Alle-Kiski Male Athlete of the Week

Justin Harold

School: Kiski Area

Class: Senior

Sport: Track and field

Notable: Also one of the school's top wrestlers, Harold captured the gold medal in the pole vault Friday at the Latrobe Wildcat Invitational by clearing 14 feet.

You said athletes who compete in the pole vault have to be a little bit crazy. Why is that?

Being 14 feet in the air isn't something you want to do every day. You've got to be able to put yourself out there. It's just knowing you're going to do everything right and trusting yourself. The hardest part is that mental block. You get the slightest bit of doubt, that's when you can mess up. Two years ago, I came down and bit the crossbar and cut the inside of my lip and the bar bent back and hit my nose, so I was laying on the mat with a bloody nose and lip. That took awhile to heal, but I was able to keep on vaulting that day.

Jacob Hensh won WPIALs as a freshman last year with a vault of 14 feet. What height do you feel you'd need to win it this year?

To win it all, from what I know, I think 14-6 should be enough. Once you get up to 13 feet, it's just working your form. Once you have that down, it's all about speed and getting all the little details perfect, like keeping your arms straight when you press the pole and then getting completely inverted to propel yourself over the crossbar. I'm getting on bigger poles now and we have a couple more meets to practice with them, so I guess we'll see.