It was a moment that would serve as a precursor for Mike Steffenino.

In the spring of his seventh grade year, he decided to try track and field for the first time, joining his middle school team. It was at that point when Steffenino was forced to make a decision: In what event should he compete?

"On the first day of practice the coaches asked if anybody wanted to pole vault, and about 40,000 kids ran down to the pole vaulting pit," Steffenino said, exaggerating just slightly. "I said, 'Hey, why not give it a try, too?' From that day on, it was a fun thing to do."

Not to mention an event at which Steffenino quickly learned to excel, when, as an eighth grader, he broke the middle school's pole vault record.

A senior at Norwin, Steffenino is working his way up to the high school record at a school that has churned out excellent pole vaulters. He's also the favorite to win the event at today's WPIAL Class AAA championships at Baldwin High School Stadium.

At Norwin, the pole vault has roots that go back a number of years.

"We always seem to have a good pole vaulter," Knights coach Trinity Morgan said. "It probably has the deepest history of any event at Norwin."

Morgan himself was a successful pole vaulter when he was in high school, as was pole vaulting coach Craig Stanford. In the past decade Norwin has produced two WPIAL champions -- Jon Painter in 1999 and Tim Tray in 2003. Steffenino is the latest to carry the torch, a duty he takes much pride in.

"It's great," Steffenino said. "Especially because I know and I'm friends with a lot of those guys who came before me. If I don't do well, I feel like I let them down."

Steffenino, though, rarely, if ever, does. A year ago, he began making a name for himself, finishing fourth at WPIALs with a vault of 14 feet, 9 inches, and proceeded to take eighth at the PIAA championships, clearing 14-6.

This season, he took second at the indoor state championships at State College in March, and has followed it up with an outdoor campaign that has earned him a first- or second-place finish at just about every meet in which he has participated. At the Latrobe Invitational, his vault of 14-7 broke the meet record.

As good and consistent as Steffenino has been, his best vaults are likely still in front of him.

He also competed in the 110-meter hurdles, 300-intermediate hurdles and long jump throughout the regular season, and by the time the pole vault came around, fatigue typically had began to set in.

But with the team season finished -- the Knights were edged out in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs by eventual champion Canon-McMillan -- Steffenino can focus on his best event.

"We're very team-oriented," Morgan said. "We don't allow them to put themselves ahead of the team until this time of year. In the next two weeks we should see a drastic improvement."

The Norwin pole vault record is 15 feet -- set by Tray five years ago -- and Steffenino would like nothing better than to top it when it counts the most. He actually cleared 15-6 at the state indoor championships, but because it was indoor, it did not count toward the school record.