Steve Hardison Article

[rainbowgirl28]

This article is 11 years old, but it's still a great story.



http://athletics.fresno.edu/sunbirdspor ... teve3.html

STEVE HARDISON
Hometown: Fresno, California

High School: Roosevelt (1968)

Fresno City College (1970)

College: Fresno Pacific (1974)

Major: Physical education

Hall of fame category: Athlete

Sport: Track & field - Pole vault

Inducted: January 21, 1994



Three-time NAIA national champion joins Hall of Fame
by Ken Isaak
Tuesday, February 8, 1994
Steve Hardison, a three-time NAIA National Pole Vault Champion, became the ninth person to be inducted into the Fresno Pacific College Athletic Hall of Fame. The dinner and induction ceremony took place January 21, at the Remington. Several former teammates and coaches joined the celebration.

"Steve is one of the finest human beings I have ever met. He is unselfish, has a loving attitude, and is an exceptional athlete," says Bill Cockerham, Chair of the Fresno Pacific department of physical education and one of Hardison's coaches while attending FPC. "He entered three NAIA National Championships and won them all! He's 43 years old now and still runs the 400 (meters) in 50.8! He was a real pleasure to coach and I'm honored to be his friend."

An early start
Hardison started vaulting when he was a boy in a make-shift pit he built in the back yard. "I've been vaulting since I was in fifth grade. I cleared 7' 9" in the sixth grade," said Hardison. As an eleventh grader at Fresno's Roosevelt High School Hardison cleared 13' 2.25" to become the San Joaquin Class "C" Valley Champion. The following year he broke the North Yosemite League record (14' 9"), became the Valley Champion (14' 11"), and despite a painful back injury cleared 14' 0" and finished fifth in the state.

Following graduation Hardison enrolled at Fresno City College. Vaulting for City coach Bob Fries, Hardison cleared 16' 0" in winning the California Junior College Championship. the following year, despite injury, Hardison again cleared 16' 0" and finished second in the State. Turning down offers from Berkeley and USC, Hardison transferred to UCLA in the Fall of 1971. Teamed with Francois Tracanelli the Bruins had a formidable pair. Hardison cleared 16' 6" as a junior at UCLA, but competed only one year on the Westwood campus. In what would have been his senior, and final year of competition, Hardison had pulled a leg muscle and then broke his thumb. "There was so much pressure on me there. I felt my success as a person depended on my success as an athlete." The experience left him empty. He dropped out of school and returned to Fresno to work in his father's printing business.

An fresh start
He continued to work out, often on the Fresno Pacific track. Jerry Huhn, FPC's track coach at the time, spotted Hardison and invited him to finish his degree at Fresno Pacific. Hardison entered the NAIA National Indoor Championship in Kansas City, MO, in January 20, 1973, and with a vault of 15' 9" became National Champion. Four months later Hardison traveled to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, for the outdoor championships. In the preliminary round Hardison pulled a muscle and barely made to the final making 15' on his final attempt. Conserving energy he passed the first three heights in the final round, and entered the competition at 15' 8," and went on to win with a new NAIA National record of 16' 6.25" (the record would stand till Billy Olson vaulted 16' 7" in 1978). The following January Hardison returned to Kansas City of the 1974 Indoor Nationals. In his last meet as a collegian he won the National Championship with a vault of 15' 4."

I will extol thee among the nations
Shortly after graduating Hardison moved to Los Angeles and joined the staff of Athletes In Action. For five years he did coaching clinics in high schools and shared his faith whenever he had the opportunity. Regularly clearing 17' 0" in the AIA clinics Hardison qualified for the 1976 U.S.A. Olympic Trails.

"I was preparing for the U.S.A. Olympic Trials when I read Psalm 18 in my quiet time. The story, especially verses 30 through 36, sounded very much like a pole vaulter to me. And verse 49 says, "For this I will extol thee among the nations," And I thought this was great- I'll make it to the Olympics and see the nations. But that wasn't the point." Indeed, God did have a different plan. Following the Trials (he did not make the team), Hardison returned to Los Angeles and continued his efforts with Athletes in Action.

In 1980 he received a Macedonian call to travel to South Africa and help out a young vaulter he had coached in Los Angeles. Shortly after his arrival, Hardison was encouraged to enter the vault at local track meet. He not only won the competition, he set a new South African record of 17' 3" in the process. The win had two immediate results: he gained instant notoriety and, he was black-listed for supporting apartheid. "It was amazing! Every newspaper picked up the story about my vault and the invitations poured in. I was able to traveled throughout the country, coaching both black and white athletes, and share my faith. God gave me a wide open door to share the gospel!"

The time in South Africa was not without pain. Family illness forced his wife to return to the United States a few months ahead of him and, upon his arrival home, she served him with divorce papers. "Its the most difficult thing I've ever been through," he said. "I knew there were some problems but I thought we could work them out."

The divorce took its toll. Though he continued to run to stay in shape, he stopped vaulting. He also stopped making public appearances to share his faith. "I felt like I had failed in a major way and lost my credibility. How could I continue to witness with authority?"

Master's comeback
Slowly Hardison rebuilt his life. He remarried in 1983, and he, Kelly and their five children live on the two floors above his printing shop. The are active members at Valley Christian Center and home-school their kids.

And in 1990 he launched a track comeback. On July 15, his fortieth birthday, he vaulted 16' 6" to set a new U.S.A and World Master's record. When interviewed by Dan Taylor, a local television sports caster, Hardison commented, "I had some years off. I think part of it is a mid-life crisis. I know I'm going over the hill- I just want to do it one more time!"

At a recent reunion of old Fresno Pacific teammates Hardison joked about his love for the sport. "I love track," he said. "In fact I went through a twelve step program to try to quit!"

"It's easy to talk about Steve," declared long-time Fresno City College coach Bob Fries. "When Steve came back from South Africa he stopped by to visit and told me he had retired. A couple of days later he was back and asked if I still had some of his old poles. We went out to the pit and he vaulted 17' 5," the best he'd ever done, and blistered up his hands so bad he had to stop. A couple of days later he was back, and cleared 17' 6" in probably the most technically perfect vault I've ever seen. He is a great athlete and a fine example of what you can do if you keep you head on straight and live a good clean life."

"Steve has been an inspiration to many," says Huhn. He was, and is, an outstanding athlete. His commitment to God and to his family is exemplary. He is truly deserving of this honor."

Hardison has also begun to accept invitations to speak again. "When I share my faith now- my story- its more balanced with the disappointments and scars, not just the successes. And I have tried to understand how track fits into my life as a priority. I love the sport, I really do. But I have to work on the balance in my life. I know my own failures. In fact I've learned much more form my failures than my successes. God gifted me to excel in athletics, but its empty without the salvation and peace the Jesus Christ provides. I'm a little embarrassed about all this attention, but I am grateful for the opportunities I've been given to use my vaulting to share my faith."

[vaultmd]

Steve is a great guy. He trained at my college and always had a kind word and encouragement for those of us on the bottom looking up at the pole vault world. And back in those days, not everyone was nice.