Cortland has captured more than 100 team and individual national titles throughout the years. While all of these championships have been documented, the time has come to dig deeper into some of these Red Dragon accomplishments with "Title Recall." This feature goes beyond the numbers by gaining insight into the competition itself from the student-athletes and their coaches. We'll gain perspectives into what it takes, both physically and mentally, to be a Cortland champion. Our first installment of "Title Recall" takes a look back at Jake Zanetti's 2009 NCAA Division III Men's Outdoor Track and Field pole vault championship.

Jake, heading into the 2008-09 season, Cortland had a solid group of vaulters on both the men's and women's rosters. How did that help you as an individual?

Jake Zanetti: Oh yeah, we were definitely solid.  Probably one of the best pole vault programs in the NCAA that year.  On the women's side, Keri Laviska and Sarah Kimball were always duking it out for school records and national qualifying heights. And on the men's side, Joe Keleher, Ryan Pericozzi and myself were all over 15'5" (Ryan and I were over 16').  
 
That was a super-competitive training environment that no doubt led to success during competitions.  Vault sessions were a blast, with our bungee (the practice bar) always going up and down to big heights.  We were all extremely dedicated in the weight room; lifting and doing core work.  We did gymnastics once a week, which was super fun and extremely beneficial.  
 
It was a truly a unique group for sure.  We pushed each other in so many ways that all circled back to our track and field goals.  Steve Patrick had us prepared physically with strength and speed work, and he'll be the first to tell you that all he did was get out of Pete's way as far as pole vault technique went.  Pete McGinnis is truly a master of his craft, and we as a vault squad were lucky to have him.  I can never say enough good things about him.  He was our pole vault "Father Figure," who we all wanted to make proud.  He was our backbone.  Great guy!

Pete, you had quite a talented group of vaulters to work with during that 2008-09 season. Tell us about your overall body of work with the vaulters and how this helped to push Jake to succeed as he did.  

Pete McGinnis: Let me start with Jake's freshman year, 2005-2006. Shawn Wilbourn was the head coach then. I had only one returning pole vaulter, senior Steve Wendt. Three first-year women pole vaulters were on the team: Katie McEvoy, Keri Laviska and Sarah Kimball. Jake was the only first-year vaulter for the men. During the previous year, a charitable foundation run by Steve's mother, grandmother and uncle had provided a large sum of money to the college earmarked for the track team and specifically for the pole vault program. Some of the money was used to buy a new landing pit and poles. A successful pole vault program needs a large selection of poles and a good pit.  We now had that and we had funds to buy new poles for our vaulters if we did not have the pole they needed. This was a boost to the program.

The key members of the vaulting group in 2005-2006 were Jake, Sarah Kimball and Keri Laviska.  Keri and Sarah were good friends but very competitive with each other.  They pushed each other in workouts and Jake was inspired as well.  They also had fun and were motivated to master the art of pole vaulting.  Jake was an accomplished high school vaulter when he arrived at Cortland.  Katie McEvoy also was an accomplished high school vaulter with a high school best of 10' 9, while I think Sarah's high school best was 9' 6 and Keri's was 10'. These were good high school girls' marks, but Sarah and Keri were not the same caliber vaulter as Jake in high school.  Jake, Sarah and Keri's attitudes about training and competition – and their leadership – made this small pole vault group very successful.  Each of them scored points in every indoor and outdoor SUNYAC Championship pole vault competition during their four years at Cortland with Jake winning seven titles, Sarah winning five and Keri winning one.

In their senior year, 2008-2009, Jake, Sarah and Keri were consistently the top vaulters in the SUNYAC.  Jake and Sarah held the school and conference records and Keri's best was very close to Sarah's.  By this time, their successes had drawn more athletes to the program.  The 2008-09 vault squad had seven women and six men on it. In addition, Amy Linnen, former NCAA Div. I record holder in the women's vault and two-time NCAA Div. I champion in the pole vault was attending Cortland as a physical education major.  Amy was not eligible to compete, but she helped with the team and practiced with us.  Having an athlete and vaulter of her caliber practice with the team was a great plus – especially since Amy was such a positive person and good influence. The other notable vaulter on the team in 2008-09 was freshman Ryan Pericozzi. He was a great athlete and challenged Jake in every competition.  During the 2008-2009 indoor season, Ryan placed higher than Jake in 6-of-8 competitions, including the NCAA Div. III Indoor Championships.  Ryan was Jake's major competition in the SUNYAC.  Ryan also gave Jake competition on his own team in practice and competitions and this pushed Jake to vault higher.

I don't think there was anything that I did that helped push Jake to achieve as much as he did.  The main ingredient of the recipe was good facilities and equipment for vaulting and a terrific team of vaulters who pushed each other to do better!

Jake, you earned outdoor All-America honors as a sophomore with a sixth-place finish, clearing 15' 9.25", so you were familiar with the pressure of competing and succeeding at the highest level. What did you take away from that result and how did that help you moving forward?
 
Zanetti: Going All-American my sophomore year was amazing.  I remember the feeling of looking over at my dad in the stands, and signaling that I was in the "Top Eight" (guaranteeing All-American and being on the podium), and being so happy and proud that he was there to see it.  Pulling that off was a huge confidence boost and definitely gave me a higher sense of how to compete at big meets moving forward.  
 
NCAAs (and more specifically pole vault) are crazy because anything can happen on any day.  Everything up to that point doesn't matter.  It is all about THAT COMPETITION, THAT DAY.  We train so hard to develop more consistent performances, and that is a lot of what it comes down to.  I learned that a lot of guys fold under the pressure of big meets and big bars, and to come in and just perform consistently can lead to a great result.  Focusing on the process and not the end result is key.  Controlling your emotions and simply focusing on mechanics leads to PRs (personal records), and hopefully good results as far as placing.

Jake, you finished 12th at indoors in 2009 with a height of 15' 1.75". The winner was Jake Winder of North Central at 17' 1.5". No doubt, you were disappointed in that finish, but how did that drive you heading into the outdoor season?

Zanetti: Senior year, indoor NCAAs were definitely a disappointment.  I remember making a mental error on the opening height with my standards and which pole I was using, and I think that knocked me out of sync, and any sense of mental focus I was trying to achieve didn't happen.  It was really disappointing too because Ryan and I both qualified for that meet, so we really wanted to represent ourselves well as a program.  I think we got too caught up in the stuff that didn't matter.  So ultimately it turned into a learning experience of what not to do.  
 
I took that "participation medal" the NCAA gave you for qualifying, and I put that in my room with a Post-It Note on it that said, "NO!"  This was a constant reminder for myself that I didn't want to get handed a "participation medal" for outdoor nationals, and I was going to work harder than anyone, and dedicate myself to qualifying and getting as high up that podium as possible for my final career meet in the spring.  I adopted the motto "If you're working harder than everyone else, you can't lose."  And for whatever reason that was something that really sank into my head during vault sessions, sprint workouts and lifts.  I was constantly thinking whether Jake Winder would be doing another set of this or that, and when I thought he probably called it a day at North Central, I did one more of whatever it was.

Pete, Jake finished 12th during the indoor national meet, which no doubt was a disappointing result for both Jake and yourself. What was your takeaway from that result heading into the outdoor season?

McGinnis: Jake had a huge clearance of the opening height at this competition.  I was excited.  Then he missed his first attempt at the next height 4.77m (15' 7 ¾) – he had the height but he hit the bar on the way up.  His peak height was behind the bar. So, I suggested that he have the standards (uprights that hold the bar) moved back farther towards the pit  – to give him more room to get over the bar. On the second attempt, he had the height but he hit the bar on the way down – his peak height was now in front of the bar.  The adjustment of the standards had been too big – they had been moved too far back.  I suggested to Jake that the standards needed to come in a bit. When Jake was on the runway for his last attempt, I noticed that the indicator board that the vaulters used to inform the officials where to place the standards was still showing the setting he had on the previous jump. He came down on the bar again and missed that last attempt.  I felt awful!  I blame myself for not alerting Jake that the standard setting was not right - and for assuming that he had just made a different choice about standard setting.  I think he just forgot to change the indicator board. 
My takeaway from this was to clearly communicate what I thought needed to be done for each vault – especially in a meet as significant as the NCAA championship!  

Jake, during the outdoor season, you captured your third straight SUNYAC title at 15' 5". Then you tied your own school record of 15' 11" at NYC meet, then placed second at ECACs at 15' 9.75". Having performed well at those meets, did you feel you had started to peak and what was your takeaway from those successes?
 
Zanetti: Steve Patrick did a great job in tapering our training for peak performance at the end of the season when it really mattered most.  I trusted his workouts and his plan with 100% confidence, and I knew big jumps were coming together at the right time.  At those last few competitions going into nationals senior year, I was jumping well, but the "bar was never in the right spot."  Which is a way of us pole vaulters saying the height is there, we just need to make some minor tweaks; whether it was standard placement, pole usage, step adjustment, etc.  So even though I hadn't PRed in a long time, especially outdoors, I knew I was capable, and something big was on the horizon.

Pete, what were your thoughts about Jake's momentum heading into the national meet?

McGinnis: Jake's only other appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships was in 2007 when he was a sophomore and placed sixth at a height less than two inches below his personal record that he had set earlier that season. He barely made the cut to appear at that national meet – he was ranked 16th but he placed sixth, so I knew Jake was capable of performing well at a national championship meet – even if his indoor championship performance in March 2009 was not so great.

Jake was ranked as the ninth-best pole vaulter entered in the 2009 NCAA outdoor meet (actually he shared that rank with one other vaulter). My expectations for Jake going into the meet was that he would vault close to his all-time PR, which at that time was 4.90m (16' 1) – a height that he had cleared indoors in 2009. Even though the 15'11 (4.85m) vault at the NYC meet was his outdoor PR, I knew he could vault 16'1 (4.90m).  Since only six vaulters in the competition had qualified with vaults that high or higher, my hope was that Jake would place higher than he had at 2007 NCAA meet (he placed sixth in 2007).  When I saw that bar progression went from 4.86m to 4.96m, I was not as hopeful.  Jake was definitely capable of clearing 4.86m (even though he had never done that outdoors).  He would need to vault more than two inches higher than his all-time personal record to vault 4.96m (16'3¼) though!

Jake, entering NCAAs, you obviously were performing consistently well, but naturally Winder seemed a favorite having won indoors and cleared 17' 3.75" during the 2009 outdoor season. What was your mindset heading into the national meet? Earn All-America honors or actually win the whole thing?

Zanetti: Jake Winder was definitely the guy to beat.  I think he jumped 5.50m (18') that year (maybe indoors), so he had an incredible advantage as far as his PR went.  He was an incredible jumper and competitor, everyone had him as a heavy favorite.  But there were a lot of great guys in that competition that I had gotten to know over the years.  It was anyone's title that day.
 
But you can't get caught up in what other guys are doing.  I came in with the mindset that I have worked harder than anyone else in this competition, and I can compete with everyone here.  I was there to COMPETE, which in my eyes is win.  You shouldn't go into any game, meet, match and compete your best for anything less than winning.  There is definitely honor in placing high, going All-American, and simply doing your best, but you've got to have the "winning mindset" for true peak performance.  I was there to compete and win!  As long of a shot as that may have been.

Pete, you were named the Atlantic Region Men's Outdoor Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year shortly before the national meet and Jake's title. Obviously, a great honor but where does that stand as compared to coaching a student-athlete who won an individual national title?

McGinnis: Coaching an athlete to an individual national title means much more to me than any coaching award.  Seeing an athlete whom you coach do well at a championship meet is the best reward for a coach.

The Atlantic Region Men's Outdoor Track and Field Assistant Coach of the Year is the only coaching award ever bestowed on me, but Jake was not the first athlete I coached to national title.  Almost exactly twenty years earlier, another pole vaulter I coached, Mike Thompson, won the NCAA Div. II outdoor pole vault title. From 1987-1990, I worked as a sport scientist at the US Olympic Committee and as an assistant professor at the University of Northern Colorado where I also volunteered as the pole vault coach. Mike was one of the pole vaulters I coached there. Mike has been the head track and field coach at SUNY Binghamton now for more than 20 years.

This coaching award was a surprise to me.  I did not even know I had been nominated.  It was announced on Monday of the week of the championships.  I did not feel like I deserved this award – but Jake's winning performance on Thursday that week made the award seem more legitimate.

Jake, some would say you caught a break when Winder started at 5.06 and missed all three attempts. But, looking at it objectively, he failed to clear a height that you cleared. Thoughts?

Zanetti: I'll be the first to tell you that I had multiple breaks that day, and yes, Jake Winder and a handful of other guys not jumping their best was just a few of them.  A lot of guys didn't jump their potential or PR that day, but like I said earlier, NCAAs are about bringing it on that day, for that competition.  You don't earn All-America honors for your seed time, height or distance. You've got to do it when it matters most...in competition.  
 
If you want to talk about lucky breaks, you've got to talk about the bar staying on the pegs of the standards at 5.06 after my chest rubbed over it mid-air (on my first attempt).  That was lucky!  I had vaulted for 10 years at that point, taken hundreds if not thousands of vaults at bars, and I have never experienced anything like that bar jumping off the standards six-plus inches and landing right back on them.  It didn't feel like as much contact as it was in the moment, but after the competition and seeing Pete's slo-mo video (see link below), it was alarming to say the least.  I read somewhere in sports, maybe Bernie Williams from the Yankees said it, that "Luck is when hard work meets opportunity."  So, I decided to go with that and embrace the lucky bounce.

Jake, take us through the national meet, vault by vault. You cleared 4.66 on the first try. You actually struggled at the next height of 4.76 but cleared it on your third and final attempt. You then cleared 4.86 on your first try to break your own school record. But you weren't done. You cleared 4.96 on your second attempt to go over 16 feet for the first time. Then came the winning vault on your first attempt at 5.06 (16' 7.25").
 
Zanetti: The start of the meet was less than ideal.  I was on a small pole to get started, and I wasn't getting the pop I needed for big heights.  So, after clearing the first bar and struggling with the second, it was a bit nerve-wracking on that third attempt at 4.76.  That was a turning point in the competition.  
 
I got on that bigger pole, I think it was a 16' 180lbs., and everything started clicking.  If I have ever experienced "tunnel-vision" or a competitive "flow-state," that was it.  I knew my run was on point, my take off was big, my swing was fast and my in-air technique was tight.  At that point, I just had to stay consistent and keep letting the pole throw me over the bar.  Pete and I made very few adjustments from 4.86 on.  
 
4.86 was a PR by one centimeter, which was cool, but not satisfying overall.  4.96 was great because it was a solid jump, a new PR, guaranteed All-American, and I actually celebrated with a fist pump on the way down.  I'm not big on that, but it just came out of me in that moment.  5.06 was insane!  I remember hammering down the runway, stomping my takeoff, swinging back super fast and then just (what felt like) nicking the bar at the top.  When I landed, I saw it up there on the pegs still wiggling, but somehow I knew it was staying up there.  I didn't celebrate anything here in this moment (even though it was the biggest clearance of my life), I just grabbed my pole, slapped my leg and walked back to my spot on the in-field.  I grabbed my sweat shirt, sat down and took a sip of Gatorade.  When I saw Winder and Craig Van Leuwen from Ramapo miss their three attempts at the height I just cleared, I pulled the drawstrings on my hoodie and thought to myself, "I might have just won this thing!  I was over on my first attempt, and if we all miss 5.16, I would win!"  5.16 was like 16'11 or something, an entire foot above my PR from two hours ago.  I took one decent attempt, but I had alright maxed myself out for the day.  The other two guys at 5.16 missed out along with me, which secured the championship for me!
 
It was so fun to go hug my parents, teammates and coaches after the competition was over and I had officially won it.  Everyone was so happy, and it was an experience like I had never had or will again.  Great moment for me as an individual, but so many other people's efforts and supports went into it.

Pete, the national meet was interesting to say the least. Can you describe the scenarios and ultimately that amazing video you shot of Jake's winning vault?

McGinnis: The first thing that affects the competition is that the start of the men's pole vault is delayed since the decathlon high jump is taking place on the same apron as the pole vault, and it must be completed before the men's pole vault warmup can begin.  The scheduled start of the men's pole vault is delayed by about 45 minutes.  I worry that the 45-minute delay might affect Jake.  It does not.

Jake starts at the opening height, 4.66m (15' 3 ½) and clears it on his first attempt. At the second height, 4.76 m (15' 7 ¼) he misses his first two attempts  - yikes - I don't want a repeat of the indoor championships.  He clears the height on his last attempt – whew - but, I know those misses will hurt his placing even if he clears the next height! 

The next height will be an outdoor PR, 4.86m (15' 11 ¼).  Wow – first attempt clearance puts him in fourth place but I think of him as being in fifth place since Jake Winder, whose PR is above 18', has passed and has not even taken a vault yet. Eight vaulters are still in the competition after this height. 

The next height will be an all-time PR for Jake if he clears it – 4.96m (16' 3 ¼).  Wow – his first attempt has good height but he comes down on the bar.  I think he can make it if he makes adjustments – he does and he clears on his second attempt!!  An outdoor PR and an all-time PR!  Only two other vaulters clear this height and both clear on their first attempts, so Jake is in third place – but fourth if Jake Winder clears a height. The three other vaulters in the competition all have PRs higher than the next height. 

Jake Winder enters the competition at the next height, 5.06m (16' 7), and he is the first vaulter up.  By now, it is about 8:15 p.m. and the sun is very low on the horizon.  The runway and where all the vaulters sit while waiting to vault is now in the shadow of the stadium. The temperature has dropped a bit – especially in the shade.  Winder attempts a vault but bails out of it - a miss!  Jake (Zanetti) is the next vaulter – his run is fast – wow he has great position on the pole - huge height but he is in front of the bar – he looks like he is going to come up short – and he hits the bar hard on the way down.  Bummer but wait – the bar bounces about a foot high and lands right back on the pegs and stays there!!!  Jake has a third PR! The other two vaulters miss their first attempts – probably stunned by Jake's crossbar magic.  Jake Winder is up for his second attempt and misses!!!  It is now about 8:30 p.m. - twilight – and still even cooler.  The next vaulter misses, but the third vaulter makes it.  Final attempts for Jake Winder and he misses again. Wow – a no-height – the worst thing that can happen to a vaulter – I feel bad for him (I no-heighted in my senior year at the NCAA Div. III Championships in 1976).  The third vaulter makes it, so Jake is now in first place going to the next height and guaranteed to be top three. 

Jake has taken eight vaults now, while the other two have only taken five vaults each.  One of them has a seasonal best well above the next height.  Jake's attempts at the next height are unremarkable – it's difficult to vault again after the adrenaline rush of the previous three clearances - all at heights higher than he has ever cleared outdoors! The other two vaulters do not make the next height either!  Jake is national champion! I can't believe it! It is about 8:45 p.m. when the competition ends.  It is the last event to finish that day.

Several things stick out about the competition – the third attempt clearance at the second height, the changing temperature, and Jake's strong mental state. The third attempt clearance at the second height put Jake back in the competition and erased the disappointment of the indoor championships.

The temperature dropped during the last three heights as the sun began to set and the pole vault runway became shaded.  Jake stayed warm and ready to vault.  Throughout the competition, after each vault he'd put his layers of warmup clothing back on.  Even though the temperature had cooled down (probably into the 60's) by the time there were only four vaulters left – Jake was sweating. I don't think the other three vaulters stayed warm enough.  Jake Winder never warmed up enough to vault well.

Jake's mental state got a boost after the third attempt clearance at the second height. From then on, he was not at all intimidated by the bar heights or by the vaulters whom he was competing against. The height he cleared to win the event was 8 ¼" higher that he had ever vaulted outdoors and 6 ¼" higher than he had ever vaulted indoors. The three competitors left in the competition when the crossbar was set to 5.06m had all cleared heights higher than this – and one of them had vaulted almost a foot and a half above this height. Jake focused on the process of vaulting and did not let the prowess of his competitors or the bar height affect him.  He was awesome and the competition was awesome to watch!

The video was taken with a Casio EX-F1 camera that I had purchased the previous year for my work with USA Track and Field as their pole vault biomechanist. It was a revolutionary camera at the time, in that it could record high-speed (slow motion) videos at up to 1000 frames per second but was priced well below all other high-speed video cameras on the market.  I had used it all year and during the previous year to record vaults during every competition I attended.  I recorded Jake's vaults 300 frames per second (about 10 times normal speed) at the NCAA meet, but did not review those videos until after the competition.  The video of Jake's 5.06m vault shows the incredible bounce of the crossbar – I have watched thousands of vaults and never seen a crossbar bounce this high and land perfectly on the pegs. Every time I watch this video I still can't believe that the crossbar stayed on the pegs after that bounce!

Any other thoughts you would like to add about this Title Recall?
 
Zanetti: Winning a national championship was the epitome of "doing all the little things right."  The margin of victory I won with was so small that I am convinced about every rep, run-through, jump, sprint, etc. went into that particular victory.  Nutrition, sleep patterns, mental preparation, establishing routine, everything mattered and went into it.  
 
It was a great day and moment!

McGinnis: Thanks for letting me relive this event!

THE PETE McGINNIS VIDEO CLIP OF THE WINNING VAULT

2009 STORY RECAPPING JAKE'S VICTORY