RAISING THE BAR: Vermilion's Ayden Bath takes aim at high jump state title

VERMILION — Ayden Bath can jump over you. Well, if you're 7 feet tall, it might be a close call. Otherwise, yep — he can make it up and over. That leaping ability will be on full display from the Vermilion senior at the state track and field championships on Friday and Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. Bath, who will compete at Kent State after high school, has qualified in both the high jump and long jump. "In the state, I don't think there are any better jumpers than him," Vermilion jumps coach Hannah Bartlome said. High jump is Bath's calling card. He's cleared 6 feet, 10 inches this year, and he was the indoor state champion in the event. Bath has the top seed height this weekend in the Division II state field. In the long jump, Bath is seeded third (22-11), behind the favorite Ryne Shackelford of Keystone and Perkins' Collin Nemitz. "I'm just trying to enjoy it and work hard," Bath said. "Thankfully I've got the opportunity to compete in college so I'm just enjoying these moments while I have them." Bartlome, who was a standout jumper at Vermilion before competing at Ashland University, saw this coming. She first saw the skinny, lanky Bath as a freshman and just hoped he was fast. The long limbs could do a lot of the work, but speed would make the long-term difference. "You already know that he's talented and a good athlete," Bartlome said. "You just hope he has the speed behind it, too." By the time Bath returned after COVID-19 canceled his sophomore spring, he was a new jumper, having grown into his current 6-foot-5 frame. As a freshman, Bath cleared 5-8. As a junior, he went over 6-4 at the SBC meet and jumped a personal best 6-5 to place third at state. "Just because I didn't have that (COVID) year, it kind of felt like an exponential growth," Bath said. "I just started seeing extreme improvements." Bartlome told the Vermilion athletic boosters earlier this year that with one piece of equipment, Bath would win the outdoor high jump state championship. That equipment is an arched jump box. It's essentially a half-moon shape that functions as a springboard for a jumper. Instead of leaping off a foot planted on the ground, Bath plants his foot most of the way up the curve of the arch. It allows Bath to soar a foot or more higher than usual. He gets a look at heights he wouldn't normally get a chance to clear, and he has more time to focus on his mid-air mechanics. "When you're on that box, it gives you that extra split second to think about getting your hips up and dropping them on the back side of the bar to get your legs out of the way," Bartlome said. "It's just like slowing time down a little bit." Bath, one year on from clearing 6-4 at the SBC championships, made it over 6-10 there this year, his current personal best. "I would say that's a little bit abnormal," Bartlome said. "He was jumping 5-8 his freshman year. To move up over a foot in the course of high school over only three seasons, that's kind of shocking. 6-10 is a very high bar for high school. It is kind of freaky." "I kind of just didn't believe it at first," Bath added. "It felt just like a normal jump, one of my 6-4, 6-6 jumps. And then it kind of just hit that it was 6-10." Bath is also peaking in the long jump at the right time. At the district meet, he set a new PR by jumping 22-0.5. He crushed that with a jump of 22-11 to finish runner-up behind Nemitz. The key in that event for Bath has simply been getting faster. If he can improve his acceleration down the runway, he can go further. "He has the most room for improvement right now in long jump," Bartlome said. "... Long jump is the smallest improvement for the largest result." Bath's slate at state will be a bit lighter than he hoped. One of the best 110-meter hurdlers in the state, he was called for a false start in the regional prelims. He's not sure whether he flinched or whether a downpour caused his foot to slip, but regardless, it eliminated Bath from his top track event. He didn't make it through in the 300 hurdles, either. "It happened," Bath said. "I'm really bummed because I know that's one of my better events. Thankfully I have more events to look on." That will keep Bath's focus locked on the jumps at state. The long jump is Friday before the high jump takes place Saturday. There might be no beating Shackleford for the state title in the long jump, but a podium finish is certainly within reach. Then Bath will get one last set of high jumps. There'll be multiple keys to Bath's outcome in the high jump. His entry height is one — he began jumping at 6-2 at the district and regional meets, keeping his legs fresh for those higher bars. He may come in at 6-4 at state if he feels good. Then, Bath can't afford misses at lower heights. Misses can turn into a tiebreaker at the conclusion of jumping. Mostly, Bath will just focus on executing the mechanics that he's honed with hours and hours of jumping, hoping to serve as inspiration for those who come after him. "I want people to look at the leaderboard and see my name and see the time and want to beat that," Bath said, "the same way I looked at the leaderboard and saw other kids' names and strived to be able to break those." Each time Bath steps up to high jump, his "head is racing" and his "heart is pounding." He has to give himself a few seconds to clear his mind and let the adrenaline fade away a bit before approaching the bar. These days, the 6-5 Bath is often approaching a bar that's taller than him, too. But he doesn't want to think about that. One of the few "lefty" jumpers, Bath just wants a clean approach, a strong left-footed plant into the ground and then composed control of his body as he flies up, and hopefully over, the bar. If he does that enough times Saturday in Columbus, he'll get to be above everyone else once more, on the podium. "I want to come out with a state title," Bath said. "I've been working hard for one."