<p>At this time next year, Connor Walsh will be completing his freshman year at Purdue as a mechanical engineering major.</p>
<p>Raising the bar will be exclusively about academics, not pole vaulting.</p>
<p>Years of focusing on improving his strength, speed and vaulting form likely come to an end after this season for Walsh, a Center Grove senior who has been coached by his father, Kevin, since elementary school.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>A regional qualifier a year ago with what was a personal outdoor best of 12 feet, 6 inches, Walsh looks to make the most of his final season working with his dad and representing the Trojans.</p>
<p>Walsh broke his own outdoor standard this season by making it over 13 feet at the Charlie Riley Invitational at North Central. He cleared the same height with a third-place effort at the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference meet at Warren Central.</p>
<p>Kevin Walsh was a 1987 Martinsville graduate who placed fourth in the pole vault at the state meet his senior season. He competed for vPurdue as a freshman walk-on and is in his 10th season coaching the event for the Center Grove boys program.</p>
<p>“I’ve been working with my dad since, I would say third grade,” Connor Walsh said. “I think he’s definitely an influence in why I do it. He knows what he’s doing and has coached 15-foot vaulters before.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we butt heads every once in a while, but at the end of the day we go home and he’s still my dad. It’s a good working relationship.”</p>
<p>In March, Walsh cleared a personal best of 13-6 at an indoor meet at the University of Indianapolis. He hopes to be above 14 feet by the sectional meet.</p>
<p>At 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, Walsh isn’t the typical successful high school pole vaulter.</p>
<p>Though strong for his size — he bench-presses as much as 200 pounds — Walsh’s years of working on proper technique are what sets him apart.</p>
<p>“It’s probably different for each kid. For Connor, we’ve been doing the same drills for six years,” Kevin Walsh said. “Connor isn’t the fastest kid or the strongest kid, but his technique is probably what has him in the top 10 to 15 (vaulters) in the state right now.</p>
<p>“Some of it is somewhat boring, but if you can do 10,000 of them over time they’re going to become automatic.”</p>
<p>Training to pole vault at Center Grove under the elder Walsh’s tutelage means, among other things, plant drills, ropes and pool vaulting.</p>
<p>Planting is the process of learning to properly place the end of the fiberglass bar into the trapezoid-shaped box while running at full speed. “The plant, to me, has always been the most important part of the vault,” Kevin said.</p>
<p>Ropes are in the Center Grove wrestling room. Climbing them helps build strength in the vaulter’s hands, wrists and arms while also allowing a vaulter to simulate the swing upward by inverting one’s body.</p>
<p>Pool vaulting is the practice of utilizing water so that an athlete can accustom himself with the swing up, extension and turn. The high school’s diving pool is used for this exercise, Kevin Walsh said.</p>
<p>A cross country runner throughout high school, Connor Walsh must retrain his legs from endurance running to sprint training.</p>
<p>On April 17, the senior’s dedication resulted in a first-place performance at the Johnson County meet at Franklin. His top height was 12-6 on a chilly day.</p>
<p>Now that the temperatures have risen far higher, Walsh is hopeful that he will, too.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="By the numbers" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>A look at the year-by-year sectional progression of Center Grove pole vaulter Connor Walsh:</p>
<p><strong>Season;Place;Height</strong></p>
<p>Freshman;DNP;3 misses at 9-4</p>
<p>Sophomore;5th;11-6</p>
<p>Junior;3rd;12-6</p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
