Clint pole vaulter Matthew Portillo fights for UIL track silver medal

Clint pole vaulter Matthew Portillo had nothing handed to him on his first trip to the Class 4A UIL State Track and Field Championships. To have a chance at a medal on Thursday, May 14, he needed a nine-inch personal best on an injured shoulder on a new, much bigger pole he had never completed in a meet. Portillo had to do it facing more pressure than he'd ever faced in the final meet of his high school career.

More: Clint pole vaulter Matthew Portillo follows family footsteps to state The hardest, steepest path is the one to glory, and Portillo found it, vaulting 15-feet, 9-inches (his previous best was 15-0) to close his Clint career as a state runner-up. "I did not expect a lot," Portillo said shortly after his medal ceremony. "My shoulder has been hurting (he separated it in basketball season), but getting up there on a new pole, my coach and my family there supporting me, it helped me a lot.

"It's an amazing day. I woke up, had a good breakfast, got to the meet and I was a bit nervous, but I knew I had put everything in, everything I worked for and I just jumped. I got there.

" More: UIL state track meet results 2026 Day 1 Texas winners by event, class His coach, Rosvel Martinez, was delighted. "What a way to go out, what a way to go out," he said. "He deserves it.