| 50-54 | 4.75 m (15’7″) | Gary Hunter (51) | Orono, ME | 2007-Aug |
| 55-59 | 4.36 m (14’3½”) (p) | Gary Hunter (57) | Olathe, KS |
CARBONDALE – Gary Hunter and his friends didn’t have pole vault pits at their homes in Fort Wayne, Ind., so they built them. Hunter, one of six former Salukis to be inducted into the SIU Hall of Fame next month, learned the sport out of a book after watching American Bob Seagren set the Olympic record in the 1968 Games at 5.40 meters (17 feet, 7 inches). With only a few pictures to show him the way, Hunter and his neighborhood friends created some extraordinary high-wire acts out of ordinary objects. “We pole vaulted over clotheslines. We pole vaulted onto our chicken house,” Hunter said. “Eventually we put some bales of hay out and landed on that. I got a lot of friends, and every kid had a pole vault pit in their backyard. Some had twigs. We would make whatever we could.” Originally a distance runner in junior high, Hunter began focusing on the pole vault because of two things. He wanted to fly, and he considered it one of the toughest physical events track had to offer. more
