Michael McLeod has been waiting for this his whole life.

Ryan’s pole vaulter watched his step brother, Laith McLeod, win a state title in pole vault at Highland Park his senior year. He’s listened to stories from his dad about the old days of using metal poles and sawdust pits.

DRC/Barron Ludlum

Ryan junior Michael McLeod will compete in the pole vault at the Class 4A state track and field meet today in Austin.

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Now McLeod has a chance to join his family in pole vaulting lore when he competes for his own state title at the Class 4A state track and field meet today in Austin.

“This is my first year going to state,” McLeod said. “I’ve trained out at UNT looking at the stadium and pretending I was over at Austin. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole pole vaulting career. I want to be one of the best in the sport. It’s finally happening. My dad is going to walk out on the field with me and help me. It’s so great that it’s happening.”

McLeod has basically rolled through his junior year. He consistently won gold all season. He had no trouble winning the District 5-4A title, and while he finished second at the Class 4A Region I meet, he was able to qualify for state for the first time in his career.

“I actually coached at the middle school before I moved up here [three years ago],” said Ryan head coach Janson Head. “I knew he was jumping 12 foot as a middle schooler. I sought him out as soon as I got the job to make sure he was still here.”

With so much history in the sport in his family, it didn’t take McLeod long to catch on as a youth. He started taking gymnastics in sixth grade to help build up his strength and flexibility — two necessary attributes for the sport. He still participates in gymnastics.

McLeod finally got a pole in his hands in seventh grade, and even though he had never done it before, he was already jumping higher than some high school students.

“The second day there was a school practicing,” McLeod said. “It was the second day I’ve ever held a pole in my hand. I was in seventh grade seeing all these high schoolers trying to go over it. It came naturally to me. I went right over it.”

McLeod got even better as his career moved along thanks to the help of his father and specialty coach Hal Theodore. Both have had a tremendous impact on his career, as his father learned enough about coaching pole vault when Laith was in high school to get Michael started.

“His dad helps him a lot,” Head said. “He has a specialty coach he sees. Most of them at his level have specialty coaches. I can’t take any credit for anything he does, to be honest with you.”

Even though McLeod has jumped many times, he still gets nervous before a jump, since the likelihood for injury is high. He said attacking the fear of getting hurt and jumping so high is one of the keys to becoming a good pole vaulter.

And he’s had his fair share of nasty spills in his career.

“In eighth grade, I went up on a pole,” he said. “I went straight up on a pole, something wrong happened. I slid down, landed on the box and screwed up my ankle.”

As he’s just a junior, a decision on college is still a ways away, but that hasn’t stopped schools from recruiting him. He’s already getting letters from LSU, Harvard and some other Ivy League schools. McLeod said he plans on waiting until he knows what all his options are before making a decision, but he’s hoping to hear from Texas, UCLA and Abilene Christian.

“When you get to that level where you’re getting to the 16 range, not a lot of kids are doing that,” Head said. “He’ll have a chance for some scholarship offers. Michael can jump 16 [feet]. He’s done it in practice. He has the ability to place [at state] for sure.”

JEFF ANDREWS can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jandrews@dentonrc.com .