Featured Athletes /// Tomas Gonzalez, Blair Oaks HS


 kid, who can do just about anything he wants in the sport of  “In seventh grade, my science teacher, Coach (Tyler) Schrimpf, who was a pole vaulter in college, asked me to come pole vault, so I said ‘sure,’” said Blair Oaks senior Tomas Gonzalez. “And I wound up being pretty good at it. I jumped 10 feet 6 inches in eighth grade, and I just decided to keep at it.”


Just a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. “I was pretty good at it.” Don’t let him fool you. It takes a lot more than just deciding to become one of the state’s top pole vaulters. “You have to be fearless, number one,” says Blair Oaks head track coach Nathan Holtmeyer. “I think of all the things that can go wrong when you launch yourself 16 feet in the air. It just takes nerves of steel.” And launching himself 16 feet in the air is something that Tomas has done on a few occasions; the last time, as of this writing, was this   ished that meet with a height of 16 feet and three-quarters of an inch. Indoors, he’s been even higher. His personal best at the New Balance Indoor Nationals was 16 feet 4 and three-quarters inches. “Those meets were so much fun. The atmosphere was crazy.” Gonzalez attributes his ability to his training, which has resulted in great speed, agility, and upper body strength.


“You’ve got to be fast, or you won’t jump high, that’s how I think about it. I train like a sprinter,” says Thomas. “I just keep practicing and practicing, working on my technique.” Tomas has always been a special athlete, no matter what sport he’s been into. Coach Holtmeyer tells the story.  year, he was vaulting something just over 12 feet. But he was also playing baseball, which he was very good at. But once baseball was over and postseason track began, he went from 12 feet to vaulting 


Story By: Dick Aldrich Photography By: Stephanie Brenneke, Lexi Gonzalez


40 /// May 2026


VAULTING TO SUCCESS TOMAS GONZALEZ


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