Actually, they are pursuing an extreme sport - the pole vault.

Both of them used the word "crazy" in explaining why they were attracted to the event.

"I was a crazy little freshman, and it looked like fun," said Williford, now a senior. "It takes a certain person to try pole vaulting."

"It started in preschool, when I'd push little girls off tricycles and jump over the fence," said Turvey, a junior. "I've been building up to this moment since then. I played youth baseball for eight years. I was the kid in right field who forgot how many outs there were. It was totally, completely random how I got started in pole vaulting. A friend said I should go out for cross country, so I did. Coach Kuderka said, 'You ought to do the pole vault, because you're crazy.' "

Dos Pueblos coach David Kuderka rephrased his words this week.

"A better description would be they're 'less fearful' than the average high schooler," he said. "David and Daniel both recognize how potentially dangerous the pole vault is, but they're not afraid to do it."

Last Saturday they both went higher than the average high schooler. Turvey won the pole vault competition and Williford placed second in the CIF-SS Division 2 Championships at Cerritos College. Both cleared 14 feet, 3 inches.

Their next goal is to get to the CIF State Championships at Sacramento in two weeks. The Southern Section qualifying meet will take place Friday at Cerritos. Almost certainly, they'll have to go higher than 14-3. They proved they're capable during a Monday afternoon practice session at Dos Pueblos.

Williford struck first, soaring over the bar at 14-6.

"I haven't been over that since last year," he said. He had been sidelined for six months after a pole snapped on him a year ago, breaking bones in his left wrist and hand, the latter requiring surgery.

"I looked like a freshman when I started over again in January," Williford said. "Had I not been injured, I'd be at 16 feet right now. . . . Woulda, coulda, shoulda."

Williford is a compact 5-8 ½ and 132 pounds. He is able to toss himself over the bar like a rag doll. Turvey, who's 6-foot and 160 pounds, relies more on the power of his pole plant to lift himself up and over.

"They do it differently," Kuderka said, "but both absolutely love getting up in the air."

Dos Pueblos had no pole vault pit when Kuderka arrived six years ago. The event had been discarded from Channel League meets. Before Williford's freshman year, Kuderka took it upon himself to start up a vaulting program at the school, just for athletes like Williford and Turvey.

"David never would have made it as a 100-meter runner," Kuderka said. "Turvey is not a great hurdler. Put their speed and their abilities together, and they can do well in the pole vault. Track and field has events for everybody, and I want to make sure we have every event available."

The bar was raised to 15 feet during Monday's practice. Turvey charged down the runway, planted hard, pulled himself up and over.

"You're going to Sacramento!" Kuderka shouted.

It was a good day, and Turvey did not want it to end. The bar went higher. And again he got over it. Using a long pole, Kuderka measured the height. It was 15-7 ½, a full foot higher than Turvey's previous best.

Williford then tried some vaults at 15-1. On the third try, he made it. Another personal best. He bounced up after his landing and leaped into Turvey's arms.

"We're going to state! We're going to state!" he rejoiced.

Of course, those practice vaults don't count officially. They'll have to repeat those performances in the state qualifying meet. Neither boy could explain why they did so extremely well on a Monday afternoon when both were feeling tired early in the day.

"I'm in shock right now," Williford said.

Turvey had the final word.

"The pole vault is an outlet for the insanity of life."