Kegan Mancabelli soaring to new heights in Orchard Park

Pole vaulting is one of those events that takes a lot of skill but for Orchard Park's Kegan Mancabelli, pole vaulting is in his blood.

"My dad used to pole vault," he said. "My grandpa, he was an official and he signed off on the first vault over 16 feet. He signed off on the world record."

Generations that have encouraged Mancabelli to aim high.

His love for the sport began at a young age and is growing with every leap over the bar.

"It's a little bit more special that he's part of the family and continuing something that I love," Kegan's father and pole vault coach Chuck Mancabelli said. "It's pretty neat."

Mancabelli is one of Orchard Park's top pole vaulters but it doesn't stop there.

He's been making a name for himself in the state of New York and has impressed in more ways than one.

"It's pretty cool showing up to meets and everyone's asking 'oh what's your personal record', 'oh that's pretty good, how old are you', and I'm like in 8th grade and they're like oh wow."

An 8th grader who's setting the bar. Mancabelli holds the 7th and 8th grade state records. If that wasn't impressive enough, he's been ranked as high as third nationally among 8th grade pole vaulters.

His personal best is a clearing of 13' 3 1/4" and he's not even close to being done.

"Hopefully I can keep going with this and keep getting records every year," he said.

Kegan's just one of several who are reaching high on the Quaker track as the team brought a record number to ECIC's last weekend.

"We have a little niche here in Western New York with our core of pole vaulters," Chuck Mancabelli said. "I don't know if we're the pole vault school yet, but we're trying to be."

For Kegan and the Orchard Park pole vaulting team, the sky's the limit as they keep on soaring to new heights and making history in the process.