Oberg has Lofty Expectations

The vault itself is short, according to Ocean City High School's Michael Oberg.

"It's real quick. I don't even notice," the pole vaulter explained. "It just happens."

However, becoming an elite pole vaulter is a much longer process.

Oberg watched his older brother, John, a 2006 Ocean City graduate, win title after title as a Red Raider. His father, John, has been Ocean City's coach since 1998.

"He was a Meet of Champions champion," Michael said of his older brother. "I want to follow in his footsteps and obviously exceed and past them."

He added: "I used to watch him and I learned a lot from watching him."

Although he "messed around" when he was in junior high, Michael didn't take the sport seriously until he reached high school.

Now he is among the best vaulters in South Jersey, if not the state, thanks to the training with his father.

"Mike is pretty easy," the oldest Oberg said. "The hardest part is separating when they are my sons and when they need a kick from their coach. That's the hardest part. They are both pretty good. Michael spent a lot of time in the weight room and running."

"We argue and stuff, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Michael Oberg said. "I can go home and talk about it."

Oberg has lofty expectations this year. He has already cleared 14-feet this season, and expects to add as much as two-feet by the end of the season.

The school record is 14-6.

"I want to go 15-6 or 16. That's my goal," Michael said. "We will see. I don't care about the titles. I have a personal best I want to beat."

"He worked on shortening his approach and learned to jump on a bigger pole," Ocean City head coach Matt Perdue said. "That work all winter allows him to jump consistently in the 13s and 14s. He is going to jump at the Penn Relays and he wants to break the school record."