At first glance, the kitchen has nothing in common with high school track.

Upon a deeper look, it’s the mental aspect needed in both areas that gives them a unique bond, said Kyle Rill.

“You have to stay calm. You have to stay focused,” the Springdale High junior said. “You can’t get yourself really stressed out, either at the track or in the kitchen.

“You just flow with it. That’s what I like about both of them and how they can tie together.”

Rill and fellow junior Brayden Mayo are members of the Bulldogs’ boys track team. Rill competes in the high jump, where he had a fourth-place finish Thursday during the Panther Relays in Siloam Springs, while Mayo took second place in the triple jump.

They also are culinary students in Vince Pianalto’s classes at Springdale. Mayo currently takes the one-semester Introduction to Culinary Arts class, while Rill participates in Culinary Arts II — a class that includes the preparation of sauces, advanced meat and poultry, fish and shellfish, candy making and advanced baking and pastries.

“Both of those guys can pretty much handle themselves in the kitchen,” Pianalto said. “I will assign them something and say ‘I need you to do this,’ and they get it done.”

The two can trace their track beginnings to their junior high days. Rill started in eighth grade and competed in the high jump in meets against ninth-graders, while Mayo had his shot a year later and shined in the triple jump.

Springdale coach Britt James is thankful to have the pair available in what he considers a rebuilding process of the Red’Dogs’ track program. The only problem is the two must split their springtime athletic activities between track and off season football, and it hampers any consistency they can build in their respective events.

“We try to get them whenever we can,” James said. “Brayden came out right before the indoor meet and triple jumped 40 feet. Since that time, he’s mostly in football and hadn’t jumped in many meets.

“Kyle is a multi-athlete guy, but he really wants to work on the high jump. He hasn’t worked on it as much as he needs to. I think he could be a 6-foot jumper, which could place him in every meet.”

Their backgrounds in cooking go much deeper than that. The two of them possess Italian roots, and that love for cooking showed up at an early stage, which also led to them taking Pianalto’s classes.

“I’ve always liked cooking,” Mayo said. “I’ve been doing it pretty much all my life.

“I figured it would be a good class for me to take. It’s a pretty easy class.”

As it was with track, Rill had a year jump on Mayo when it came to taking culinary arts, and he has made the additional teaching pay off. He will be representing Springdale when he competes in the Arkansas SkillsUSA 2013 Culinary Arts Contest, which will be held Tuesday at the Hot Springs Convention Center.

He and 21 other contestants from area schools and community colleges across the state will spend approximately eight hours preparing and cooking dishes. They will be judged by various chefs in central Arkansas, and the winner receives scholarship and prizes.

“This year, I’ve been in the kitchen for two hours almost every day,” Rill said. “So I really dove in and got my skills where they need to be.

“You have to do a salad, soup, two chicken entrees and two side dishes to go with it. I know what I’m doing down there.”

Mayo said he will not be able to go beyond his current culinary arts class because of other classes he needs to graduate next year. Rill, on the other hand, has already planned to spend a third year under Pianalto’s guidance — this time in the Pro Start I class.

Rill, however, doesn’t plan on making culinary arts his career choice right now, but he said it will be helpful for him to know in the future.

"Whenever I’m older and have my family, I don’t want my wife to be cooking dinner all the time,” he said. “I would like to jump into the kitchen and cook her something. It’s a life skill, pretty much.”

PROFILE

Kyle Rill

SCHOOL: Springdale High

CLASS: Junior

HEIGHT: 5-9

NOTABLE: Participates in the high jump for the Bulldogs’ track team, with a personal-best of 5 feet, 10 inches. … Plays safety on Springdale’s football team. … a Culinary Arts II student under Vince Pianalto and a member of the school’s culinary arts team.

PROFILE

Brayden Mayo

SCHOOL: Springdale High

CLASS: Junior

HEIGHT: 5-9

NOTABLE: Participates in the triple jump for the Bulldogs’ track team, where he took second place during the Panther Relays in Siloam Springs … Plays cornerback on Springdale’s football team. … A student in Introduction to Culinary Arts class under Vince Pianalto.