BAKER — Baker School track and field athletes might have missed the first two weeks of the season due to bad weather, but they have made up for it in four meets.

“I think the season is going great,” Coach Wilder Kersey said. “These kids impress me more and more each day.”

Normally the team fields more than 100 students, but this year's squad is closer to 50. Kersey believes the smaller number is beneficial.

“It’s different but it’s good because the team is young,” Kersey said. “It’s a good starting point to build up from.”

Athletes compete in either track (short-, middle- and long-distance races) or field (non-running events, such as the jumps) events.

Kersey likes what he has seen from his team early in the season.

“I have some phenomenal athletes out there,” said Kersey. “We have a really good shot at (winning) districts.”

This is the first year Kersey is coaching the team, but he said he can relate to the athletes, especially when they are having an off-day.

“It wasn’t too long ago that I was there,” Kersey said. “I just try my best to pick them up and give them some of the knowledge I have. I let them know that I am here for them."

The support doesn’t stop at the coach. Kersey said the team has quickly become a tight-knit group.

“The amount of teamwork and the bond that I see from them is great,” he said. “You won’t get that from a bigger team.”

Kersey said a few athletes have stood out so far.

“Julia Knight is young but she takes control and is a gifted athlete,” said Kersey. “Tanner Kimbrel sets the pace every practice.”

“Chris Still converted from short distance to long distance,” he added. “He works really hard.”

Kersey said that he also has a pair of sisters — Maya and Gabi Espinosa — also bring a lot to the table.

“The whole team is doing fantastic,” he added. “We just have to keep working and keep pushing ourselves.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: On the fast track

BAKER — Baker School's athletes now have their own pole vault pit.

Reviving the sport has been a long time coming for Gator track and field Coach David Oglesby, now in his 11th year with the program.

 COMMUNITY SUPPORT

“Baker deserves to have everything that everyone else has,” Oglesby said. “It was my goal, when I started, to make Baker’s track program complete, and this completes us. It allows us to compete in every event."

Building a pole vault pit — laying a runway, sodding the area and buying equipment — costs about $40,000, he said. “Our community surrounded us and we asked and they answered," he said. "CCSI was a huge contributor and, as a matter of fact, they did most of the leg work when it came to getting people to contribute to us.

“Siler Concrete donated all the concrete and the work. And then the sod came from Riles Grassing. And then our school board member, Mr. (Rodney) Walker, helped us retrofit the mat — so without the community and support from the school board, we wouldn’t have it.”

WHO'S LIKELY TO VAULT

Not having the pole vault pit hurt the track program, Oglesby said. “We were losing 26 points (awarded in the pole vault) before we even walked in the gate," he said. "And then we were losing (meets) by two points or three points, and that’s not even having the pole vault.

"Now, we will have every opportunity every other school has. And we will have an opportunity to win more district championships and move more people on."

The coach expects Jon Beck, Austin Mayo and Austin Oglesby to vault for the boys. Abigail Mainor, McKenzie Lawson and Maya Hammond are likely top contenders to pole vault for the girls.

“We are still deciding and try to find the right ones,” David Oglesby said. “You can’t be afraid of it. If you are afraid of it, we don’t even want you to touch it.”

'GO HIGHER AND HIGHER'

For Beck, a senior high jumper, "the biggest challenge is just knowing your body is flying through the air and making sure everything goes right to get over the bar," he said. "I just want to go higher and higher" — all the way to state.

Mayo, a junior, said, "The biggest challenge is probably getting used to flying on a pole. My favorite part is being up in the air.”

As for his goal? “I want to do better than Jon,” he said. “Hopefully, we can do good and the people behind us will want to do better.”

Lawson, a freshman, joins pole vaulting at just the right time. “My friend’s mom wanted me to do it last year, but we didn’t have it,” she said. “So this year I decided to try it.

She enjoys the jumping, but said, "It's pretty scary.

“You have to have a lot confidence.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pole vault returns to Baker School