Team sports never really cut it for Jack Whitt. He always wanted to have complete control of his success.
"A lot of people can say they play basketball, baseball, but not a lot of people can say they pole vault." Whitt explained, catching up with me after practice.
It's safe to say he has that control. His fourth straight win over the weekend has vaulted (no pun intended) Whitt towards the top of the national rankings.
"I mean it's a little scary, I have a lot of expectations on my shoulder, but my biggest competition isn't myself, it's other vaulters." The Oral Roberts junior is an overwhelming favorite for next month's national championships.
Head Track and Field Coach Joe Dial says it takes a special focus and concentration to win nationals, regardless of talent. Joe would know. He's a four time national champion himself and may be the perfect coach to help jack reach his full potential.
"It's more like a family atmosphere around here, he's not just sculpting me as an athlete but an all-around person." Whitt told me, then glanced over in Coach Dial's direction.
Whitt just turned 21, and also just got engaged to his girlfriend of eight years, Reagan.
nursing majors don't have "tons" of free time, but here's reagan at practice, filming each jump. An aspect of practice that Whitt preaches to all young vaulters is to get some kind of camera, a coach can't pick up everything that is flawed with your vault.
The attention to detail is paying off.
After the national championships come the Olympic trials. There it's not about age, it's about inches and what drives every great pole vaulter, knowing you can always jump a little bit higher.
