Running full speed down the track, he nears his jump. His heart pounds, for he knows he has to clear the 11’6’’ bar to win. Sophomore pole vaulter and sprinter Steven Kutcher lands with a thud on the mat, relieved he is still in one piece. He gets up and celebrates his record height in his pole vaulting career at 11’6’’.

This is Kutcher’s second year pole vaulting. In addition to this, he also runs sprints. He has become one of the best pole vaulters in the entire conference and, with two years left, he looks to improve every day.

“Pole vaulting is just really natural and I just treat it like anything else and strive to do my best at everything I do,” Kutcher said.

Kutcher was the JV MIAA pole vaulting champion in 2014. He enjoys teaching freshmen who have never vaulted before and helping them become competitive enough to compete in meets.

“With his help, two boys were able to qualify for championships on JV, and two girls were very close to qualifying on varsity,” head indoor track coach Robert Torres said.

Pole vaulting involves physical conditioning and fitness. Torres makes sure athletes complete a certain amount of attempts and they have to be successful at a certain number and height in order to be able to compete at meets.

“Steve is easy to work with. He always does anything you tell him, and even helps the girl vaulters too,” Torres said.

Kutcher enjoys helping younger athletes and seeing their success.

“It is cool helping people and seeing their growth and improvement,” Kutcher said.

Kutcher also participates in volleyball in the fall. He has played two seasons on junior varsity (one as a captain), and will likely move to varsity next year.

Kutcher loves sports and hopes to get a scholarship for either volleyball or pole vaulting and continue his sports career in college.

Mike Moxley is a Multimedia Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.