The sport is in Adam Vincent's blood, and apparently it is contagious.
After first being introduced to pole vaulting by his older brother six years ago, Vincent became addicted, quickly excelling to become one of the best in the area before medaling twice at the MSHSAA state championships.
The recent Poplar Bluff graduate will continue to soar after signing a letter of intent with Missouri Baptist University during a ceremony Wednesday at the Senior High School.
Once his commitment was official, Vincent talked about how much his brother, Aaron, has inspired, influenced and fueled the friendly, brotherly rivalry for the last six years.
Separated by three years, the elder Vincent started the trend back in 2010 when the then eighth grader picked up a pole for the first time. Two years later Adam followed in his brothers footsteps aiming to replicate him.
"He's really the reason why I picked it up in the first place," Vincent said. "He started doing it and then I thought, 'that's cool, I think I want to do that.' It just went on from there."
The rivalry intensified once Adam hit high school. He knew he had always been a decent vaulter but his newfound talent reached another height by the time he was a freshman.
"I noticed that year that I started doing better than average," Adam Vincent said. "I realized I could take this to the next level and started focusing on getting better."
Along the way, Vincent has grown right before the eyes of Mules track coach Mark Barousse.
"We were worried about him at first because we weren't quite sure what he could do, how high he could get," Barousse said. "He finally figured it out through hard work and dedication."
Slowly but surely, Vincent increased his height and staked his claim to a new personal record and a new family record. In his first meet as a sophomore with the Mules, Vincent cleared 13 feet, surpassing his brother's personal feat of 12-feet, 9-inches.
"We've always been really competitive like brothers are and when I passed him I thought, 'that's something I'll always have on him now,'" Vincent joked. "I called him right after and I think he was happy for me yet a little upset at the same time. It's been a rivalry but a pretty friendly one."
Though he wasn't able to see it in person, Aaron said he had a feeling that call and a new record in the family sport would be coming.
"When he called and told me I was proud of him but at the same time I was like, 'dang, he actually did it, he actually beat me,'" Aaron said. "There was a brotherly rivalry then and there still is, but in all honestly this is awesome to see him go on and do something I couldn't do."
Adam went on to bigger and better things the following year. As a junior he placed sixth at state after clearing 14-0 for all-state honors. This past spring, Vincent won the district championship with the same height and jumped 13-6 to win the SEMO North Conference title before clearing 13-9 to place eighth and earn all-state honors again in his final high school meet.
"As a junior it was really an amazing feeling. Then to go back and place all-state again was a nice end to my high school career," Vincent said.
Throughout all four years, Vincent has been a multi-sport athlete, often sharing his time with two teams in the fall.
As a member of the Mules soccer team he scored 12 goals -- second most on the team -- and recorded a team-high 12 assists last season. He finished with 24 career goals and 17 assists.
On the gridiron, Vincent helped Barousse and the Mules as the football team's place kicker and punter. He converted 61 of 73 (83.6 percent) extra points and made 4 of 5 field goals, hitting from 41 and 44 yards in his career. As a senior he averaged 33 yards per punt with 11 pins inside the 20-yard line as well as an 81.4 percent conversion rate on PATs.
After wrapping up a stellar career with the Mules, Vincent got the call from Missouri Baptist track coach Mark Sissom three weeks ago. He had been contacted by a few other schools but wasn't expecting to hear what Sissom had to say.
"He called me when I was on vacation and called him a couple days after I got back. He said he'd give me a scholarship and almost immediately I was in," he said. "I went up there and visited, fell in love with the campus and decided that was the place for me."
With a personal-best vault of 14-6, Vincent said there is much more room for improvement, but likes his chances at making a significant influence right away with the Spartans.
"I feel like I can go and make an impact on the place almost immediately. Coach said their record is 13-6, so hopefully I'm going to beat that in my first meet," Adam said. "It's been the greatest experience of my life as an athlete at Poplar Bluff and hopefully Missouri Baptist is even better."