Robbinsville High senior Craig Hunter clears 16 feet in the pole vault at the Meet of Champions in Toms River Feb. 23, 2013.
As an athlete, a student and just a regular guy, Robbinsville High senior Craig Hunter has a solid personality that has his feet planted firmly on the ground.
But as a pole vaulter extraordinaire, the ground is the last place he wants to be.
“The biggest intangibles with Craig that make him so successful are just his attitude and his ability to be so comfortable in the air,” Ravens track and field coach Jon Hutchinson said. ”Even when he did high jump, his technique was just so fluid and easy. He has always been someone who is just very comfortable off of his feet. I always see him doing hand stands and drills in our weight room. It is just seems like second nature to him.
“He also seems to have a killer attitude and a mentality that he can always get a little better. He is driven to want to get to the next height or run a little faster and at the end of the day. That mentality makes him better overall.”
He has been better all right. In fact, Hunter has been the best in every big indoor meet he competed in over the past two years. On Feb. 23, Hunter cleared 16 feet to win the Meet of Champions for the second straight year. It was a meet record.
As a junior, he won the Mercer County Meet in record 15-feet, 1-inch, and followed that by winning Central Jersey Group I in a meet record 14-6. That was followed by two more vaults of 15-1 in the Group I meet and Meet of Champions, which were both good for first place.
This year, within 10 days he shattered his MCT record by vaulting 16-0 in the county meet on Jan. 27, and set yet another meet mark by going 15-6 to win Central Jersey Group II 10 days later. Hunter shattered the CJ II record by 30 inches.
That also gave him the unique distinction of owning sectional records in both Group I and Group II.
“I think it’s pretty cool to say I got my name in two group records, just because of the fact (it showed) I did well enough both my junior and senior years,” Hunter said. “It’s a strange feeling really, but I like it. Instead of improving on one record, I got to set another one.”
After reaching 15-6 to clinch the win and CJ II record, Hunter decided to forego the next two heights go directly to 16-1 in an attempt to set a personal record.
“I had two more events I was supposed to run,” he said. “I wanted to have a good day but at the same time I wanted to save some energy so we could get a good four by four (relay) time.
“At first I thought about going for 16 again, but I thought it was just for fun at this point, let’s see what I can do at 16-1. I just missed out a little bit. Everyone said if I was at 16, I would have made it. So I’m perfectly happy with that. It shows that my form was the same and that it was no fluke what I did at counties. It wasn’t just out of the blue.”
Hunter’s performance at the county meet had everyone talking as he became the first vaulter in Mercer history to reach 16 feet indoors. He noted that the previous day his club coach, Nick Tyson of Vertical Adventures in Hainesport, watched him jump 15 feet.
“He told me, ‘Your form is there, you just need the right push to get you going,” Hunter said. “I was pretty confident going into counties because that was a solid day for me. So I went in there for fun. I didn’t have a height on my mind, and I didn’t think it would be such a big day. I was just going huge.
“I was in a good mood. Nothing was really going on. Everything was all set in place, physically I felt great, no aches and pains. I had the mental preparation ready to do it and all I really needed to do it was keep my head on my shoulders. Sometimes when I’m going for a personal best I get a little too psyched. But physically and mentally I felt great.”
And that feeling intensified once he got over the 15-6 mark, coercing him to switch to the biggest pole he ever used.
“I had a commanding clear at that height and I said ‘OK, this is money day,’” Hunter said. “I had blown through the biggest pole I ever used. When that happens you’re supposed to go up a pole.
“I had never used the next pole up. I had never even jumped on it in practice, but I figured it was worth a shot. I went on the new pole and it just started launching me, giving me actual return. Other poles weren’t giving me that pop I needed. This one was throwing me off it. After watching the video, I could see the difference.”
And the difference between this year and last year has been significant for Hunter, which is a tribute to his hunger and desire. Often times, young athletes might enjoy the success Hunter had last year and just figure it would automatically happen for them again the following year.
Hunter had no such illusions, as he worked constantly at perfecting his craft.
“Getting a year older and being in my fourth year of competing, you kind of gain a respect for it that you didn’t have as an underclassman. You see how much it takes to go a certain amount further. That kind of humbling things allows you to take a step back and say, ‘OK, I have to work.’”
Over the past year, he worked on his strength and his steps, and by adjusting his steps it gave him more time to work on his technique as he approached the launching point. Hunter’s massive progress in just one year comes as no surprise to Hutchinson.
“One of the biggest reasons I think he has improved so much has been his workout training and his improved strength,” the coach said. “When he cleared 16-0 he was using a bigger pole for the first time and that strength and speed improvement has helped with his clearing those heights.
“We had him concentrate on getting as much speed in workouts as we could while not overworking him since he does go to different clinics and coaches to work on his pole vault technique. He has been working with essentially the short sprinters (55 meter dash and hurdlers) to work on that quick twitch speed as well as his explosiveness. Obviously, his technique has been much improved as well. He just seems so much more comfortable in the air than watching others.
At the same time, he is helping his team by participating in running events.
“Craig has absolutely been 100 percent team oriented this season,” Hutchinson said. “He has been very active running our workouts with the sprinters and has not been opposed to running in any races at all this season.
“He is one of our best 400 runners this season and has never opted out of running the 4 x 400, which is close to breaking our indoor school record. He has truly bought into the team-first aspect and is always looking for ways to help the team succeed.”
It doesn’t hurt either, that speed work helps Hunter with his specialty.
“The ultimate goal for me is the pole vault, considering that’s what I do when I go to club,” he said. “But all season is devoted to everything. I don’t just do workouts at school devoted to pole vault. I focus on trying to make myself faster period.
“Just doing the workouts with the sprinters helps me improve my pole vault speed, and at same time improve my sprinting speed. It allows me to improve everything. I focus on pole vault because of club and when I go to meets I have natural speed I can use to put up some medals.
“And,” he added with a laugh, “I like doing some other events because if you have a bad day in the pole vault you can blow off some steam with a running event.”
Hunter hasn’t had to blow off much steam these days as he is usually coming up with good days. It is one of the reasons he had the option of narrowing his numerous college choices down to Kentucky, Virginia Tech, Princeton and Connecticut.
The winner was UConn.
“When I went up there, I liked the coaches and they pretty much convinced me to go there, and I liked the computer science school,” he said. “I went up there and loved it. The atmosphere was great, I loved New England, they have a nice indoor place to train.
“Another thing was the financial end of it. We’ll pay a minimal amount between athletic money and academic scholarships. My parents have two other siblings they need to worry about with college too, so my goal was to make college a minimal cost to my parents. They’ve helped me get to where I’m at today, so want to pay them back in some way.”
Which is a perfect example of just how firmly Hunter has his feet planted on the ground.
Until he gets that pole in his hand, of course.
Robbinsville High senior Craig Hunter clears 16 feet in the pole vault at the Meet of Champions in Toms River Feb. 23, 2013.,
