Scott Jones
Scott grew up with three brothers on a small family farm in rural Elbinsville, PA. As early as elementary school, Scott¹s favorite day of the year was Track and Field day. His earliest days of training included vaulting over streams with broken tree limbs and jumping off the barn rafters into the hay.
Scott thoroughly enjoyed little league baseball, recreational
basketball and high school football, but his childhood dream was to be a Hollywood stuntman. The next best available thing was pole vaulting. Scott admits not being the fastest athlete on the track team, he certainly didn't have long distance endurance, but he may have been the craziest.
At a track practice his sophomore year, with raw courage, an analytical eye for the technical aspects of the event, and being
a perfectionist and intense competitor, Scott found his niche
and immediately became passionate about pole vaulting.
With the help of coach Jeff Batzel, Scott managed to
“get off the ground” that year, but wasn't competitive at the
county or district level. Over the next two years, with continued coaching from Mr. Batzel, Bill Kline, and support from parents Ron and Gloria Jones, grandparents Todd and Rebecca
Shaulis and Athletic Director Dwane Gochnour, he overcame a significant lack of resources and experienced steady progression. Opportunities to attend several summer camps
and train at Frostburg State University were pivotal in Scott¹s success. His father helped him build homemade gymnastic equipment in the barn where he trained prior to school each day.
Scott went from no-heighting at the County Meet his junior
year to sweeping the West Central Coaches Meet, County and District Meets with first place finishes and a District 5 meet record of 13’1” his senior year. Scott went on to win the state championship in dramatic fashion. Vaulting through a torrential rain, Scott cleared a personal best, by 11”, of 14’0” and took three solid attempts at what would have been a state record 14’6” to win the State Championship.
Scott had planned on entering the Army after graduation. However, his late athletic success found him several NCAA, Division 1 scholarship offers. Scott attended and competed at Marshall University from 1986-1991 and earned four indoor and four outdoor letters. He held the indoor school record at 15’6” in 1988, was a two-time indoor and two-time outdoor Southern Conference champion and team captain his senior year. Scott returned to graduate school at Marshall in 1992, and as a graduate assistant coach, continued to compete unattached, and achieved his personal best jump of 16’.
Scott went on to become a doctor of chiropractic and still enjoys coaching high school pole vaulters every chance he gets.
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Scott grew up with three brothers on a small family farm in rural Elbinsville, PA. As early as elementary school, Scott¹s favorite day of the year was Track and Field day. His earliest days of training included vaulting over streams with broken tree limbs and jumping off the barn rafters into the hay.
Scott thoroughly enjoyed little league baseball, recreational
basketball and high school football, but his childhood dream was to be a Hollywood stuntman. The next best available thing was pole vaulting. Scott admits not being the fastest athlete on the track team, he certainly didn't have long distance endurance, but he may have been the craziest.
At a track practice his sophomore year, with raw courage, an analytical eye for the technical aspects of the event, and being
a perfectionist and intense competitor, Scott found his niche
and immediately became passionate about pole vaulting.
With the help of coach Jeff Batzel, Scott managed to
“get off the ground” that year, but wasn't competitive at the
county or district level. Over the next two years, with continued coaching from Mr. Batzel, Bill Kline, and support from parents Ron and Gloria Jones, grandparents Todd and Rebecca
Shaulis and Athletic Director Dwane Gochnour, he overcame a significant lack of resources and experienced steady progression. Opportunities to attend several summer camps
and train at Frostburg State University were pivotal in Scott¹s success. His father helped him build homemade gymnastic equipment in the barn where he trained prior to school each day.
Scott went from no-heighting at the County Meet his junior
year to sweeping the West Central Coaches Meet, County and District Meets with first place finishes and a District 5 meet record of 13’1” his senior year. Scott went on to win the state championship in dramatic fashion. Vaulting through a torrential rain, Scott cleared a personal best, by 11”, of 14’0” and took three solid attempts at what would have been a state record 14’6” to win the State Championship.
Scott had planned on entering the Army after graduation. However, his late athletic success found him several NCAA, Division 1 scholarship offers. Scott attended and competed at Marshall University from 1986-1991 and earned four indoor and four outdoor letters. He held the indoor school record at 15’6” in 1988, was a two-time indoor and two-time outdoor Southern Conference champion and team captain his senior year. Scott returned to graduate school at Marshall in 1992, and as a graduate assistant coach, continued to compete unattached, and achieved his personal best jump of 16’.
Scott went on to become a doctor of chiropractic and still enjoys coaching high school pole vaulters every chance he gets.
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Class of 2012
Bedford County Sports Hall of Fame
Bedford County, Pennsylvania
Bedford County, Pennsylvania