To a teenager, a decade or two can seem, understandably, like a lifetime. Just ask someone born in this century about the year 1996 and you might coax a blank stare.

Seeing as how Rittman’s Mikey McDermott was born in October of 2000, his nearly monosyllabic response to the question is understandable.

“Like, old.”

Yet the sophomore has had a hand in making the year a little significant as far as Rittman track and field is concerned. That was the most recent year a male athlete from the school qualified for the state track meet.

No longer.

And while McDermott did not place in the pole vault, he came close, finishing ninth and narrowly losing out on a podium appearance to Miami East’s Blaine Brokschmidt as a result of a tie-breaker.

Newcomerstown’s Ryan Stevens took home the gold with a vault of 15 feet, 2 inches, beating Seneca East’s Garrick Manning on a tie-breaker.

As far as breaking with traditions is concerned, Rittman looks to be a lock in continuing its streak of sending a boy to state.

“It’s never good to not place, but we’ve got two years so the sky’s the limit for this kid,” pole vault coach Jacob Morgan said. “I said at our banquet the other day, emotionally this kid is rock-solid. Nothing fazes him. This is just another day at the office for him.”

Entering the competition at 13 feet, McDermott cleared the bar with ease. He had the same results for 13-6.

The first chink in McDermott’s armor showed with the first trial at 13-10 as his leg lightly touched the bar after his body had cleared.

The second attempt elicited oohs and ahhs from the crowd as McDermott appeared to hit the bar again. It trembled but held as McDermott rose from the mat with his hands clasped to his chest in a show of silent gratitude.

“I hit the mat and I thought it was falling,” McDermott said of the visibly quivering bar. “I didn’t see it come down, so I was like, ‘Thank you, God. That was all you.’”

Ten vaulters moved on the the next height of 14-02, two inches better than McDermott’s personal record of 14-0, which he set at districts two weeks earlier. McDermott entered in ninth place as a result of his first failed trial at 13-10.

Missing his first attempt, McDermott appeared to easily achieve the required height on his second but he came down on the bar despite being well above it.

“I just needed to drive my hands more so I could get farther back in the pit and I didn’t,” McDermott said. “So like my stomach came down on top of it.”

The day ended with a miss on the third attempt, relegating McDermott to ninth-place as Brokschmidt also failed to clear but won on a tie-breaker, having cleared 13-10 cleanly. McDermott never even got over the bar as he appeared to overshoot his approach.

“That last one is probably on me,” Morgan said. “I knew he was going to put some extra mustard on that run and I didn’t even think to put him back.”

Still, McDermott, like his coach, chose to accentuate the positives concerning his day.

“The last three jumps I knew if I wanted to get podium, I had to clear based on rankings,” McDermott said. “And that didn’t happen, but my second attempt looked like a 15-foot jump and so I’m pretty happy about that.”

McDermott has plenty to be happy about, continuing the trend of athletic excellence in his family. One sister, Maddy, was a two-time state champion hurdler while the other, Katy just missed out on state in her just-completed career, finishing fifth at regionals five times. McDermott said her near-misses motivated him to place.

“I was definitely vaulting for her today,” he said.