High-flying brothers: Kevin Polonia and Kamoni Smith-Johnson's dynamic sports bond

Almost two months ago, Kamoni Smith-Johnson and Kevin Polonia shared the court together as Stroudsburg High School fought for a spot in the boys' basketball state playoffs. Today, the duo are high-level jumpers for the track and field team, with Smith-Johnson in the high jump, Polonia in the triple jump and both in the long jump.

Unlike the full-team aspect of basketball, track and field has a number of individual events. Naturally, that can create a rivalry as the person you may lose to could be on your own team, which is the case for the Mountie duo in the long jump. That never mattered to them, however, and Polonia recalled a time that shows not only the commitment to achieving success, but doing so together.

"I don't know who's gonna believe this, but in eighth grade, Kamoni had texted me saying, 'We should be the two best athletes to come out of Stroudsburg,'" Polonia said. "So far, I believe that we have been making it true. My name is on the gym wall for qualifying for states and he's soon to be there this year. And if we break these records in our respective events, which I'm certain we will, it'll prove that we're the best duo to come through Stroudsburg along with being two of the best athletes."

The friendship started when the two met in kindergarten after Smith-Johnson moved to Pennsylvania from New York, and the two instantly hit it off. Both have been athletic since their youth, but it was during eighth grade where they began to notice their potential as jumpers.

"We were both going for dunk attempts in eighth grade. So we knew that we'd be OK in track because it's heavily based on athleticism," Smith-Johnson said. "I knew I was decent my sophomore year when jumped about 6 feet, 3 inches on high jump during a meet at William Allen High School."

It was a similar story for Polonia, who remembers Smith-Johnson passing him the ball for a dunk during an eighth-grade basketball game. But Polonia's track story started at a younger age.

"It's always been in my mind, seeing how I can jump along with my build and my long stature," Polonia said. "People came up to throughout the years saying that I should continue my track journey in high school."

And that's what he did - Polonia joined the Stroudsburg High track team as a freshman, where he competed in the triple jump and long jump and immediately impressed his jumpers coach Nicholas Walter.

"I saw a lot of potential early on. He was able to keep up with the juniors and seniors, jumping wise," Walter said. "And then he came into his sophomore year really lighting up the board."

More: Best in PA: Three Pocono boys basketball players receive All-State selections

Smith-Johnson had an older brother who ran track several years ago, but he himself didn't join until his sophomore year after being encouraged by Walter to give it a try. When he realized his friend was joining, Polonia was ecstatic.

"I was happy," Polonia said. "He is my best friend, and he pushes me to do better. He adds the friendship I need and the drive and motivation to do better in the sport."

Motivation and competitive spirit - but never animosity. Neither feels threatened by the other's success. Rather, it's an opportunity for iron to sharpen iron.

"It's It's crazy how together they remain," Walter said. "They always like pushing each other nagging each other, but nobody seems to take it to heart, and they always upbeat and lift each other up at the end of the day. Even with the competitive nature and wanting to be better, they always are able to remain positive around each other and not hold anything against each other."

More: Pleasant Valley girls' lacrosse's perfect record is thousands of miles in the making

Their friendship is evident when you see the two in action like they were at the Cavalier Invitational at East Stroudsburg South. Outside of actively competing, they sit together and have regular conversations, laugh, and prepare for the rest of the day. Even when Polonia was preparing for the triple jump, he called on Smith-Johnson to grab the tape measure to help him mark his starting position.

Both guys won their primary event at the Cavalier Invitational, Polonia in the triple jump and Smith-Johnson in the high jump, and both medaled in the long jump with Polonia taking first and Smith-Johnson taking third. And while the competitive fire is still present, they always remained brothers.

"We're both competitive, and we both want to win," Smith-Johnson said. "We're gonna try and beat each other, but we're still brothers at the end of the day."

Polonia added how he talks to Smith-Johnson every day, and recalled how seeing him in the gym during the summertime motivated him to step up his work.

"For Christmas, he bought me creatine, which proves that he not only wants to win himself, but he also wants to see us win as well," Polonia said. "There's no one else I'd rather be with on this team."

Don't ask them who the better jumper is unless you want to see how competitive they can be, but no matter what happens, the high-flying duo plans to succeed together.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Stroudsburg track and field's Kevin Polonia and Kamoni Smith Johnson