Harrisburg’s Beau Karst breaks SD prep boys pole vault record

The state boys high school pole vault record has been broken. On Monday at a meet in Brandon, Beau Karst of Harrisburg achieved a jump of 16’3” to take over the top spot. The previous mark of 16’1.5” was set by Wagner’s Jaden Peters in 2021.

Karst entered Monday’s meet with a personal record of 15’9.5”, which was the fifth highest boys prep jump in state history.

“I still haven’t recovered from this one yet. I still have not come down to reality. It’s unbelievable,” Karst exclaimed. “It’s what I’ve been chasing for the past four years. Every vaulter in the state of South Dakota, that’s the height they’ve been chasing, so it’s pretty special for me.”

As for how Karst got into pole vaulting, it surprisingly began in a freshman math class.

“I was about 5’4”, 110 lbs, not a speck of athletic ability in me. My math teacher was actually the pole vault coach. I got cut from the basketball team and football wasn’t working for me, so no real hope left for my athletic career in high school. I was like ‘well, I’m going to bug my math teacher about this,’ it worked out,” Karst told. “It was a blessing in disguise for me getting in that math class.”

From the first time he picked up a pole, it was, as they say, love at first jump. And his love for pole vaulting has only grown stronger as his high school career progressed.

“It means everything, literally everything. From the moment I wake up to the moment to go to bed, it’s literally all I think about,” he said. “I’m thinking about how I’m able to prepare myself for practice or a new meet. I’m a big believer in, if you take care of things outside of the vault, the vault will take care of itself.”

Karst is committed to the University of South Dakota where he’ll continue his pole-vaulting career at the collegiate level.