By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
The rest of the state has caught up to where Craig Hunter was last year, but the Robbinsville High School senior has continued to soar higher.
For the second straight year, Hunter won the boys pole vault at the indoor track and field Meet of Champions. It took his second career clearance of 16-feet to do so against a field that included seven others that had jumped at least 14-feet in the group meets the week before.
”I think this was a lot more satisfying,” Hunter said. “The field was so much more powerful this year. There are so many more vaulters doing higher heights. It’s amazing to see the change. I won with 14-6 last year. This year, 14-6 was sixth place.”
Hunter established a meet record and John Bennett Indoor Complex record when he was the lone jumper to clear 16-feet, one foot better than Nick Eckett of Jackson Liberty and Peter Fagan of Westfield. Hunter had not cleared 16-feet since winning the Mercer County Tournament.
”It tells me it wasn’t a fluke,” Hunter said. “I did it at Lawrenceville, which I liked jumping at more than (Bennett Center). I shows I can do it at a place I don’t even like doing it. When I jumped 16 the first time, it hit on the way up. This was clean.”
Hunter was clean on his attempts up until 15-6, when it took him a second jump to clear the bar.
”Everything else was clean,” Hunter said. “15-6 was only thing I had a miss. I had one miss at 16, then cleared 16. Everything was pretty clean. I was feeling confident. After 16, I went to 16-5, which was interesting. That would have been five meters.”
Hunter figured he would be pushed in his final meets of his indoor season, and he was until it got above 15-feet.
”I was a little shaky,” Hunter said. “I knew they were right on my tail. If they had an on day and got 15-6, and I had an off day and had 15-6, it would come down to misses. As long as I cleared the height before him, I was fine.”
Hunter turned around to win the Eastern States Invitational on Monday when he jumped 15-6 at the Armory. He will return there for the indoor nationals.
”I jumped 16-feet (the first time) the day after a meet,” Hunter said before Easterns. “Jumping two meets in a row isn’t a problem for me. I want to get back out there. My form, there’s not much else I can do now, it’s just getting the right day. If I can get it, that’d be a good thing.”
It was certainly his day at the Meet of Champions. He lived up to the high expectations as he won the indoor title again.
”I think it’s tough,” said Robbinsville boys coach Jon Hutchinson of repeating. “I know a lot of people have been talking about him, he’s been doing well. To have the bulls eye on his back, it’s pressure. He knows what he wants to get done and what he wants to accomplish. He wanted to get 16 again. He knew if he was fortunate to win, he wanted to get 16 or beyond 16. He’s in a groove now.”
Fellow Robbinsville senior Noel Jancewicz placed second in the girls high jump at the MOC. She cleared 5-feet-6, but Alicia Terrell of Timber Creek won their jump-off when she was the first to clear 5-7 after both had missed four attempts at 5-8.
”We both missed all three and then got one more attempt at 5-8, then they drop it down one inch until someone makes it,” Jancewicz explained. “It adds pressure, but I think I perform better under pressure.
”I had one miss at 5-4, that’s what really hurt,” she said. “I’ve cleared 5-4 so many times. If I didn’t have that miss, I would have won. The girl from Timber Creek had won this too, but her (miss) was at a lower height.”
Jancewicz also finished second at the Easterns in high jump and ran in the 4×400 relay with Paris Hughes and Kelly and Kaitlyn Koss. They ran 4:03.22 to break their own school record set at the Group II state meet.
It was the second record of the week for Jancewicz, who last Thursday scored a Mercer County record 3,461 points in the pentathlon at the Bergen County Championships. A special invited guest, she was frequently asked what school she was from, and she represented Robbinsville well.
”I was pretty happy with the results there,” Jancewicz said. “I think I still have room for improvements.
”I threw shot at counties. I haven’t really run hurdles. I actually got a PR for that. The 800, I never do. I kind of wing it. I sort of treat it like a 4, and pace myself a little more. Long jump, I didn’t work on at all and I was hoping for the best in that event.”
Jancewicz won’t compete at the indoor nationals, but will begin preparing for the outdoor season when she plans to compete in the heptathlon at nationals.
Hunter has big plans to go higher over the next couple of months, if he has the equipment. Once he started to go for 16-5, he realized he would need something more.
”It was exciting and annoying at the same time,” Hunter said. “The 16s pole we brought was too small. How many people can say that? There’s so much more time to jump on a 16-foot pole, but the ones I had were too soft.”
Hunter is finding that even as he goes up, he has competition on his heels. He points to the greater wealth of information and the growth of pole vaulting clubs and greater availability of coaches to the increase in competition. Hunter has found that his dedication is showing.
”All the work is paying off that I put in,” Hunter said. “It’s all forming together for what’s coming for me. I have to get bigger and bigger poles. That’s the work I’m putting in.”
He has to in order to continue to win. He hasn’t lost this season, even as the competition has stiffened, particularly at the MOC level.
”I think it’s a situation where the state, it’s really talented,” Hutchinson said. “The fact that you have a bunch of guys going at 15, 15-6, it makes it much more legitimate and the way that he won. He was flying over the bar at 16. He upped his game.
”He’s getting in a rhythm,” he added. “Until 15-feet, that’s when he started hitting his stride. I think he started at 14. His early attempts, they were still clears, but you could tell he was getting in his rhythm and really getting over the bar when it moved up. He was really locked in.”
There was no stopping Craig Hunter as he successfully defended his pole vaulting title to exit his in-state indoor season on top.
”It means everything,” Hunter said. “I did it last year. That didn’t take away from this year. You want to go out with your name in the books.”

