Purcell’s Hottel takes it to new heights
MOORE — After launching himself more than 17-feet in the air, Purcell senior Brock Hottel had some time to think on the way back down.
A trying junior year saw the promising pole vaulter miss the state meet last season due to injuries.
Those watching Friday at the Class 3A and 4A state meet at Moore High School saw Hottel back not only for a medal, but for a state meet record.
“I was feeling really good today,” Hottel said. “I just wanted to keep climbing.”
There might as well have been two pole vaulting competitions this year for the Class 3A boys.
The first battle was who was going to get second behind Hottel. That honor went to fellow Purcell Dragon and 2017 champion Slayde Little, who topped out at 13-6. That put him ahead of Oklahoma Christian School’s Tifton Spradlin.
The real show was how high could Hottel go.
The North Texas signee started with a modest 15-foot vault, a foot higher than the best jump from Little.
Then Hottel went for 16-1.25 to break the state meet record, crushing it with ease.
“I knew he had that in him,” coach and dad Terry Hottel said. “Sometimes it’s just a matter overcoming that one barrier and then you are able to keep going.
“Once he overcame that I knew he could go for just about any height he wanted.”
After breaking the state meet record, officials had to pause to construct a new measuring stick, taping two vaulting poles to each other to measure the distance from the bar to ground.
On his next attempt, Hottel went for 16-7 and flew over with room to spare.
As officials set up for his next jump, 17-feet and 3 inches, father and son discussed strategy and technique.
“It was just going to be a mix of adrenaline and want to,” Brock Hottel said. “It all just fell into place.”
Hottel took a deep breath before attempting his run. A large crowd of Purcell faithful waited to explode in the stands behind him.
Hottel launched, contorting his body to slink over the bar.
He cleared it, clapping his hands mid-air in celebration before landing on his back on the foam mat.
The roar from the crowd matched the intensity of Hottel’s celebration as he lay there kicking and screaming.
After standing up, Hottel pointed to crowd and screamed as he celebrated his second state title and record.
“I’ve never gone that high before,” Hottel said. “Hearing the cheers from fans, that fills me with something.
“It was a perfect way to end my high school track career.”