REPORT WRITTEN ON FATAL VAULT.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

A month after pole-vaulter Heath Taylor died from an injury suffered during track practice, the school district has finished one report about the fatal accident and is compiling another more detailed version.

Taylor, 17, a Hart High School junior, died April 29. He had cleared a 10-foot, 6-inch practice vault and landed on the back of the pole vault pit - but then fell off the edge and slammed his head on the ground.

Hart's pole vault pit is 3-1/2 feet thick and measures 20 feet by 22 feet - exceeding the national requirement of 16 feet by 12 feet. Although the pit was set on grass, its back side lay perpendicular to an asphalt runway.

Taylor's parents and the William S. Hart Union High School District were given copies of the one-page report about the teen's death, but the document doesn't go into extensive detail or description, said Gary Gibeaut, the district's legal counsel.

``It just contains names of witnesses to the accident, some biographical information regarding Heath and a brief description of how the accident occurred,'' Gibeaut said.

``That's all the school is required to submit, but that doesn't mean the school's investigation into the accident will stop,'' the Los Angeles attorney said. ``That will continue under my direction.''

Since the fatal vault, the pole and the pit have been in storage pending the results of the investigation. ``The equipment hasn't been used since the accident,'' Gibeaut said. ``It's not being held as evidence because there's no litigation - civil or criminal - being planned at this time,'' he added.

Carl Warren & Co., the Orange-based firm that administers Hart district insurance claims, is investigating the accident along with Gibeaut's law firm.

The California Interscholastic Federation hasn't been furnished a copy of the one-page document, and Gibeaut didn't know whether the CIF Southern Section - the Cerritos-based organization that oversees athletics at 503 high schools - would receive a copy of the next report.

``There's no requirement that we submit a written report to the CIF regarding the accident,'' Gibeaut noted.

Last weekend, pole-vaulters from a San Luis Obispo County high school wore helmets during the CIF Southern Section division finals at Cerritos College, said Hal Harkness, assistant meet director.

Three girls and one boy from Atascadero High School wore helmets designed for in-line skaters and skateboarders while they competed in the pole vault at the CIF meet, Harkness said.

``I'm certain that the manufacturer has not certified it for use in pole vaulting. Although it may offer some protection, that's not what it was designed for,'' Harkness said.

The CIF's Health and Safety Action Team would like information about Taylor's deadly vault - and details about another accident that killed a discus thrower from Palos Verdes' Peninsula High School - when it meets next month, said Dean Crowley, commissioner of athletics for the CIF Southern Section. The seven-member panel is composed of school administrators from across California.

The Athletic Injuries Committee of the CIF Southern Section also would like to read Hart High's accounting of events leading up to Taylor's death, Crowley said.

The goal of both panels is to find ways of preventing future pole vaulting tragedies. ``We need to look at some situations that would make it safer for kids,'' Crowley said. ``Maybe some spotters would be appropriate'' for the pole vault, the commissioner added.

The Southern Section also is considering publishing bulletins to athletic directors and track coaches with safety tips and guidelines. One idea is to furnish track coaches with an air horn that could be sounded to alert competitors and bystanders when a discus is about to be thrown, Crowley said.

``We want to do as much as we can to make (high school athletics) a safe environment,'' Crowley added.

Hart's pole vault area had runways in front of and behind the pit. The reason for the dual runways was to allow practices and competitions to be held from either approach if conditions are windy.

The landing pit could be placed at the end of either runway because each has its own hole where a vaulter can plant his pole during a jump.

Jan Johnson, who helps train pole-vaulters on the Atascadero High School team, said the teens wear skating helmets that cover more than bicycle helmets - thereby protecting the sides and back of the head. ``Injuries in pole vaulting are from contusions to the side or the back of the cranium,'' he explained.

Although Johnson, national pole vault safety chairman for U.S.A. Track and Field, said he has been recommending helmets for a few years, the Atascadero teens donned the headgear after hearing of Taylor's death. ``That was the straw that broke the camel's back,'' he said.

``They had a hard surface behind the pit that was exposed, and (Taylor) hit his head on it,'' Johnson said.