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Scott heads to Kansas
Early signing period
By Chris J. Starrs | Correspondent | Story updated at 11:20 PM on
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
WATKINSVILLE - Jordan Scott's pole vaulting abilities have taken him to places like Knoxville, Orlando, Greensboro, Baton Rouge, Indianapolis and even Marrakech, Morocco.
Early Wednesday afternoon, the Oconee County senior's talents will land him in yet another locale - Lawrence, Kan., home of the University of Kansas.
At the school, in a brief ceremony attended by his parents Richard and Lynn Scott, his sister Mallory, track coach Josh Mize, Oconee County principal Mark Channell and a host of well-wishers, Scott signed with the Jayhawks.
He received a full scholarship, eschewing offers from Georgia, Clemson, South Carolina and Auburn. He committed on Oct. 30.
"I thought this would be a difficult decision," said Scott, sporting a royal blue Kansas T-shirt.
"I wanted to fall in love with the school I'd be going to. So I decided to wait until after I'd visited all the schools I was interested in to decide. But after we went to Kansas, we were driving home from the airport and I just couldn't wait - so I called and committed then."
Wednesday's signing capped a tremendous year for Scott, who is the second-ranked prep pole vaulter in the country behind Scott Roth of Granite Bay, Calif.
"This is a very exciting day," Mize said. "This represents the epitome of all Jordan's hard work. I knew from the first day I saw him he'd be good. I think every other coach on campus wants him for their sport and he'd be one of the best in a lot of different (track) events. He finished third in the 400-yard dash at region."
Earlier this year, the defending state champion, had personal-best leaps at indoor meets in Tennessee and Louisiana. In May, he improved it to 16-6 to win the Class AAA state title at Jefferson. His vault at the state meet was a new state record.
During the summer, Scott posted a vault of 16-10.75 in mid-June at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., and then finished fifth in mid-July at the International Association of Athletic Federations World Youth Championships in Morocco with a leap of 16-5.
Scott increased his personal best on June 4, when he had a vault of 17 feet at the Golden South Classic in Orlando, Fla., before topping that mark in late July with a jump of 17-1.5 at the National Junior Olympics in Indianapolis.
"It's been a great year," he said. "I'm hoping to make next year even better. I've got a lot of big goals. I want to break the national high school indoor record (17-6) and the outdoor record (18-3)."
Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 111005