As a new Spring sports season begins, a few gritty Track & Field athletes are trying their hands at a unique and often terrifying seeming event. The Williston track team is reviving its pole vault program, with Head Coach Michael Mailloux at the helm.

Williston’s track team dates back to the early 1900s, with a wide range of success at the NEPSAC DII level and a large number of athletes participating each year. It is unclear where in the track team’s history the pole vault program began, but the school holds records dating back to 1986.

Pole vault was halted in past years due to damaged equipment, in addition to drops in interest. This year, Williston has “purchased a new pole vault mat cover that will properly protect [the] mats, allowing [the team] to leave them out through the spring,” former Head Coach Chris Pelliccia said.

New Head Coach Mailloux adds that the team is renting poles from a local pole vault company, in order to give athletes the best experience possible.

“If we are going to have [the program], let’s try to do it well,” he said.

Mailloux hopes that “a small group of kids can really buy in and like [pole vaulting].”

This is already panning out for three athletes.

Jack Nolan, a senior from Scottsdale, AZ, a two-year member and senior Captain of the team is “super excited for it.” He thinks the event will be “a good way to get points at meets that [the team] has left on the table in past seasons.”

Jack had “pole vaulted on [his] track team at home but [had] not touched a pole in the last two years” prior to the group’s first practice on April 4.

Riley Platt, a junior from South Hadley, Mass., and a three-year hurdler on the track team had “no prior [pole vault] experience at all.” Her decision to try pole vaulting was a spontaneous one, made in tandem with Brooke Cherewatti, a junior day student from Easthampton and a five-year member of the team.

At the beginning of the season when Mailloux sent out an email, Brooke and Riley jumped on the opportunity to try something new.

“We both agreed that it would be fun,” Brooke said. “We were both like, ‘what do we have to lose?’ … it will be a fun learning experience.”

Brooke and Riley are always willing to try a new event. Both of them competed in the 3K last track season with no prior experience running long distance.

The new pole vault athletes are already setting goals for themselves.

“I really hope to just get comfortable pole vaulting,” Brooke said. “I want to make it an event where I can go into meets knowing I can get over.”

Riley wants “people to just do well … maybe break a school record because the pole vaulting records are super old and not even that good.”

The current school record holders are Alex Burr (9’3″ in 1999) and Curtis Box (13’7″ in 1988).

Jack hopes that the pole vaulters will find individual success this season.

“I think that’s once everyone gets the opening height and gets confident going into the pit we will have a lot of success,” he said.

Jack has already cleared eight feet at the opening meet, qualifying him for this season’s NEPSAC championship.