The Tioga Bulldogs Track and Field Team’s lone representative in pole vaulting, Jayson Stogner, is using the summer season to make sure he reaches his peak for his senior year.
Stogner most recently competed at the 2025 USA Track & Field National Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships in Savannah, Georgia, from July 2127.
“I love competing with athletes from across the country,” Stogner said. “I recognized some of the guys from competing over the years, and I had a friend that was there with me vaulting, [but] it was really cool to be able to go to a different state and compete because that's one of the first times I've been able to go somewhere, like Savannah, to compete. It was a lot of fun, and I was blessed to have that opportunity.”
He returns for his senior season as one of UIL’s top pole vaulters after finishing in the Top 10 at the UIL 2A Region 2 Regional Track & Field Meet in April and said he plans to use everything he’s learned this summer to make it to Austin next spring.
“I hope it gives me the best shot possible to make a run at state,” he said. “I've always wanted to compete at a state meet, and I've always wanted one of the big UIL medals. This past year was my first time making it out of district, and it was a pretty big accomplishment to make it to regionals, but the work’s not done.”
He added that breaking Tioga’s pole-vaulting record of 12-feet-6-inches is on his list of goals for the upcoming season.
Stogner, who comes from a long line of pole vaulters, credited his father Troy Horton, as his inspiration to take up the sport.
“When I saw him go vault my seventh-grade year, I caught the bug for it, and I was like, ‘I want to do it,’” he said. “Ever since then, we’ve been jumping probably once or twice a week, going to my club, [Texas Express], and staying in the gym doing pole vault-specific exercises.”
Stogner’s great uncle Glenn Engelland was once the pole-vaulting record holder for the Wildcats of Kansas State University.
Horton said it’s been a joy sharing a sport he loves with his son and watching him blossom in it.
“It can be challenging at times, trying to coach a family member, but at the same time, watching him commit himself to the strength and speed and those types of things that make you a better vaulter has been amazing,” he said. “His technique's been good for a while, but now he's finally understanding I've got to be fast and strong, and that's the difference between jumping average bars and jumping big bars and being competitive at the national level.”
Stogner also qualified to compete at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation’s 2025 Summer Games of Texas in College Station that started Thursday and runs through Sunday.
“It was really cool when I found out I could go jump out at Texas A&M, because they have really nice facilities down in College Station,” he said. “It's a really good atmosphere, and that gives me another opportunity to show colleges and myself that I'm ready for the UIL season, because that's really what summer track is about.”
Horton said Stogner already has all the tools he needs to compete at the upcoming event.
“The hay is in the barn,” he said. “Now, it's time to just trust your training and go compete, so we're not going to do anything special other than what we’ve worked on all year and then let the chips fall where they may. … It's just a matter of saying, ‘OK, the work's been done, trust your training and let's go compete, and see how high of a bar we can get over.’”
