Kankakee, Illinois –It’s a surprising site: A regulation pole vault runway, bar and landing pit, tucked behind a barn and corn crib on a farm east of Chebanse. It’s more shocking when you realize that this isn’t something that parents installed for an aspiring high school athlete. Instead, 65-year-old Larry LaGesse built this backyard training center for his own return to track and field competition. yes, 47 years after the Bradley-Bourbonnais High School senior set the All-City Track Meet record — with a leap of 12 feet,1 1/2 inches — LaGesse is planning to enter the USA Track & Field Masters Division meets. In fact, the array of equipment on his lawn indicates that he might just enter the decathlon competition. “Well, I moved [from Manteno] out to this little farm five years ago, and I had room for all of my hobbies: Shooting, gardening, everything,” he said. “Then, one day I was looking up something else and I saw this ‘Masters Track and Field.’ “I looked at the records by age division, and I saw the pole vaulting record [for the 65-70 age group] in Illinois was something like 10 feet. And I figured I could still do that.” more
