MILFORD — For all of the runners, the meet was over. The bleachers were empty, some team buses were leaving the parking lot and the track was clear. Alex Babits’ day of competition was really just beginning. The Howell junior pole vaulter ran for 12.50 seconds in a 100-meter prelim early in the day, then chilled out for hours in his warmup jacket and pants, passing on the early heights while the field of 25 athletes weeded itself out. Finally, 25 minutes after the conclusion of the 1,600-meter relay, Babits picked up a pole and joined the fray with the bar at 13 feet and only four other vaulters remaining. The defending champion in the pole vault was Livingston County’s final hope for an individual winner in the KLAA Lakes Conference meet at Milford high school. He easily cleared 13 feet, 13-6 and 13-9, but missed his final three attempts and took second to Grand Blanc’s Evan Berger, who went 14 feet. Berger had to win the pole vault to give Grand Blanc the team championship. With about a dozen teammates cheering him on, Berger stayed alive twice by clearing heights on his third attempt. Grand Blanc edged Walled Lake Central, 113-112. Babits missed at 14 feet, then opted to try twice at 14-3, missing both times. “I was already behind,” Babits said. “I figured I had the juice to make 14-3. I figured, why not give it a shot?” Berger also waited until 13 feet to enter the competition, but had the extra challenge of having just run in the 1,600 relay when he went to the pole vault area with his team’s championship hopes resting on his performance. With the rest of the meet over, the pole vault area became center stage, as Walled Lake Central had two vaulters trying to secure a team title. “It’s really cool,” Babits said of the atmosphere. “It was a great place to jump, too.” Babits said he passes on the early heights to conserve energy. He’s used to waiting around for long periods of timie before vaulting. more
