Photo by Jake Olson: Fairmont pole vaulter Jase Meade (right) talks to coach Crystal Hanson (left) during Thursday afternoon's practice at Bob Bonk Track.

FAIRMONT – It’s hard to get the attention of Fairmont pole vault coach Crystal Hanson on a meet day. From the first warm-up approaches to the final launch over the crossbar, Hanson is seen glued to the side of the pit, watching, filming, and coaching her individuals on every repetition to improve their next trip on the runway.

Her commitment to the student-athletes is one of the reasons the Cardinals have seen great success during her second stint as coach since 2019. This season, in particular, has been one of the strongest Fairmont has seen as a program.

Jase Meade and Ellie Perkins have climbed to the top of the boys’ and girls’ all-time leaderboards, ranking first in program history with their respective heights of 11′ 7″ and 14′ 1″, both of which were reached just weeks ago.

Hanson has also seen multiple other contributors develop tremendously since the beginning of March. Contributors who have scored points towards the final team score at the end of meets. This can be the slight difference between victory and defeat when the final results are tallied at the end of the day, and it has only helped when it comes to Fairmont’s performance as a whole.

“I’m really proud of the kids for doing a very challenging event,” Fairmont track and field head coach Jesse Walters said. “It’s challenging physically, but also mentally. It’s the most technical event as far as which pole to use and how far to push the standards forward or backward.”

The 2024 spring saw a turning point for Hanson and her group. Her ability to collect funding from local grants, with the added support of the school district, led to more resources than ever before. Hanson went from having 14 poles to over four times that with these collectives. It’s grown the sport locally while giving athletes a better chance to succeed in the long term.

“We’ve added more than 60 poles to our lines through the collaboration of all the organizations helping us out,” Hanson said. “It’s created opportunities for success at it when they wouldn’t have had otherwise. It’s been amazing.”

Figuring it out

Hanson’s start into pole vaulting wasn’t just new for her entering her junior season at Fairmont. It was new for all female track and field athletes at this level.

The 1998 spring was the first season the Minnesota State High School League sanctioned the sport for women in the area. Title IX was the catalyst for a new demographic in the sport, with Minnesota becoming the 15th state to add it to the high school realm.

Athletes such as Hanson saw this as a chance to do something new. Something they’d seen others partake in, but never got their fair shot until now.

“It was the first year. I thought it looked really cool and I fell in love with it,” Hanson said. “Those years were so much fun. I hope the kids right now will remember how much fun they’re having together. They will remember the practices and the camaraderie with each other, and that’s what I had. …I’m not sure if any of us knew what we were doing; we were just enjoying it, figuring it out, and experimenting.”

Two seasons of participating were enough for Hanson to fall in love with the sport. The heights she reached during this stretch were enough to garner interest from the Iowa State University track and field team.

Hanson ultimately said no to the walk-on opportunity the Cyclones presented her. While she occasionally thinks about this opportunity today, the decision to pass on continuing her athletic career opened the door to a coaching role years later. It’s led to the high-flying Fairmont pole vault team that fans are now getting accustomed to seeing yearly.

Getting back into the game

Former legendary Fairmont track and field head coach Bob Bonk approached Hanson with the role of pole vault coach two years after her initial move back to town in 2008. He knew his former athlete had a passion for the sport while the athlete was with the Cardinals. Hanson saw this as a way back into the game.

“He asked if I had any interest in coaching, and I thought that would be really fun,” Hanson said. “I took him up on it and loved it ever since.”

Her first tenure as the ring leader of pole vaulting spanned from 2010 to 2012. Fairmont had a handful of program-record performers on both sides under Hanson’s watch, including Erica Thate, Megan Fuhrman and then all-time boys leader Carson Ricard with his personal best height of 14 feet.

Hanson left the coaching staff after her third season in 2012, aiming to spend time helping raise her family until the timing became more feasible. But her brief tenure as a coach laid the foundation for the future. She knew an eventual return would happen down the road. The joy Hanson took from coaching was too much to walk away from forever.

“It was really fun, but also it was like, I have no idea what I’m doing. How is this working?” Hanson said, jokingly. “I think it was just fortunate timing, and they were great kids. And I think we all learned together during those years.”

Expanding the program

2019 was when Hanson found the right time to once again put on her coaching hat. With more time in the sport, however, Hanson began to realize just how high the expenses were in pole vault, specifically for equipment.

Standard poles can range between $600 to $750, with more advanced poles going as high as $1,200 for athletes in need of more structure and support. This number proves to be too much in many cases, especially for a program looking to grow sustainably in the future. Hanson remembers going to Maple Grove frequently to rent additional poles for specific athletes ahead of meets.

“It’s bigger than any school district can do on its own. It’s just incredibly expensive,” Hanson said. “We had kids that just didn’t have the opportunity and the right line to help them. There are a lot of programs around here, where it unfortunately doesn’t exist.”

However, Hanson soon found other ways to raise more funds for her athletes. Her successful grant application to the Martin County Youth Foundation set the stage for two other financial boosts from the Schmeeckle and Martin County Area Foundations.

With the Fairmont school district and booster club providing additional support, the pole vault equipment soared tremendously heading into the 2024 spring season. Walters said their new resources even rival the inventories of some college programs.

“I’m very, very grateful to all of those who have believed in this and helped us out, understanding it’s not about equipment, it’s about creating possibilities that wouldn’t be there otherwise,” Hanson said.

Trusting the process

The results since these additions have spoken for themselves. Participation has soared as more opportunities have been given to athletes of all statures. Instead of an individual working through the entire season with just one pole, the different options and variations have formed a better understanding of how to succeed beyond what was initially imagined.

“When I started back in 2016, just the amount of vaulters we had from then to now,” Walters said. “You initially had one or two, and now we have a group of at least a dozen. It really scores you a lot of points that sometimes people don’t pay attention to because you might be in the stands watching.”

Meade and Perkins are just the highlights of this year’s step forward. It’s rare to see two all-time program leaders on the same team. But both Walters and Hanson have seen tremendous growth with a handful of other athletes. Athletes who have developed rapidly throughout the spring and plan to keep growing in the coming seasons.

Hanson doesn’t want to take all the credit, however. She views herself and the additional resources as tools her athletes can use to grow in the sport.

The now 11-year coach will continue to film and break down each and every individual’s jump over the lofty crossbar in hopes of giving them the advice they need. But the heights they continue to reach are a result of the hard work and dedication each individual has put into tackling this challenging sport. It always will be.

“What everyone is seeing now is the result of the work they’ve put in over multiple years,” Hanson said. “Yes, I’m there to guide and support them, and we’re fortunate to have better resources now thanks to the help of many, but ultimately these kids are the ones who chose to invest the time, trust the process, and keep showing up, even when progress isn’t immediately obvious to them.”