Farmington pole vault squad strong at Penny McKnight invite

AZTEC, N.M.

The Farmington pole vault team is four members strong.

Last week at the 2022 Penny McKnight Invitational, two vaulters met the state qualifying standards for next month’s New Mexico Class 5A state meet.

Farmington seniors Kylie Goodluck and Kayden Gonzalez met those standards, with Goodluck placing second behind Aztec’s Brianne Roberts as both vaulters cleared 9-feet, 6-inches.

Roberts finished ahead of the Farmington athlete by making fewer attempts in clearing that height.

“It’s really exciting because this is something I love doing,” Goodluck said. “And it’s enjoyable for me. I haven’t done it for very long, so getting up to these heights is really exciting.”

Friday’s 9-06 effort matched Goodluck’s previous best, a mark she hit during last year’s state meet.

“This is my second year vaulting for FHS,” the Diné athlete said. “I started out this year at my PR of 9-06, and I’m gradually getting better.”

In the boys’ pole vault, Gonzalez topped out at 12-06, setting a new personal best.

“My old (height) was 11-06, so this is real tight,” he said. “Right now, I think I’m tied for first in 5A. It’s pretty cool I got this, but there’s always room for improvements.”

Farmington pole-vaulting coach Cody Mobley said he’s not surprised that both of his athletes posted high marks at the Aztec meet.

“This past week we’ve really, worked really hard on our presses,” Mobley said. “Presses are, bottom line, help keep (the pole) straight. All of my vaulters got it down today.”

With more than a month left before the state meet, Mobley feels that both athletes will continue to get better and set new PRs.

“They’re going to continue to push through,” he said.

Goodluck is grateful to be working with an experienced coach like Mobley. In her first three years of pole vaulting, she did not have that luxury while attending nearby Piedra Vista.

“I taught myself my eighth grade year, and I made it to state jumping off the wrong foot and hopping off the wrong pole,” she said. “They (meet officials) never seen it done that way, so they didn’t know if it was legal or not. I was doing it completely backward.”

And although she didn’t have a coach, Goodluck said she made state her eighth grade, freshman, and sophomore season.

“I really didn’t learn how to do it until last year when I switched schools,” Goodluck said. “Now that that I’m at FHS, I have a coach that helped me get my PR.”

Besides vaulting, Goodluck runs in the open 100 and 200 races. She also runs a leg on the 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams.

Last week, she got into her first javelin competition, finishing fifth overall with a 78-06 effort.

“I made the finals in my first time touching the javelin,” she said. “I’m going to continue to do javelin.”

Goodluck said she’s looking to get qualified in all of her events. She is within milliseconds of meeting the 5A standards in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“I think that should come within a couple of my meets,” she said. “I feel like my running is in good form. I just need better block starts, so I’m going to work on my block starts, and that should shave a couple of seconds off my times.”

As for the pole vault, Goodluck is looking to reach heights of 10-06.

“I’ve been working on my skills, so hopefully, I can get higher on my pole,” she said.

Like Goodluck, Gonzalez has high aspirations of getting qualified for state in all his events. In particular, he wants to get qualified in 10 events.

“I think it would be cool to do that,” he said. “I’m hoping to win gold in all of my events at state.”

“He’s looking to be like a decathlete, so that’s his goal,” Mobley said of Gonzalez. “He can qualify for as many events he wants, but he can only compete in so many at state.”

He earned a second state qualification on Friday with a 21-04 effort in the long jump, placing second behind Aztec’s Tristen McNeal (22-08).

The Farmington track star has one state title under his belt, winning the triple jump with a 46-01 effort last year.

Gonzalez surpassed that mark at the recent Nike Chandler Rotary Invite, having hit 47-feet.

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