“I knew this height was going to be the last one, so I needed to clear it to move on to nationals,” Batemon said.
He had already failed his first attempt at 5.25 meters.
The junior strode to the base of the pit, planted the pole into the ground and hurled himself above the bar, feet first, followed by his hands, in a clean attempt, cementing his name onto the qualification list as he fell to the padded pit.
“I wasn’t really surprised at all,” Batemon said. “I knew what I was capable of, and I just went out there and focused on my own jumps.”
Batemon finished tied for first with 11 other vaulters who cleared 5.25 meters to advance to nationals in two weeks.
His season-high and ?personal best of 5.36 meters ranks 19th in the nation, and he will take on the top 24 finishers within the two regional qualifiers for a national championship.
“It was awesome competing against such tough competition,” Batemon said, “but I made sure to just focus on my own jumps and not worry about what any of the other jumpers were doing. My jumps were the only thing I could affect.”
After claiming a Big Ten Championship in the men’s pole vault, Batemon boasted a top-five mark in the East Region with his 5.36-meter personal record, and that alone gave Batemon the confidence he needed to compete at regionals.
“Knowing that I was considered the best of the best in the country really helped me,” Batemon said. “It gave me a little more confidence in knowing that I could definitely qualify for a spot in nationals.”
Confidence was key for the pole vaulter throughout his entire season as he persevered through injuries.
In 2014, Batemon pulled his right upper hamstring, halting his sophomore ?indoor track season as he recovered for a shot at outdoors that season.
Following incessant training and recovery, the outdoor season was approaching, and as Batemon was becoming more and more comfortable, he pulled his lower right hamstring, forcing him to redshirt his sophomore outdoor season and await the 2015 season for a comeback.
“All along, this was something I expected out of myself,” Batemon said.
“Even through the injuries and everything I’ve been through up until this point, I expected this out of myself.”
After setting the fifth-best men’s pole vault mark in IU history, finding victory in both the Big Ten Championships and East Regional Preliminaries and punching a ticket to the NCAA Division I National Championships, Batemon is satisfied with his recovery from the injuries.
“My body is just finally healthy,” Batemon said.
“I feel great, 100 percent, and I can finally achieve what I set out to do when I came to this program.”
