The men in the Winder family all have high school state championship titles in pole vaulting. Luke, 17 (far left) recently won his state championship title when. He plans to continue his high school career as a senior at Plainfield Central High School next year. His brother, Josh, 22 won his state championship pole vaulting title in 2008 while a student at Plainfield South HIgh school. Oldest brother, Jake, 25, won in 2005 while a student at Plainfeild Central HIgh School. Father, Tim, at right, won his state championship title in 1979 while attending Woodlawn High School in southern Illinois. (Alicia Fabbre, Chicago Tribune / July 1, 2013
Joliet, Illinois –When Luke Winder won the high school state championship for pole-vaulting this year, he rounded out a tradition that started back in 1979, when his father won the title. All four men — Luke, his brothers Jake and Josh and father, Tim — won state championship titles through the Illinois Association of High Schools contests. And each one of those state champion titles is for pole vaulting. “It’s certainly nothing you could orchestrate,” said Tim Winder, who also runs a summer pole-vaulting camp at North Central College in Naperville with his sons’ help. “It just happened.” The Joliet family’s tradition started in the 1970s. Tim Winder picked up the sport from his father, who taught him some of the basics. Winder attended high school in small town in southern Illinois. Though the high school didn’t have a track pit, Winder trained at a school in a neighboring town and went on to win his championship. The high school championship dynasty was completed this year when the youngest of the brothers, Luke, won his state championship for pole vaulting as a junior at Plainfield Central High School. He cleared 16’10” to win — a full inch above his brother, Josh, when he won the state title in 2008, and three inches higher than his oldest brother, Jake, when he won the state title in 2005. His dad cleared 14’7″ when he won the state championship in 1979. And though Luke was aware he was the last one needing a state championship to round out the dynasty, he said he didn’t feel any pressure to win. “I knew my parents and brothers would be proud of me no matter how I did,” the 17-year-old said. “I knew that I put enough work in to be able to say that I could’ve won it.” more at Chicago Tribune
