Zach McWhorter never planned to drop out of a prestigious East Coast university or abandon his education after just three weeks. He never planned to find himself backpacking alone in Indonesia for two months last fall. He never planned to turn pro and chase pole vault competitions in Europe and Asia. Oh, and he also never planned to compete in the world track and field championships this week in Budapest, but here he is.
Ever since McWhorter completed his degree at BYU a year ago, almost nothing has worked out the way he planned, but it all led to this: He is representing the U.S. on track and field’s biggest stage, the World Athletics Championships in Budapest. McWhorter qualified for the world championships with a second-place finish in the pole vault at the U.S. championships last month in Oregon.
