Aidan Raney, a senior at Lexington High School, has committed to Bowdoin College to compete in track and field. Although he initially pursued baseball, Raney soon discovered that track was his calling, switching during his freshman year. Since then, he has competed for LHS in many different track events but specializes in pole vaulting.
Raney highlights how he enjoys the team spirit that comes with the sport.
“The team is [around] 200 people in total, across both genders. I have a lot of friends that I see in my classes, and because so many people are on the team, it feels like we’re competing for something so much bigger,” Raney said.
To stay on top of his game, Raney trains both in and out of the season for two hours every day. He dedicates his time not only to pole vaulting but to others as well. Raney has competed in numerous competitions, his most memorable being the state meet during his sophomore year, which pushed him to achieve a personal best.
“I had been stuck at the same height for a long time, but I was able to hit a new personal best at the championship meet. Everyone else was doing good, so I had to match them if I wanted to score as many points as possible. And on my last attempt, I did,” Raney said.
While the recruiting process for Bowdoin began in the summer before Raney’s junior year, it did not gain momentum until the winter, when he got offers from various colleges. In the fall of his senior year, Raney committed to Bowdoin. Since Bowdoin is a Division III school, admission is not automatic, and he has not yet been directly admitted.
“There’s still the caveat that I have to be a good student and not have any red flags on my application,” Raney said.
Like all athletes, Raney has faced challenges at points in his career, but he believes that failure is inevitable and that learning from mistakes is crucial.
“How you frame everything, especially in pole vault, is a mental game, because pole vault is unique in that you have to end after missing three times. You’re bound to fail eventually, and you just have to be able to take that as a learning moment and not make it bigger than it is. Everything that went wrong should be taken as a lesson rather than something to be ashamed of,” Raney said.
He credits his wish to represent LHS and uphold its reputation as one of his biggest motivations.
“We are a well-known track school in the state, and being able to compete and show that our school is capable of great things in all events, not only the more common ones, adds a lot of depth to the team,” Raney said.
As he prepares to compete at the collegiate level, Raney encourages younger track athletes to stay in the present and enjoy every win: “Do not look too far ahead. I was thinking about college a lot, because at the end of the day, a very small percentage of people get recruited. I found myself stressing over my progression, and even if I won the meet, I would not let myself fully enjoy the moment. I wish I could have been a little more present and thinking about how I was that day, not just in context to the future.”
