ITHACA, NY — Back in 2017, I wrote a story entitled “Higher Ground,” in which I profiled Nick John, a high school pole vaulter attempting to make a comeback after a hip injury. I wrote that Nick – then a senior at Ithaca High – came from an athletic family that had provided me with plenty of material over the course of many years, and I asked him if his hip injury would potentially thwart his longtime dream of pole vaulting in college. At that time, Nick said (referencing his junior year), “Last year was a bust, so I haven’t really gotten many looks from college coaches, but I’ll keep working.”
Keep working he did, and when he vaulted 14’4” in high school, it earned him a spot at the Nationals at The Armory in Manhattan.
