Bar is set high for Cody Mattix (MI)

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http://www.mlive.com/highschool/grpress ... xml&coll=6

Bar is set high for Saranac pole vaulter
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
By Kelly Hill
The Grand Rapids Press
When Saranac's Cody Mattix cleared the bar at 16 feet during an indoor track and field meet at Cornerstone University in February, he became the second junior pole vaulter in Michigan to clear that height.

Considered by many as the second-best high school junior pole vaulter in the nation, Mattix, 17, recently competed in the Nike Indoor Nationals in Landover, Md.

Mattix is in his fifth season as a pole vaulter.

"I started vaulting in seventh grade because I thought it'd be fun," Mattix said. "I was really bad."

He cleared only seven feet his first season. But he cleared 10 feet in eighth grade. As a freshman at Saranac, Mattix cleared 13 feet, 6 inches, and as a sophomore he cleared 15 feet. Now he is up to 16 feet.

"All the credit goes to Jerry Sesson and to my dad (Bill)," he said.

Sesson coaches at Maple Valley High School.

"He is the brightest pole-vault guy I have ever met," Mattix said.

Mattix said he enjoys pole vaulting because of the technique it requires and the rush it provides.

"It takes a lot of technique," he said. "You have to have your own skills, but you can't pole vault without technique.

"But I love the adrenaline," he added. "Pole vaulting is insane. It's like flying. You defy gravity. You propel yourself almost two stories into the sky and then you just fall onto the mat. It's sweet doing it.

"It's one of the hardest sports in the world, and to be good at it is rare. To be this good at one of the toughest sports there is makes me feel good about myself."

At 5-foot-11 and 150 pounds, Mattix is smaller than most successful pole vaulters.

"It helps to be tall, but you have to be quick and strength ties into it too, because you have to get yourself over the bar."

As a freshman, Mattix tied for sixth at the Division 3 state meet, while last year, he was fifth.

"We had rain delays at state and it all fell apart," he said. "Fifth was definitely not what I was looking for. This year we were busted down to Division 4 and 13-6 was the highest they went last year in Division 4, but I don't want to jinx myself."

Mattix was undefeated last year until the state meet.

"He is an extremely hard worker," Saranac coach Erric Smith said. "He is very coachable and he interacts with great pole vaulters around the nation. When we went to Washington D.C. for nationals, everyone from all over the country knew who he was. He knows his art and is very good at it."

College recruiters are among those who have come to know Mattix. On one recent day, he received recruiting letters from three different colleges.

"One of my dreams is to vault in college," he said. "I definitely want to do that. I have a few colleges where I'd like to go, that have good pole-vaulting programs. I want to be a physical therapist and the schools have that program, too."

As Mattix moves the bar higher, the number of recruiting contacts also will get higher.