Jordan Scott (GA) to Compete Overseas

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Oconee's Scott to compete overseas



By Chris J. Starrs
Correspondent


Oconee County's Jordan Scott said earlier this year that math was one of his strongest subjects in school.

The award-winning pole vaulter is now giving himself a quick refresher course on metric conversions as he prepares for his first international competition.

"I'm better (at metric conversions) than I used to be," Scott said. "I still have to look it up on the internet every once in a while, but I know what I've jumped in meters."

Scott, who is the top high school pole vaulter in Georgia and is No. 2 nationwide, will compete in the 2005 International Association of Athletics Federations World Youth Championships July 13-17 in Marrakech, Morocco.

Scott earned a spot on the 15-man Team USA roster with a top-eight finish at last summer's USATF National Junior Olympics.

A rising senior at Oconee County, Scott said he learned he had been selected for Team USA on the same day he won the Bill Weeks Trophy as the top pole vaulter in all classifications at the state track meet in Jefferson. Scott won the Class AAA title and posted the state's best leap with a record-setting vault of 16 feet, 6 inches (or 5.05 meters).

"I'm starting to get excited about it," said Scott, who will qualify on July 15 with the finals set for July 17. "To compete in a world-class meet has been one of my lifelong dreams. I hope I can do well, but even if I don't do well I'm still proud I got the opportunity to go."

Scott is tuning up for his international trip by competing in a number of meets.

Last weekend, he won the gold medal at the Golden South Track Classic in Orlando, Fla., with a personal-best vault of 17 feet (or 5.18 meters), a foot-and-a-half better than his nearest rival and just 2 inches less than the national-best vault of Scott Roth of Granite Bay, Calif., who also will compete in Morocco.

"I went for 17-3 so I could try and beat (Roth), but I didn't make it," Scott said.