Raising the Bar: Barbiasz Attempts to Reach New Heights with Gators
Friday, February 24, 2012 | Men's Track and Field, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The videos are uploaded on YouTube for anyone to watch, tracing the former basketball player's path from a kid who could dunk as a high school freshman to his place as one of the NCAA's top high jumpers.
In the video dated May 31, 2008, you see Dwight Barbiasz run toward the raised bar and clear 7 feet at the New Hampshire Class I track and field championships. In a video from June 11, 2008, you see Barbiasz clear 7 feet, 1 inch. Fast forward to January 2010 and there Barbiasz is on your computer screen clearing 7 feet, 2 ? inches at a college meet when he was at Maryland.
In his brief time at UF, Barbiasz has continued to soar. At the Virginia Tech Elite Meet earlier this month, the senior from Milton, N.H., jumped 7 feet, 3.75 inches, a personal-best indoors and tying his career-best performance. The jump was the fifth-best in UF history and showed that Barbiasz is a serious threat to challenge for the high jump title at this weekend's SEC Indoor Championships in Lexington, Ky.
“He has been what we expected,'' Gators assistant coach Mellanee Welty said. “He can pretty much jump right at his PR [personal record] almost every day. Between when he got here and leading up to this meet, we've been working on a couple of things that will hopefully make the difference with him maybe being fifth, sixth or seventh in the country to maybe finishing second or winning the national meet.”
Barbiasz has only been with the Gators since early January after transferring from Maryland, where he was a three-time All-American and Atlantic Coast Conference indoor and outdoor champion as a junior last season.
Barbiasz's career at Maryland appeared to be peaking at the perfect time. He was set to enter his senior season as one of the nation's top high jumpers with an eye toward the 2012 Summer Olympics in London if all went well.
Around Thanksgiving is when his story took a drastic turn.
Maryland officials announced the school was dropping its track-and-field program due to budgetary reasons following the 2011-12 season. Barbiasz faced a difficult dilemma.
He could remain at Maryland and finish his career with a lame-duck program, or he could transfer and get a fresh start in hopes of continuing to improve and fulfill his Olympic dream someday.
Once Barbiasz made his intentions known, he didn't have a shortage of landing spots. UCLA, USC, Texas and Florida State were some of the programs to gauge his interest.
Welty, who works with the Gators' jumpers, recalls an email from Florida head coach Mike Holloway asking if she would be interesting in pursuing Barbiasz.
Does a fish need water?
“We probably watched him jump three or four times just last year,'' Welty said. “As soon as the paper came across my desk and I saw the same, I was like, 'I know this kid.' I thought he would be a great fit for our program.”
Barbiasz shared that sentiment once he visited campus and met the coaches and members of the team. He wants to win a national championship and figured joining a program that has won back-to-back men's indoor titles was a good place to be.
He also knew he couldn't return to Maryland for psychological reasons.
“It was tough how everything happened so quickly. Choosing the school wasn't too hard,'' Barbiasz said. “I wanted to come down and be part of a top program that has a chance to win a national championship. It's good to be around a team that has pretty much the same exact mindset. That boosts it – being around those people every day who work just as hard as I do.”
The transition has gone as well as could be expected considering the circumstances. In November Barbiasz was at Maryland gearing up for his final season. By December he was rushing to find another program to transfer to under unique circumstances.
He arrived at UF on Jan. 2 and instantly began work toward achieving goals he didn't believe were possible any longer at Maryland. The Terrapins are competing this season but the program officially ceases to exist on June 30.
Welty has taken a conservative approach with her new pupil considering his background.
“It was a very unfortunate event for him,'' she said. “He had to make a huge decision within a very short span of time. He is working hard and doing all the right things. I try to work myself around who he is and not try to make him what I want him to be.
“I mean, he has been around the block and he knows what he's doing and what's been successful for him. I wasn't going to try to reinvent the wheel with him.”
Barbiasz is satisfied with the results thus far. He said much of his focus is on using some of the different techniques Welty has taught him and making small adjustments to maximize his potential.
While a senior, Barbiasz redshirted a spring season at Maryland and has another year of eligibility of outdoor track remaining after this season. He is also planning to compete in the Olympic Trials in Oregon in June, hoping to add another 2-3 inches that could earn him an Olympic spot.
“He is a very talented high jumper,'' Welty said.
He's come a long way since the track coach at Milford High talked him into picking up the sport after seeing him dunk a basketball as a freshman.
“In high school I really had no idea [what I was doing],'' Barbiasz said. “But over the years I've become a student of the sport. I've been watching a bunch of films and pretty much trying to perfect it. This is what I do now, so I want to become the best I can.”
Those YouTube videos show he appears on his way there.
