Anderson graduate Porter at home in the air

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Anderson graduate Porter at home in the air
BY ANTHONY AMORINI | AAMORINI@COMMUNITYPRESS.COM
ANDERSON TWP. - John Porter not only likes to defy gravity, he is addicted to the notion.

Having spent the last four years of his life pole vaulting with the track team at Purdue University, the 2003 Anderson High School graduate is preparing to begin his first professional job.

So what is he going to do?



Finding a natural fit for his passion to push vertical limits, the high-flying track star graduated with a bachelor's degree in aviation technology and will soon take flight with Big Sky Airlines.

With co-pilot status, Porter will report June 9 to begin his professional career in Boston, Mass.

"My roommates say that I like to defy gravity all day," Porter said with a laugh. "Ever since I was small, I wanted to fly. My dream has come true so far."

On the road to becoming a pilot, Porter's athletic experiences dating back to high school forms the type of inspirational story that Hollywood fiction writers wish they could produce.

"When he started as a (high school) freshman, he was the typical weak, skinny, slow kid," long-time Anderson track coach Andy Wolf joked. "When he told me he wanted to be a pole vaulter, I was shocked."

But Porter was serious, and after vaulting for the duration of his high school days he decided to attempt to walk-on to the track team at Purdue.

By the time his career was finished, he was a two-time captain of the team, qualifying to the NCAA regionals on two occasions.

Entering college, Porter's personal best vault measured 15-feet, a mark he would improve upon by more than two feet before the end of his career, his best collegiate jump measuring 17-1.

"As he got stronger and faster, it was amazing to see his progress, but it didn't surprise me," Wolf said. "It is a very inspirational story to me, and coaches need to be inspired too."

On the door of Wolf's office, an official Purdue poster of Porter hangs for all of his current athletes to see.

At the start of March, Wolf had Porter come to an Anderson track practice to speak with the Redskin boys.

"I tell the kids that if they do all the right things and stick with it, they can accomplish anything," Wolf said. "And I believe it because there is a John Porter. In track, 95 percent of the time your future is in your own hands."

Porter's college vault coach, Rodney Zuyderwyk, harbors similar feelings about his departing captain.

"He brought a lot of excitement and passion to our program," Zuyderwyk said. "He was so excited about school and his vaulting and it rubbed off on a lot of people."

Having walked on to the team, Porter now ranks as one of the top vaulters in Boilermaker history, Zuyderwyk said.

"When I walked on, I just wanted to see how good I could get," Porter said. "It ended up two years later that I was a junior captain. The kids on the team really respected me and gave me credit for all the hard work I put in."