Shortly after winning his first indoor NAIA national title last year, Carroll College pole vaulter Easton Padden said it was going to take a while to sink in. He has now had a year to reflect on his accomplishment, a year that also included a national title in outdoor track and field last spring. On Saturday, Padden can become the program’s first three-time national champion when he competes at the NAIA Indoor Track & Field National Championships in Geneva, Ohio. The Laurel native goes in with the top vault in the country this year at 17 feet, 4.5 inches — a Carroll College record. The next closest clearance among national field is nearly an entire foot lower, meaning his chances of defending his crown are good.“I’m going in pretty confident,” Padden said. “A lot of it is very mental at this point. I just need to go in and make sure I’m focused.”The reigning pole vault champ will have to wait a few days for his turn to compete. Padden said he will be antsy while anxiously waiting his turn but, like always, will watch a film with his best career jumps the night before his event. Any pressure put on him comes from within, he said.“There’s a pretty cool quote from Olympic champion wrestler Jordan Burroughs that basically says pressure is just something people invented and that it doesn’t actually exist. We make it up in our own mind,” Padden said. “I’m just going to go out to have fun and jump to the best of my abilities.”Padden would like to get to take a crack at 18 feet. Clark believes he could definitely soar to a new personal best of 17-10, adding that the Ohio facility is a “really nice place to pole vault.“That, and he really tends to vault better when he’s more excited. He definitely should be untouchable.” more
