Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Escanaba’s Dayton Miron (left) and John Noblet pose with their plaques from the record wall in the Escanaba gym Tuesday. Miron broke the pole vault school record with a jump of 13 feet, eight inches last June at U.P. Finals in Kingsford. Noblet had previously held the school record since 1972.

ESCANABA — It’s something he’s been aiming for since junior high, and it’s something he worked at relentlessly to achieve. Escanaba’s Dayton Miron threw himself up and over the school-record height of 13 feet and eight inches for pole vaulting on June 3 last year at U.P. Finals in Kingsford, and he’s only aiming higher this year.

“(Breaking) it was amazing,” Miron said. “Realizing (that I broke it) was an amazing experience.”

The Eskymo has been involved with pole vaulting since junior high.

“I’ve been wanting to break (the record) ever since seventh grade when I started pole vaulting, and I’ve been pretty close,” he said. “Last year, I was pretty close the whole year, and I was just super close and super close.”

Miron broke a school record and the Division 1 U.P. best record all in one go. The U.P. record was held by Mike Coyne of Gladstone since 2007, but Esky’s school record has been held by John Noblet since 1972.

“To be honest with you, I ran into Rusty Bluse last fall, and he’s telling me about Dayton. He didn’t come out and say it — that he broke it — because I thought it was already (broken),” Noblet said of holding his record at the school for so long.

Miron started early and quickly developed a penchant for record-breaking.

“I started pole vaulting in seventh grade, and in eighth grade, I broke our middle school record that was 10’3”,” he said. “After that, I just kind of had a drive to do it. Also, my dad’s up (on the Esky record wall tied for the 3200-meter relay), so I kind of wanted to be up there with him.”

It wasn’t just something he stumbled into, however. His performance has been the result of a lot of hard work.

“(I spent hours and hours) after practice just training,” Miron said. “I also went to a lot of camps — not as much as I’d like — but it must have been around five hours every day, every week.”

Noblet reflected on when he set his record.

“Well, when I set the record, I got kind of lucky,” he said. “We had a lot of decent weather. You’re not going to be able to do this in the rain or snow. I was lucky we had three springs in a row in the 70s or 80s, and that had a lot to do it.”

After breaking the records, Miron has set his sights even higher.

“Now, I’m hoping to get above 15 feet,” he said. “I’m looking toward going to Central (Michigan University) and pole vaulting there. Hopefully, I’ll be able to get a scholarship.”

Miron also acknowledged how helpful the support he’s gotten from those close to him has been.

“I want to thank my coaches, my dad and everyone that supported me,” he said.

Noblet had some parting words for the one holding the record now.

“I’d like to wish Dayton good luck, and it’d be nice to see him go 14-plus,” he said.