http://www.mccookgazette.com/story/1741875.htmlCleared for take-off -- soaring Bison graduate taking track talents to NU next fall
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
STEVE KODAD
Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Former McCook High School standout athlete Kyle Craw sits at the controls of the Piper Cherokee 180 single-engine airplane he regularly pilots as he takes a break from his job at the McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport. Craw, a 2011 McCook graduate, is the school record holder in the boys pole vault after he cleared 15 feet even several times this past spring. The licensed pilot plans to join the University of Nebraska-Lincoln track and field program next year.
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Kyle Craw's love of flying has taken him to dizzying heights, both in the cockpit of a single-engine airplane and at the end of a fiberglass pole.
The 2011 McCook High School graduate plans to take another giant leap next year when he joins the University of Nebraska-Lincoln track and field program.
Craw capped a brilliant season senior high school track campaign this past spring with a third-place finish in the boys pole vault at the Class B state meet in Omaha. Kyle owns the Bison school record in the pole vault at 15 feet even, a mark he hit several times late in the season.
Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Kyle Craw of McCook kicks away from the crossbar as he clears 14 feet, 8 inches in the boys pole vault at the Class B state track and field meet at Omaha Burke Stadium last May. Craw, a 2011 McCook High School graduate, placed third at the state meet.
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Craw passed up track scholarships from smaller schools such as Doane, Nebraska-Kearney and Chadron State to take a chance at NCAA Division I competition with the Big Red in Lincoln. NU track coaches invited Kyle for an official visit following the high school season, and that visit convinced the Bison standout to join the Husker program.
Kyle said the Nebraska academic facilities at Memorial Stadium and talking with standout NU vaulters Nate Polacek and Natalie Willer helped convince Craw to become a Husker.
"They were really nice," Kyle said of the Husker vault veterans. "They convinced me that it was just a lot of fun down there. We watched practice, and I loved how they ran that. After seeing all the facilities and everything they offer down there, it was kind of an easy decision to go there.
Steve Kodad/McCook Daily Gazette Kyle Craw of McCook gets ready to soar toward the bar in Class B-6 District meet competition at McCook last May. Craw cleared 14 feet, 8 inches to win the district meet. Craw owns the McCook school record at 15 feet even, and he plans to join the University of Nebraska-Lincoln track and field program next fall.
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"Just the experience, and just being down there, not many people get that chance to go to a big school like that and have a chance to compete. So I'm really looking forward to it."
Chris Grimes is the NU pole vault coach. Grimes told Kyle that he only recruits vaulters that Grimes feels will someday vault in the Big Ten Conference track and field meet (NU officially joined the Big Ten last Friday).
While he won't receive scholarship money next fall, Kyle said he has a chance to work his way into a NU track scholarship in the future.
Started vaulting as a freshman
Kyle is the son of Kent Craw and Sue Barry. Dad competed in college track and field as a sprinter, and his son didn't pick up the vaulting pole until his freshman year at McCook High.
"In junior high I was trying to be a sprinter like my dad, and a long jumper," Kyle said. "I didn't quite have the speed."
Craw said he approached Bison vault coach Bill Ramsay as a freshman and asked if he could try the vault.
"Coach said, 'Yeah, give it a shot.' I started out, only went 9-6 my freshman year -- which I was proud of. It wasn't bad. I kept progressing every year, a couple feet. It just got easier and easier."
Craw's best mark as a sophomore was 12 feet even. He came back from knee surgery his junior season after tearing an ACL in football and cleared a season-best 13-0 at the 2010 Class B state meet to finish 10th, just one miss away from a medal.
Senior season goals surpassed
After a strong senior football season last fall, Craw entered his final prep track campaign with high hopes. His season goal was 14 feet, and he hit that in the very first meet of the season, the UNK Indoor at Kearney.
"This year it all kind of popped out of nowhere," Kyle said. "I went 14 feet the first meet, then a couple of not-so-good meets, then it all started going up from there."
Craw set his sights on the old Bison school record of 14 feet, 4 inches set by Trent Lyons in 2004. Kyle cleared 14 feet to clinch first place at the chilly Gothenburg Invitational, then he moved the bar to 14-4 1/4 and easily set a new school mark on his first attempt.
The next week at the Don Bader Invitational in Lexington, Craw improved his school record to 14-6. One week later at the Holdrege Invite, Craw entered the pole vault competition at 13 feet and he did not miss until a record try at 15-6.
GNAC, district champ
Craw equaled his school record with a winning vault of 15 feet even at the Greater Nebraska Athletic Conference meet at Columbus. At the Class B-6 District meet in McCook May 13, Craw claimed first place at 14-8 as the competition was held in less-than-ideal weather conditions.
At state the next weekend, Kyle couldn't match his school record, and he settled for the third-place medal with a mark of 14-8.
Craw came close several times at bettering his 15-0 school record.
"I had 15-4 at conference (GNAC at Columbus in early May), barely knocked it with my chest coming down," he said. "I'm very happy with this whole year. Just getting the school record, just a great feeling knowing that I broke it three times in a row. That was just an amazing feeling, doing that over and over again. I had high expectations for myself this year, I wanted to see how well I could do."
High flying
For anyone not familiar with track and field, pole vault competitors use a fiberglass/composite pole to propel themselves over the cross bar. Vaulters sprint down the runway, pole in hand, then plant the stick in a special box under the uprights. The pole bends and then straightens, shooting the vaulters high in the air toward the cross bar.
What comes up must come down, and after a successful jump -- or an unsuccessful attempt -- the vaulter comes down to hopefully land on his/her back on a thick mat.
Craw said the pole vault is exhilarating, soaring high in the air.
"Running down the runway, you're thinking about doing your thing, swinging through the air, trying to get as vertical as you can, then shooting off the pole," he said. "The first time I went 15 in warm-ups, I made that with the bungee cord (on the standards instead of the crossbar). It was a newer pole that I was on. I shot up over that, and I was kind of scared the first time, just because I was looking straight down into the box area. The meet came (Holdrege), I came in at 13 and didn't miss until 15-6.
"It was just a great feeling going over that high. Fifteen feet seemed kind of easy that first time. I just had a really good day, everything was on. I felt like I just flew over it. Falling through the air, watching the bar stay up there, it's a great feeling. I love it."
Bison team camaraderie
Craw and his Bison teammates had an outstanding season this past spring. A long list of athletes cracked the McCook Top 10 All-Time track and field charts, led by Kyle's school record vault. Kyle credited part of his success to the support of his teammates.
"We had all that camaraderie, we just liked to have fun and cheer each other on," he said. "We made each other better with everything we did, we talked about that. It was just a lot of fun this year, watching everybody compete and do their best, winning a lot of our big meets, bringing home those plaques, that was a lot of fun. The coaches were pretty happy. It was just a great season."
Craw also give his coach a ton of credit for his success. Kyle said Coach Ramsay was always positive in practice and in meets, always teaching, striving to make his athletes better, and always having a fun story to tell his troops.
"We always had fun, helping each other out, helping out the younger guys," Craw said.
Tough college competition
Craw will have plenty of competition at Nebraska in the coming years. In addition to the upperclassmen already on the Husker roster, the two vaulters who finished ahead of Kyle at the Class B state meet -- Craig Driver of Minden (first, 15-6) and Beau Simmons of Aurora (seond, 15-2) -- are also planning to join the NU program next year. A pair of Class A competitors that each went 15 feet-plus last spring will also join the Nebraska track team.
"It's going to be a big group, but it will be fun to compete with everybody and get to know everybody better, just work hard down there," Kyle said.
Craw, who turns 19 in August, already has his next goal set. He will aim to clear 16 feet, 6 inches -- the height required to earn a spot on the Husker track and field roster for away meets next spring.
"I know it's in my reach," he said. "I can make that next year. We'll see what happens."
He loves to fly
Kyle is combining his love of flying with summer employment. He works at the McCook Ben Nelson Regional Airport, fueling planes and helping fill chemicals in spray planes.
Craw earned his private pilot's license last summer. He has taken solo airplane trips to Crete and York in eastern Nebraska, and he has also piloted a single-engine Cherokee 180 to Colorado Springs, Colorado, accompanied by an instructor.
"I guess it's kind of ironic how I fly in pole vaulting and then in an airplane, too," Kyle said. "It's a lot of fun. I love being up in the air, that's for sure."
Craw college course plans are still up in the air, but he may be leaning toward business as a major. He also may join the ROTC program at Nebraska, and he knows that will be an ambitious challenge to go with Division I athletics and his other studies. But those are lofty challenge that the former Bison standout will certainly be ready to fly toward.
"I am looking forward to working hard to see what I can accomplish," Kyle said. "I know I have new heights to achieve. I will be receiving the (NU) summer workout soon. I am excited to work with Coach Grimes and my new teammates.
"It is a dream come true. My family has been with me every step of the way. I want to make this a great experience for all of us."
