Scotts make for a winning duo
by Jim Sawin, sports information intern
CEDARVILLE, Ohio (4-13-2007) - Jason Scott is once again setting records at Cedarville University. The track and field star recently completed his last indoor season for the Yellow Jackets, repeating as the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) individual national champion in the pole vault. Jason is the only CU track and field athlete to ever win three national championships and is only one of three men to ever win one at the university. The senior captain broke his own school record at the NAIA Indoor National Championships, clearing 17 feet, 8.5 inches for the gold.
When asked if national championships ever get old, Jason chuckled and said, "Not really. Every one is completely different. You don't even think about the last one."
The Dayton Christian High School graduate won his first NAIA national championship as a freshman, setting an 8.5-inch personal record at the 2004 Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a jump of 16-7.5, a height Jason was hoping to reach by the time he graduated from Cedarville.
"I was ranked eighth going into nationals," said Scott. "But that morning someone asked me how I thought I would do and I told him, 'I think I'm going to win it.'"
This confidence, which Jason believes comes from the Lord, has developed over time for the six-time NAIA All-American. Scott struggled most of his freshman year because his pole vault coach, Jon Plush, saw some elements of Jason's technique that needed to be changed.
"JP took my form and completely broke it down my freshman year because I had some bad habits that were pretty dangerous," said Scott. "He had me focus on one thing at a time and then it started coming together, which led me to bigger heights at the end of the year."
Jason is a typical pole vaulter in many ways. He is daring, confident, strong and full of energy. But other qualities set him apart from typical vaulters - qualities such as unswerving dedication, compassion, service and a teachable spirit. He received a number of these qualities from his father, Phil Scott, who started getting Jason involved in track at the age of nine.
"Coaching Jason has been a dream of mine since I was young, got married and had children, because I wanted to share the things that I learned with him," said Phil, a 1972 Olympic Trials qualifier in the decathlon. "Ironically, the pole vault was my worst event in the decathlon at 14-3, so I learned everything I possibly could about vaulting to help Jason."
Phil Scott, who is currently an assistant coach at Cedarville University, began his coaching career before Jason was born. He set up different event areas in his backyard and taught a group of young kids called the "Kettering Striders." Later, he volunteered at Vandalia-Butler High School as an assistant coach. Then, in 1994, he took the head coaching job for the track and field and cross country programs at Dayton Christian Middle School so he would be able to coach his son once Jason entered high school.
"I was the head cross country coach for seven years at Dayton Christian High School and became the head track and field coach when Jason was a sophomore," said Coach Scott. "I didn't really have anyone to coach me when I was training for the decathlon in college, so I think that's why I'm so conscious now about coaching people, especially Jason."
Jason's first major success came at the age of 11 when he won the state Junior Olympics in the high jump. That year he also went to Junior Nationals in the pentathlon and 80-meter hurdles. One afternoon, however, Phil walked into his backyard to find Jason attempting to pole vault. The youngster had made standards out of wood and a pole out of bamboo, and he was sticking his pole against the shot-put ring and landing on the high jump mat.
"Pole vaulting just came naturally for him because he's such a daredevil," said Coach Scott. "He took to it real easily and learned a lot by just jumping."
Phil, who has his own bicycle business, has sacrificed his life for his son, although he would consider what he has done no sacrifice at all. From the beginning of Jason's career, the two have traveled all over the country to find competitive meets in order to further develop Jason's track and field skills. However, improvement creates expenses, as Coach Scott points out: "Pole vault poles aren't cheap, and I had to come up with the money. I would sell a bicycle and buy a pole. The better he got, the more poles we'd have to buy."
Even with all his early accomplishments, Jason nearly switched his main focus from pole vaulting to bicycling. During the summers he won a number of awards racing bicycles. He inherited this passion from his father, who went to the 1984 Olympic Trials in the 1-kilometer time trial. Nearly every weekend, Jason and his dad would travel to Indianapolis to enter races
"Jason had to make a decision whether he would be a bicycle rider or a pole vaulter," said Coach Scott. "At 14 years old, he realized he liked the pole vault better than bike racing. When that happened, we started changing gears and focused on the pole vault."
This decision turned out to be a wise choice for Jason, who has excelled in the pole vault, especially since he came to Cedarville University. He turned down a full-ride scholarship from the University of Cincinnati after the head track and field coach at Cedarville, Jeff Bolender, offered Jason an athletic scholarship and his father an assistant coaching job. Although Jason had to take out a number of student loans to attend the university, he doesn't at all regret his decision.
"When Coach 'Bo' offered my dad that assistant coaching job, I decided to come to Cedarville to stay with my dad," said Scott. "He's always been there for me and knows what I need to hear before I jump. The spiritual atmosphere at Cedarville also played a big part in my decision because I couldn't have gotten that at Cincinnati."
Jason has tallied a number of accomplishments during his four years at Cedarville. Besides the indoor and outdoor pole vault school records, Scott owns the 55-meter hurdles (7.69), 60-meter hurdles (8.30) and 200 meter dash (23.10) indoor records. The two-time Cedarville University Athlete of the Year also finished the 2007 indoor track season ranked No. 18 in the entire United States in the pole vault with his jump of 17-8.5.
Even though Jason has piled up numerous awards during his athletic career, contributing to this entourage is not his main goal for the upcoming outdoor track and field season.
"First and foremost, I'd like to accomplish getting closer to Christ on a daily basis," explains the exercise and sport studies major. "I've realized I'm not out there to just compete for myself to win medals and get praises from other people. I'm out there to use the gifts God has given me to honor him."
Jason's faith in Jesus Christ is very important to him, and he plans on keeping this humble attitude as he trains for the Olympics. He is only 4.5 inches away from hitting the B-standard in the pole vault for U.S. Nationals and the Olympic Trials. The standard is 18-1 and Scott hopes to make 18-6 by the end of the season, a height that would qualify him for both meets. As for plans after the season Jason had this to say: "I hope to get an assistant coaching job at Cedarville next year, keep training with my pole vault coach Jon Plush, get a part time job, and get my master's in coaching online."
Jason's lifetime goal for years has been to make the 2008 and 2012 Olympic team, and as he continues to prepare himself, that dream is becoming more of a reality. He admits this will be a very difficult goal to achieve, but he is dedicated to using the talent God has given him to display His glory. As the Bible states, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Jason prays the Lord will make his dream a reality.
