Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer
A probe into Heath Taylor's fatal pole vault is being conducted by an accident investigator for the William S. Hart Union High School District.
No findings have been released regarding the April 29 incident that mortally injured the 17-year-old Hart High junior during track practice on campus. Taylor was laid to rest Tuesday at Eternal Valley Memorial Park cemetery following a funeral Mass attended by his family, classmates and track teammates.
Mike Hedtke, a claims adjuster for Carl Warren & Co., the Orange-based firm that administers Hart district insurance claims, is investigating the incident. Hedtke didn't return phone calls Thursday.
The school district's report, which will be submitted to the California Interscholastic Federation, will focus on matters like the placement of the pole-vault pit and inspections of the pole-vaulting equipment, said Bill Maddigan, director of business for the Hart school district.
Taylor had cleared a 10-foot vault in practice and landed on his back on the team's 20-foot-by-22-foot, 3-1/2-foot-thick landing pad. But then he slid off the back of the pit, and his head hit an asphalt runway.
Maddigan said that, while the sides of the pit were surrounded by grass, there were runways in front of and behind the pit. The field had dual pole-vault runways so that, depending on the direction of the wind, practices and competitions could be held from either approach, he said.
The landing pit, Maddigan explained, could be placed at the end of either runway - both of which had their own holes where vaulters plant their poles during a jump. ``In case the conditions are windy, (athletes) don't have to run into the wind. They can run opposite the wind,'' he said. ``Regardless of which way you make the setup, the other runway will still be there.''
Whichever runway was in use, vaulters would lay a long, heavy rubberized mat along the approach to give athletes better traction as they ran, Maddigan said. The other asphalt runway remained uncovered when not in use.
The accident investigator likely will collect statements from coaches and team members for his report, Maddigan added.
The CIF, meanwhile, may have its Health and Safety Action Team look into the deaths of Taylor and two other boys, a baseball player from St. Bernard High School and a discus thrower from Palos Verdes Peninsula High School.
The seven-member panel is composed of school administrators from across the state, said Jim Duel, sports information director at CIF headquarters in San Rafael.