Mechanical engineering’s Colwick wins NCAA pole vault championship

This is how mechanical engineering student Jason Colwick sees the sport of pole vaulting: “The goal is to translate horizontal kinetic energy into vertical potential energy.”

This is how track fans, fellow athletes and coaches see pole vaulter Colwick: “Wow.”

Colwick won the NCAA Championships at Texas A&M in March, blowing away the competition by clearing 18-4½ on his final jump. He was the only vaulter to clear 18 feet.

The hard-working Colwick, a Martel College senior, has become one of the nation’s top pole vaulters this year, collegiate and otherwise, and fans need look no further than his vault of 18 feet 4.75 inches—a Rice record—at the Texas A&M Invitational in February.

“He cleared it by a foot!” exclaimed David Butler, Rice’s assistant track and field coach, who trains the team’s pole vaulters. “That’s a 19-foot jump.”

Colwick has been rising through the ranks of the nation’s vaulters since his arrival at Rice after a stellar career in his hometown of San Marcos, Texas. He was the state champion jumper as a senior at San Marcos High and came to Rice on a track scholarship.

Read more about Colwick's jumping and see a video of one of his vaults here.

Mike Williams, Rice News