Casey Freed Biography

Parkersburg High School / (class of 1995) Parkersburg, WV

Classification: AAA Boys

Specialty: Pole Vault

West Virginia University

Casey Freed (born on July 12, 1977) is a native of Parkersburg, WV and attended Parkersburg High School from 1993-95. He dominated the Pole Vault from 1994 through 1995 and is considered one of the greatest male vaulters in the state's history. He won two state track titles during his high school career. He was a previous state record holder in this event. He currently holds the class AAA boys’ state meet record at 17’-0”. He was named the West Virginia Gatorade Boys Track & Field Player of the Year and the McCoy Award Winner as the state’s top track & field performer.

Freed placed 4th (’94) and 5th (‘95) in the 160lb weight class at the WV State Class AAA Boys’ High School Wrestling Tournament. In 1994, Parkersburg High won the Class AAA Division with 191 points, while in ’95 they were state runner-up’s (207.50 points).

Freed competed for the Capital City Striders youth track & field club in Charleston, West Virginia. He won a gold medal at the 1994 AAU Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships at Cocoa Beach, Florida having cleared 15’-11” in the Pole Vault. He earned All-American status for his national championship performance.

Freed was offered a scholarship at West Virginia University, where he competed on the Men’s Track & Field team.

High School (1993-1995):

While attending Parkersburg High School, Freed’s pole vault coach was Mark Richards.

[Sophomore Year]

The 1993 West Virginia State Meet was postponed until late June due to a measles epidemic in the Eastern Panhandle, the mid-June heat produced temperatures of over 100 degrees on the track. Huntington’s Ray Thomas won the Pole Vault with a vault of 14’-6”, while Parkersburg High’s Casey Freed was runner-up with a vault of 13’-0”. Parkersburg would tie Greenbrier East for fourth with 34 points out of thirty-two teams.

[Junior Year]

In the 1994 West Virginia State Meet, Freed broke the state meet record with a height of 15’-1”. The previous record of 15’-0” was co-held by Parkersburg’s Jeff Core and St. Albans Dan Papp back in 1989. They were the meet’s first 15-foot vaulters.

[Senior Year]

In the 1995 West Virginia State Meet, Parkersburg’s Casey Freed was the star of the meet. He added two feet to the Pole Vault record by popping an incredible 17’-0”. Parkersburg finished with 45 points in the team standings and came in fifth out of the thirty-nine teams.

The record-breaking Parkersburg High School pole vaulter was selected as the Ray McCoy Award winner for 1995 by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association as the state’s top male track and field/cross country athlete.

Freed was also named the1994-1995 West Virginia Boys Track & Field Player of the Year.

In 1995, Freed was ranked 4th on the High School All-America Team for Boys Pole Vault by Track & Field News.

During Freed’s high school career (1993-1995), he scored a total of 28 points at the West Virginia State Meet.

Freed’s vault of 17’-0” stood as a state record for 21 years, but on February 27, 2016, Capital’s Christian Slater established a new West Virginia high school state record by clearing 17 feet, 1 inch at the Marshall University Indoor Open.

Freed still holds the class AAA boy’s state meet record in the Pole Vault, which has now lasted for almost twenty-three years.

High School Track Resume:

State Final PR's:

Pole Vault 17'-0"

State Titles:

1994 – Pole Vault

1995 – Pole Vault

Other State Places:

1993 – Pole Vault (2nd place)

State Meet All-Time Lists:

Ranked 1st and 4th All-Class All-Time Pole Vault

Ranked 1st and 4th AAA Boys All-Time Pole Vault

Ranked 1st and 3rd AAA Boys 1990's

College:

Casey Freed was an outstanding performer on Pole Vault for the West Virginia’s men’s Track & Field program in the mid/late1990’s.

His 1998 vault of 17’-5” ranks him first All-Time for WVU Men’s indoor track in the Pole Vault. He ranks second in the Pole Vault behind former Parkersburg High alumni Jeff Core for outdoor track with a vault of 17’-1”.

Freed was a repeat Big East Champion in the Pole Vault (1998, 2000). At the 1998 Big East Championship, he vaulted 5.15m (16’-10.75”), while in 2000 he vaulted 5.10m (16’-08.75”).

Casey Freed currently resides in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He is a Project Manager at EPI Insulation Co. His niece Elaine Freed pole vaults for Williamstown High School in Williamstown, West Virginia.

Submitted by Coach Mike McMillion (03/16/2018)