- March 29, 2024
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Winter Park High School Senior Greg Skage said it feels like time slows down when it happens. When he’s 16 feet in the air for just a couple seconds after catapulting himself skyward on a bending carbon fiber pole.
“I can tell when I did a good jump just because of how it feels – slow, quiet, peaceful almost,” he said.
Skage wants to go higher than any high school pole vaulter in Florida history – and he’s getting closer and closer to doing just that.
Many thought he’d reached the record last month at the Lake Brantley Invitational, when Winter Park High School coaches reportedly watched Skage soar 17 feet and 3 inches into the air, unofficially beating the previous state high school record by one inch.
That mark was set in the summer of 2015 by Drew McMichael of Evangelical Christian School in Fort Myers, topping a record held by Edgewater pole vaulter Mike Holloway that had remained untouched for 28 years.
School administrators at Lake Brantley High School would later confirm Skage’s vault was not accurately measured, noting that Lake Brantley’s vault bar was set at a “scholastic” position that doesn’t allow the bar to be raised above 17 feet – an unintentional error.
But that doesn’t faze the 18-year-old one bit. His personal best continues to climb, with his current PR sitting at 16 feet and 9 1/4 inches – already higher than the state meet record of 16 feet and eight inches.
For Skage, it’s back to practicing. Reinforcing muscle memory through countless vaults. Training the mind by watching Olympics film before he goes to sleep.
“There’s not one doubt in my mind that I can hit [that jump],” Skage said.
Winter Park track coach Mark Rose believes him, adding that it’s Skage’s phenomenal work ethic that’s made him one of the best pole vaulters in the state.
“I don’t care what sport you’d put him in, he’d still find a way to be in the top,” Rose said.
The Winter Park High Schooler first started pole vaulting as a freshman. The Wildcat competes in several different track events, but it was during his sophomore year when he realized how far pole vaulting could take him in life – and not just 16 feet in the air.
Skage tied a senior for second place in the state championships that year with a vault of 14 feet and six inches.
He realized that the sport was a natural fit for him.
“That’s when it hit me that this could bring me somewhere,” Skage said.
It’s already taken him to the U.S. Air Force Academy, who’s recruited him to compete in pole vaulting and decathlon after he graduates from high school.
Beyond that, Skage hopes to someday represent his country in the Olympics, vaulting over heights he’s only dreamed of while wearing the red, white and blue.
But for now the dream is the elusive 17 feet and 3 inches – a high school record that he hopes to officially capture in his final two months as a high school athlete.
Skage’s personal coach Bill Cashman said that technique and vaulting correctly are what’s most important. The added height will come, he said.
“As long as we keep working in that vernacular, record heights are going to come sooner or later,” Cashman said.
“We’ve got two months to perfect it. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see Florida’s first 18-foot vault.”
Skage knows the rules: an official from the Florida High School Athletic Association has to be there to witness the record and measure it.
He’ll get that chance this season at districts, regionals or even state, where officials will be there to watch.
The Winter Park senior realizes that the state record is something you have to work up to, slowly climbing in margins of just an inch or so with vault after vault. State high school record or not, Skage will tell you it’s all about the journey, where each PR is its own victory – and another chance to raise the bar even higher.
“People always ask me how high I want to go,” Skage said. “Every meet I go to and every time I PR, I just want to keeping going.”
“I just want to better myself and push myself.”