Hay vaults his way to All-Ohio status

The height wasn’t what Grant Hay wanted to see next to his final pole vault jump of the season. The 13-foot, 6-inch mark he cleared was good, but it paled in comparison to the 14-6 he had cleared earlier this season in setting the West Holmes High School record.That number was what he wanted to see, but in the end, Hay’s final jump was good enough to propel him to the podium in the Boys Div. II State Track and Field Meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Field in Columbus on Friday, June 1, and with that jump, Hay had become an All-Ohioan, finishing in the top eight.“It was a great year,” said Hay, a junior who was clearing 12 feet when the season began. “I was excited to get to where I was in the end. This was one of my goals coming into the season, so I can’t complain.”It wasn’t so much fun early on, as nasty weather roared in, the overcast skies letting loose with a torrential downpour which postponed the event for a while. However, Hay had gotten his initial jump of 12-6 in before the storm blew in, and getting the jitters out of the way helped calm him as he waited out the weather.“You get back up after the delay, and having sat there for a while, I was a little tight, but my warm-up jumps went well and I felt pretty good coming back out. The adrenaline kicks in pretty quickly.”After successfully clearing 13-6, and having not missed a jump, Hay got stuck on 14 feet, and all three of his jumps were eerily similar in that he had a great approach, looked clean, but just nicked the bar on he way over the top, each time coming so close to clearing the bar.“My run was fine, I had my step right on, but I just wasn’t getting my swing. I just wasn’t getting it.”While many competitors were using at least 15 foot poles, Hay had used a 14-footer all season, and thus, the swing becomes ultimately what gets him up and over the bar at that height.Hay said that with the great improvement he experienced this season, he is now ready to go to a 15-foot pole next season to give him some extra leeway.“Hopefully by next year, I will be on a 15-foot pole, so I can do the exact same technique, only a foot higher,” said Hay.As for the height at State, Hay said he was disappointed. His goal coming in was to duplicate that 14-6 height he had reached not long before State. But it was not to be, and while he was disappointed, he was thrilled to be able to stand among the elite jumpers in Div. II, and accept his medal.“I can’t change what happened now, so I will just accept it and move on,” said Hay. “It’s an honor to be able to stand up there and be a part of something that is pretty special.”