Gordon Hodges '21 Recruiting Profile

After two years of pole vaulting without a coach, inferior equipment and the poorest pole vault pit in northeast Wisconsin, I was able to achieve the height of 10’6”. Junior year was lost to COVID, and senior year was difficult to get off the ground, with a shortened season, and terrible weather conditions (and no indoor facilities in my small school district.)

Then, a renowned collegiate pole vault coach relocated from another city and decided to coach me during the last third of my senior track season. In one of the first meets after working with him, I bested by height by two feet, reaching 12’6”.

Eager to learn the technical skills of the sport, I dug in, working with the coach. With only three meets left, I was able to add three more inches. But time ran out on the season, and my high school career.

I plan to continue working with this coach through the summer and will participate in area club meets, with an achievable goal of 13’6” by autumn. I think that's just the beginning, however.

Until the opportunity to work with a coach specifically dedicated to this technical field event, I hadn’t realized my potential; the late-found success added a new path to my future plans.

I feel like I’ve just scratched the surface, I’m eager to learn more, and excited to work with coaches and teammates at the collegiate level.

I’d love to continue pole vaulting while pursing a degree in graphics and photography, a field I love. (In 2021 I art directed and executed the cover of a regional magazine with a circulation of 30,000.) But I'm also interested in exploring other academic options.