Lipscomb vaulter Matt Deery dies in car crash
Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:51 pm
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bruce-b ... bered.html
Matt Deery will be remembered as a natural athlete who let his achievements speak for themselves
Published: Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:49 AM Updated: Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:49 AM
By Bruce Buratti | The Express-Times
It was shock and sadness that hit me when I first heard the news Wednesday that Matt Deery died in an automobile accident.
Deery was a football and track and field star at Phillipsburg High School and it was through the latter sport where I got to know him best.
Matt was a natural athlete who picked things up in a hurry; the pole vault being a perfect example. He was exclusively a hurdler and sprinter for the Stateliners his first two years in the program, then became one of the top vaulters in the region with only a month or two of training at Mike Lawryk's Vertical Assault Club in East Allen Township.
He eventually became one of the best in the state of New Jersey.
When you deal with athletes on a longtime basis like I have, certain snapshots stick out in your mind. For me, one of those was an interview I did with what was then "The Big Three" of the Stateliner track program -- Eric Opitz, Jon Harper and Deery -- in late May 2011.
Opitz dominated the throws for P'burg while Harper, The Express-Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year this past spring, starred in the distance races. Both were outgoing young men -- particularly Opitz -- while Deery was much more reserved. I remember him occasionally glancing sideways at Opitz and Harper with a bemused grin on his face.
There was one other occasion that sticks out in my memory about Deery -- and this situation I'll never forget. He was one of four pole vaulters remaining in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions competition in early June in Old Bridge, N.J., when a thunderstorm forced officials to suspend the meet, which was almost over, until four days later.
When the vaulters returned to finish the meet, the bar was set at 15 feet. Deery had already missed twice and returned to the competition with just one chance left to clear the height and stay alive in the competition. After a brief warmup, he stood at the end of the runway, vaulting pole in hand, staring up a bar set at a height he had never cleared.
He took a deep breath, set sail down the runway and made it over cleanly, extending his Warren County pole vault record by six inches and eventually finishing second for the second year in a row. Deery, who had won the Group 4 state title a week earlier, is one of just eight pole vaulters in region history to clear 15 feet or higher. In view of the circumstances, it remains one of the greatest feats I've witnessed by a high school athlete.
Yet, as good a pole vaulter as he was, Matt was just as adept as a hurdler. Good enough, in fact, to make The Express-Times All-Area first-team track and field squad as an intermediate hurdler in 2011.
Deery was just a few weeks away from entering his sophomore year at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., an NCAA Division I school in track and field. There on a track scholarship, he experienced a highly successful freshman year where he was already one of the top athletes on the team.
His future appeared bright on a lot of different levels. At least I can say I was honored to have known and covered him.
Matt Deery will be remembered as a natural athlete who let his achievements speak for themselves
Published: Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:49 AM Updated: Thursday, August 02, 2012, 11:49 AM
By Bruce Buratti | The Express-Times
It was shock and sadness that hit me when I first heard the news Wednesday that Matt Deery died in an automobile accident.
Deery was a football and track and field star at Phillipsburg High School and it was through the latter sport where I got to know him best.
Matt was a natural athlete who picked things up in a hurry; the pole vault being a perfect example. He was exclusively a hurdler and sprinter for the Stateliners his first two years in the program, then became one of the top vaulters in the region with only a month or two of training at Mike Lawryk's Vertical Assault Club in East Allen Township.
He eventually became one of the best in the state of New Jersey.
When you deal with athletes on a longtime basis like I have, certain snapshots stick out in your mind. For me, one of those was an interview I did with what was then "The Big Three" of the Stateliner track program -- Eric Opitz, Jon Harper and Deery -- in late May 2011.
Opitz dominated the throws for P'burg while Harper, The Express-Times Boys Track and Field Athlete of the Year this past spring, starred in the distance races. Both were outgoing young men -- particularly Opitz -- while Deery was much more reserved. I remember him occasionally glancing sideways at Opitz and Harper with a bemused grin on his face.
There was one other occasion that sticks out in my memory about Deery -- and this situation I'll never forget. He was one of four pole vaulters remaining in the NJSIAA Meet of Champions competition in early June in Old Bridge, N.J., when a thunderstorm forced officials to suspend the meet, which was almost over, until four days later.
When the vaulters returned to finish the meet, the bar was set at 15 feet. Deery had already missed twice and returned to the competition with just one chance left to clear the height and stay alive in the competition. After a brief warmup, he stood at the end of the runway, vaulting pole in hand, staring up a bar set at a height he had never cleared.
He took a deep breath, set sail down the runway and made it over cleanly, extending his Warren County pole vault record by six inches and eventually finishing second for the second year in a row. Deery, who had won the Group 4 state title a week earlier, is one of just eight pole vaulters in region history to clear 15 feet or higher. In view of the circumstances, it remains one of the greatest feats I've witnessed by a high school athlete.
Yet, as good a pole vaulter as he was, Matt was just as adept as a hurdler. Good enough, in fact, to make The Express-Times All-Area first-team track and field squad as an intermediate hurdler in 2011.
Deery was just a few weeks away from entering his sophomore year at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., an NCAA Division I school in track and field. There on a track scholarship, he experienced a highly successful freshman year where he was already one of the top athletes on the team.
His future appeared bright on a lot of different levels. At least I can say I was honored to have known and covered him.