl to clear 11-0, which she did on the second of her three attempts. “Seeing Bryan win it right before definitely pumped me up,” said Liberatore, who vaulted a personal-best 11-6 in an all-comers meet at Cal State Los Angeles in December. “I trained all year, so it was time to do what I know how to do.” Unable to train on campus, Liberatore practices vaulting three or four days a week, mixed with sprint and weight training. She started competing in the gymnastics at the age of 10 and, not surprisingly, the vault was her favorite apparatus. Liberatore attended Paul Revere Middle School, visited Curran’s camp before ninth grade and made pole vaulting her primary sport after her sophomore year at Pali. She plans to walk on at UC Berkeley next spring. Tenth-grader Camille Liberatore, Angela’s younger sister, also qualified for last Thursday’s finals but could not advance out of the first round. Qualifying for the City finals in the high jump was Tuekeha Huntley, who cleared 5′ 0″ and finished fourth.