District championships, personal and school record. Sectional championships, personal and school record.
Helias senior pole vaulter Dominic Crisostomo is peaking heading into today's Class 4 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.
"He tried some new things and techniques through the season so when the postseason got here, he was ready to go," Helias coach Phil Pitts said.
In last Saturday's sectional, he cleared 15-feet to finish first and advance to state. The sectional featured five of the top Class 4 vaulters.
"We may have gotten a little preview of what the state is going to look like," Pitts said. "Dom rose to the top and he's got a great shot at doing that again (today). He's always ready for big moments."
Crisostomo is the top seed among the 16 vaulters who will start at 11 a.m. today.
"He has very big goals and he pushes himself every day to achieve those goals," Pitts said. "He makes sure he is prepared for every meet and I know he's done that this week.
"It's going to be a fun day to watch him hopefully set more records and reach the top of the podium."
Ethan Wilson is the other Helias boys qualifier. The sophomore spent much of the season competing in the 1,600-meter run before moving to the 800 late in the season. He finished third in the 800 in last Saturday's sectional to advance.
"We thought it would be a great race for him and he's taken off," Pitts said.
Wilson's strength is his ability to finish races.
"You don't worry about where he is after the first 400 because you know he's going to run a faster second 400 than he did the first one," Pitts said. "To finish in the top eight and be all-state would be an unbelievable start to his track career."
The 800 is scheduled to start at 4:50 p.m.
On the girls side, the Lady Crusaders advanced to state in six events.
Mikah Edwards led the way, qualifying in three individual events and one relay.
"I could go on and on with compliments about Mikah," Pitts said. "She works so hard and she's so competitive.
"I can't wait for people to get a chance to watch her compete because she is so talented."
The sophomore will run in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes today.
Edwards' strongest event is the 400. She had the third-best qualifying time out of the 16 state qualifiers.
"I'm really interested in seeing where she can finish, she's always been ahead in that event this season," Pitts said. "She's proven she can chase girls down in the 100 and 200, I think it will be fun to watch her maybe do that in the 400."
Despite being the sixth seed in the 100 and the seventh seed in the 200 at the sectional, Edwards picked up top-four finishes to advance.
"But she knew she could beat the girls when she got that chance," Pitts said. "Just put her on the starting line with them and let's see what happens."
Edwards runs in the anchor leg on the 4x200-meter relay with teammates Schyler Phillips, Isabelle Struemph and Sammi Ehmke.
"They've gotten better each and every week," Pitts said.
The Lady Crusaders also advanced in the 4x800-meter relay. The group - Natalie Schlup, Alexa Lamb, Riley Jaegers and Ava Morrisey - has improved its time in eight straight meets.
"In the middle of the season, we weren't even sure they would get out of districts," Pitts said. "It's been great to see how much they've improved."
Tauny Gore is among the qualifiers in the triple jump. She advanced with a leap of 35-4 in the sectional, just six inches off the school record.
"She has unbelievable technique and form, which is so important in that event," Pitts said. "I think she can break the school record and we'll see where that places her."
The Lady Crusaders are looking for a top-15 finish as a team today.
"If we got in the top 10, that would be great," Pitts said. "I don't know if we have enough qualifiers to do that, but getting the top 15 would be a great year for us.
"Find a way to be all-state, get a medal and if we all can do that, the team score will take care of itself."
Pitts, in his first year as head coach, said it has been a good season for the Crusaders and Lady Crusaders.
"I've been very pleased," Pitts said. "We've tried some different things this season, we've put people in different events and they responded and worked hard every day and adjusted to the new things.
"We saw a lot of personal records this season and we've got about 98 percent of our team coming back," Pitts said. "It was a productive first season for me as a coach and I can see things getting better next year."
This will be the first appearance at the state championships for all of Helias' qualifiers.