For Harry Glasser, pole vaulting runs in the family. His sister Daisy was a three-time state champion while at Episcopal and later went onto vault for the University of Florida. Her mark of 12'9 set at the Bolles Mini Meet in 2007 ties her for fourth all time in Florida. Harry first picked up a pole when he was in elementary school, but never really took the event seriously. He says he only did track as something to preoccupy himself when his first love, wrestling, wasn't in season. It was a trend that continued into his 9th and 10th grade years after he transferred from Episcopal to Bolles.
"The greatest benefit I've taken from wrestling would be the warrior mentality of the sport itself. I try to be a nice person when I'm off the mat, but when I step on I need to become a stone cold killer. 
You can't ever soften in a match regardless of the situation. Now that is my default setting for every competition I'm in. There's also the great deal of strength agility and explosive power to be gained from it that has been invaluable to me."
The skills he's learned on the mat have greatly benefited him on the runway. A year ago, Glasser's personal best was still lower than his sisters. Now, that has all changed. Working with her as well as coach Ira Wellborn, his skill set has vastly improved. Everything they worked on was pole vault specific including the sprint/plant take off. Glasser says they never wasted anytime straying from the objective.
"The only reason I have improved as much as I have so far is because of my sister Daisy and my long time coach Ira Welborn. If it weren't for them, I'd probably still be jumping in that range. I'm not a very great athlete naturally and so the hard work we put in over the summer to get me faster and stronger was incredibly important. Everything drill we do can be directly seen and replicated in the vault itself. Thanks to those drills, my running and planting positions are far superior to what I was doing last year."
This year, the Bolles senior has shifted his talent solely to the pole vault and is focused on doing such at the next level. A strong statement coming from the 2A runner-up who posted a near perfect 39-1 record last year. Since Florida has no indoor season, Glasser decided to head north to North Carolina for the Durham Striders Invitational. He says it was the first meet he heard of for the year and the first opportunity he had to improve his craft.
"On the day of the competition, I wasn't warming up spectacularly but once the bar was up, my sister Daisy and I just clicked. We were on the same page at all times and made the proper adjustments as the bar got higher."
He came into the competition with an opening height of 13'6 and cleared it on his first attempt. Cleared 14'0 first attempt. 14'6 was a little trickier and took two attempts. 15'0 one try. Next up 16'0. Glasser finally cleared the mark, which was nearly a foot better than by his old personal best, on his third and final attempt. He says he was really excited, but tried not to show too much emotion.
"I knew it was a great jump, but didn't know it was tied for fifth best in the nation until I got home. It's early in the season so at this point it really doesn't hold much weight with me. The competition is only going to get tougher and tougher."
Next up for Glasser is the Jimmy Carnes Indoor Track & Field Meet. Coming into the meet he plans to work on specific technical changes. He realizes that the only meets that truly matter are in April and May when the state series and postseason roll around.
"That is the plan. After all it's only the preseason. I just want to remain consistent so that I will have an upward trajectory throughout the rest of the season. I don't have a single goal in mind for this season. I just want to set reasonable goals that I can gradually make so that I can peak at the end of the season when it matters most."
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