North Oconee's Toney Vaults Into State Meet

If Isaac Toney goes on to win a state championship, or earn a college scholarship in pole vaulting, he can thank a chest cold he had as a freshman in high school.

“The only thing I could do was watch pole vaulters,” Toney said. “So I went over there and started.”

The junior exchanged soccer and distance running because he simply couldn’t compete in them with the nagging cold. Three years later, he’s one of the best Class AA vaulters in the state after he qualified second in Region 8 on Saturday at Jefferson. Toney set a personal best of 12 feet, 6 inches when he finished behind Jefferson freshman Mason Hamrick, who won the event at 13 feet.

North Oconee won the overall meet, which finished on Monday, with 154.5 points to beat out Elbert County’s 153 points.

Toney not only set a new individual mark, he did it in a region that had four of the top six ranked vaulters in the state, which sets him up well for next week’s state meet.

“So it feels really good to at least get to state out of this region,” he said.

On the high school level, vaulters are a rare breed. Many schools don’t have the resources or coaches to offer the event. Athletics directors often view the event as either too expensive, or too dangerous. If there is some interest, you’re usually by yourself.

“We’ve had meets where I’m the only pole vaulter,” Toney said.

That’s why Toney was self-taught his first two years, before North Oconee vaulters’ coach Daniel Mobley came on the scene. Before Mobley, Toney taught himself the basics when he watched YouTube videos of pole vaulting. He learned things like how to plant on takeoff, and how to swing over the bar.

“But there’s nothing like having an actual coach,” Toney said.

Mobley came in handy last week with some tips that may have helped Toney gain those six inches that helped him qualify.

“Vault is one of those things, it’s like a math problem,” Mobley said. “The faster you run, the higher you’re going to jump. After you get to a certain point, you’re going to have to have some form, that’s where he’s come a long way.”

Mobley told Toney to move back two steps on the runway, and to use a bigger pole, six inches longer.

“It’s pretty awesome to know he’s clearing the heights that he’s clearing, and he’s come as far as he has this season,” Mobley said. “At the beginning of year, he was clearing 10-6, now he just cleared 12-6 and had a real good shot at 13. He’s only a junior so he has a lot of time to get better.”

After he’s measured himself against the state’s best already, Toney is looking forward to next week.  Vaulting for a state championship as a junior, a long way from that freshman with a cold who couldn’t run.

“I thought it was fun, and figured it was way better than running four laps around the track,” he said. “I started off as a kid playing soccer, and I quit soccer for this, and I really like it.”

Other top performers at the meet for the Titans were Ian Wraga, who won the 800 meters (1:55.82), and Tripp Hurt, who won the 1,600 in 4:20.71 and the 3,200 in 9:53.17. Wraga and Hurt, along with Wes Brooks and Stafford McCurry also won the 3,200 relay in 3:24.28, which helped the Titans clinch the title.

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