Dillon Dechristopher said the hardest part about of learning the basics of pole vaulting was finding himself in all sorts of weird positions while airborne — like flying upside down.
But soaring over a bar as tall as a house with his head below his feet is now second nature for the Lake Mary High School senior.
And four years of strenuous training, with some bumps and bruises along the way, has put Dechristopher in a great position to attain some lofty goals. He leads all Class 4A vaulters with a best clearance of 15 feet, 53/4 inches going into this weekend’s Florida High School Athletic Association track and field state championships in Jacksonville. And is set to sign for a college scholarship with South Alabama next week.
Thin Air Vault Club director Bill Cashman, a renowned vault coach, convinced Dechristoper to try the high-flying event as a ninth grader. Cashman was Lake Mary’s head track coach at that point.
“I came out to run track and coach Cashman asked me to try pole vaulting. I started it and it never stopped. I’ve literally been training year-round four years straight,” Dechristopher said.
He is one of many Orlando area athletes who are prime state title contenders.
That list includes the state all-class pole vault leader, Bishop Moore senior Justin Kern (16-feet); Oviedo senior Sam Austin, who has run the fastest boys 800-meter time in the nation at 1 minute, 50.00 seconds, and Winter Springs junior Caroline Wells, who is top seven in the country with times of 4:44.90 for the girls 1,600 and 10:10.39 for the 3,200.
Timber Creek senior Ethan Exilhoome is No. 1 in Florida and No. 2 nationally with a 13.67-second time in the boys 110 hurdles.
Senior quarter-milers Weston Baptiste of Montverde Academy and Markevus Jackson of Kissimmee Osceola own the No. 2 and 3 national times in the 400, 46.63 and 46.84, respectively.
The top team title contenders among Orlando area schools are Bishop Moore’s boys in 2A and Mount Dora Christian’s boys in 1A. Evans and Winter Springs can make some noise in girls 4A and 3A, respectively; and Lake Brantley, Timber Creek, Seminole and DeLand are potential high finishers in boys 4A.
The two-day meet will be held Friday and Saturday at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. That venue wasn’t announced until April 1, after the FHSAA scrambled to secure a host after the University of Florida informed the association it could not host the meets due to COVID-19 concerns.
The meet schedule is much different than in years past. Two classifications will be held each day, contested as separate meets and minus preliminary races.
Class 1A competition starts at 8 a.m. Friday with field events and the 4×800-meter relays. The rest of the running finals (two heats) begin at 11 a.m. and are scheduled to wrap up with 4×400 relays at 1:20 p.m., followed by team awards.
After a break, Class 3A schools take the stage for a 4 p.m. start. The evening track finals session starts at 7 p.m. and should conclude around 9:40 p.m.
The format will be the same for Saturday, with Class 2A getting the early start and Class 4A racing under the lights.
Admission is $12 per session in advance, $15 on the day of the meet. That includes parking. Tickets must me purchased through the TicketReturn.com web site with “University of North Florida” as the search term.
This story was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor Buddy Collings ccan be reached by email at bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
