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Andrew Long just wants to have fun. If can manage that, the High School South spring track team will be better off.
“In the middle of the indoor season, I just wasn’t jumping as well as I knew I could. I was thinking about it too much, I just wasn’t having any fun,” says the senior pole vaulter. “This spring I just want to have fun. I do better when I’m enjoying it.”
Long must have been having a great time at the Mercer County Championships this year. He vaulted 12 feet to win first place. At the state Meet of Champions, he improved to 13 feet and took third place.
Long became a vaulter in his freshman year at South. He tried out for the track team “just to do something new,” and his coach suggested he give the pole vault a try. Four years later, Long is not only his own coach, but has taken on instructing the rest of the school’s vaulters, as well.
Long has worked with trainers and in clinics to become a better vaulter, and has learned enough to exceed the knowledge of South’s coaches, whose expertise lies more with running events. “No one really coaches me now. I know what I need to work on to get better, and I instruct the other vaulters, too,” says Long. “It takes years to learn how to be good at this. I’m still learning, I’m still getting better.”
Long says on his best days, he’s getting close to jumping 14 feet, 6 inches. If he wants to repeat as county champion this spring, he will have to beat out more competitors, and he might need to jump just that high to win. “The spring is more competitive,” he said.
Long’s achievements have put him on the radar for more than college looking to improve its track and field program. He says he is still deciding between Virginia Commonwealth University, a division I school, and East Stroudsberg, a Division III school with a good program.
He’s got one season left before moving on to the next level. For the sake of South’s spring season, let’s hope Andrew has a lot of fun the rest of the year.
