Dylan Curtis's goal to beat the pole vaulting jump of 17"3' has come from a love of track and valuting

Sprinting across the runway, planting the pole in the slideway, launching yourself in the air, all to feel the high of falling through the air each week.

by London Jolie

“[This sport] takes dedication, never taking a break and knowing to always keep going. I've left a lot of my friend groups and started to focus on track and pole vault vaulter, especially because she could help mold him from the way she already knew him while he was growing up.

“I've been able to tailor everything and teach him the right progression steps for his body type so he will succeed as quickly as possible,” Stately said. “Having the abil in fulflling his dreams as he continues with the sport.

“He's been overcoming adversity and tiny little things delaying plans. The only thing that could hinder something would be losing sight of the ultimate goal,” Stately says. “Even if something bad happens, he just needs to stay focused and keep grinding it out [until he succeeds].”

Curtis recognizes these standards he must focus towards in or - to be his best and fulfll all his goals. His stepmom will always be there to guide him der to have any sort of future success. He has followed them for the past two years helping him to prepare him for what lies ahead

“My junior year was when things got serious. I opened third in the state and came back towards the end of the year, went to all the big meets, and ended up tenth or eleventh overall. It was a huge success and now going into this year, I’m currently number one.” Curtis said. “It’s always been ‘go, go, go' forever, and now I’m going to keep going until I make the world team. That's the goal this year, to make the Junior World Team.”

I fnally understood what it meant to truly glide, it got so much easier and was super exciting. I want to make kids feel like how I felt when I was younger,” Ongun said.

According to Ongun, assistant coaching has been a “memorable” experience, allowing her to form meaningful bonds with both her fellow teen instructors and her young students. She tries to act as a positive role model for her students to look up to, similar to how she looked up to her teen coaches when she was their age.

“I love working with little kids because they’re so funny and some of them have even started to like me. They’re always coming up to me and hanging around me. I just love that and fnd it so cute. It’s also rewarding to watch them progress throughout our sessions knowing that I [contributed] to that,” Ongun said.

Helping her students progress has also contributed to Ongun’s personal growth as a skater. Repeatedly coaching basic