by Henry Muzzy
Senior Aaron Schwartz qualified for nationals in pole vaulting this year! This is a tremendous accomplishment for Aaron and is well deserved.
I sat down with him to talk about how he is feeling and ask other questions regarding the sport.
When asked about how he is feeling, Aaron said, “Excited. I know the competition is crazy, so I’ll do my best and have some fun.”
Participating in Nationals will be intense. There will be tons of competitors who are all fantastic competitors. Training is intense, but it is necessary to ensure success in this prestigious competition.
Aaron told me, “There are tons of different drills to practice. Inversion drills are important because you have to go fully inverted on the jump.”
He also mentioned press drills and pole running as important training components he does in order to achieve success.
I wanted to know Aaron’s own expectations and goals.
Aaron said, “I want to hopefully tie or break my personal best. I would like a 13.3ft [jump] or a 13.6ft [jump]. My goal is always to improve.”
I moved on from the event itself and asked him some questions about him and pole vaulting. Pole vaulting is not the most traditional of sports.
He said, “When I was in middle school, I did hurdles, and I saw the high schoolers doing it [pole vaulting]. It looked really fun. I sucked my first two years, but I got better.”
With all of his success, managing his time could be a huge commitment.
He said, “I always try to do my homework during my frees. If I don’t get it done at school, I put on music and try to get it done quickly.”
Making nationals is certainly a huge accomplishment and something that the Irvington community and Aaron should be very proud of. Congrats and good luck!
Comments are closed.