Thomas makes big mark in short time
Cameron Thomas wasn’t feeling it. The Windsor senior walked around distraught, his jaw hanging and his hands over his head after the Class 4A boys pole vault competition at the CHSAA state track and field meet Thursday morning.
“That was the worst meet ever,” Thomas repeated while pacing around the far left of the track at Jeffco Stadium in Lakewood.
He then plopped onto a metal bench and dropped his head before one of the officials approached him to offer encouragement.
“You are the state champion,” she said, hoping to brighten the mood.
Indeed, Thomas was the 4A boys pole vault champion — a fitting end to an impressive high school track career. But Thomas didn’t clear 17 feet as he did in April or surpass the 4A state meet record of 16 feet. He defeated his competition by reaching 15 feet, 6 inches, which made his stomach turn because he wanted to do so much better in his grand finale.
“16 (feet), 5 (inches) is such a light bar for me that I do all the time,” he said. “I don’t even know what happened.”
Thomas is an overachiever, which made his frustration understandable. But as he sat against a fence with his jacket covering his face, it’s worth noting that Thomas didn’t start pole vaulting until March 2022. Yet during his short time learning the event, he has become the best in the state while earning a scholarship at Virginia Military Institute.
“This kid started last year (and) never touched a pole before then,” Windsor coach Sam Roth said in amazement. “Just to be right under the 4A state record is respectable in itself.”
Thomas has done everything. He was a distance runner, wrestler, diver and even a member of his school’s cheer team — an experience he said he enjoyed. Pole vaulting came about because it simply looked fun, he said.
At first, Thomas’ parents were not on board. Thomas previously broke his collarbone while wrestling, and his parents were worried about him sustaining another serious injury in what can be a dangerous event. But they didn’t want to hold him back.
“I was still paying for medical bills,” Thomas’ father, Vernon, said with a laugh. “( Then) a couple of weeks later, he said ‘I think I’m really good at it.’ And I told him, ‘ We’ll be there to support you.’”
Growing up in upstate New York, Vernon didn’t have pole vaulting at his school. Just like his son, Vernon has been on an accelerated course to learn the ins and outs of the event. Thomas, however, has taken it to another level, as pole vaulting has become an obsession.
Thomas has spent countless hours with Roth to work on his craft, jumping at smaller heights to work on his form before raising the bar higher. At night, Thomas goes on YouTube to watch pole vaulting highlights from past Olympics.
“That’s my life,” Thomas said. “I watch pole vault (videos) all the time.”
Thomas’ passion for pole vaulting, mixed with a desire for greatness, has allowed him to excel in a short time. During the state track championships in 2022, Thomas placed second after clearing 14 feet, 9 inches. This spring he recorded the ninthbest jump in the country (17 feet) at the Longmont Invitational. On Thursday, he was crowned state champion, even if the result wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for.
“He gives 110% in everything he does,” said Vernon, who jokingly blamed the entire household for Thomas’ super competitive nature.
“We’ve done 5Ks as a family, mud runs and different stuff for years. We’ve always had that nature of (doing) better.”
Roth called pole vaulting a mental game because the event can be intimidating. However, Thomas isn’t afraid when he charges towards the horizontal bar with a 15-foot pole, as Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” plays in his head to calm his nerves.
He feels alive.
“I don’t know what it is,” Thomas said. “I’m obsessed with it.”