‘Pole Vault in the Plaza’ springs into Mercato Saturday morning

The second annual pole vaulting competition at Mercato starts Saturday morning.

“When people are asking that means, the sport’s growing. More opportunities to see the event,” Kayden Cecil said.

Kayden Cecil and Simeon Weardon from Naples are pole vaulters in their own right.

Cecil is a pole vaulter at FIU. He said what hooked him on the sport is, “The adrenaline for sure. The ironic thing is that like I’m scared of roller coasters. But I enjoy pole vaulting over a bar.”

“It’s something that I think can show people to get out of their comfort zone,” Weardon said, “I tried this when I didn’t know what I was doing. And I thought it was fun and ended up loving it for the rest of my life.”

There will be more than 60 athletes competing in “Pole Vault in the Plaza,” ranging from beginners to best.

“When they want to grow the sport the athletes do, they do things like this,” Weardon said, “to try and bring people and say look at this amazing sport. Don’t you see it? It’s amazing!”

Pole Vault in the Plaza starts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. Professionals compete at 10:45 p.m.